Some of the bins, placed at public places, remained empty for days. Lack of awareness among citizens on the segregation of various kinds of waste had led to the situation, sources said.

Others only use bins with coloured lids. If you don’t know which council website you need to look at for this information, you can find out by entering your postcode here .

Subramanian said the coloured bins would do away with the practice of haphazard garbage-dumping. The distribution will take place shortly and it will be an one-time exercise.

Colour-coded waste bins have been allocated to collect more than 12 different types of recyclable waste including glass, plastic, metal, electrical devices, paper, cartons and bulky waste.