The Hindu               22.01.2014

Coimbatore Corporation begins to process wet waste at crematorium

Following the initiative to segregate waste at ward 23 in R.S. Puram, the Coimbatore Corporation has taken the next step by processing wet waste.

According to Corporation Commissioner G. Latha, the civic body had started the process a week ago, on an experimental basis, at the Chokkampudur crematorium, where the civic body had dug three pits to process the waste.

The area councillor S. Manimeghalai said that conservancy workers collected two small truck loads of wet waste, took it to the crematorium, where they dumped it in the first pit.

The workers then sprinkled effective micro-organism solution to hasten the process of composting.

They also topped it with dry waste and dried and powdered cow dung to complete the process.

Thereafter, every day, the workers would stir the waste till the 20{+t}{+h}day.

They would then transfer the waste to the second pit.

Once the experiment was complete, the workers would dig a bigger pit to accommodate the entire ward’s wet waste. Ms. Manimeghalai said that the initiative had provided a solution in wet waste management, which became necessary after the Corporation and residents came together to segregate waste.

Every day, the workers in the ward collected six-and-half to seven tonnes of dry waste, which they sold to a private firm which paid the workers at Rs. 3 a kg.

Fuel

Ms. Latha said that the local processing of wet waste also helped the Corporation save on fuel in that the civic body need not transport the waste till the compost yard in Vellalore.

The motto was local solution for local problem.

If the civic body found the process successful, it could consider replicating it in other wards, starting with the four wards where it had begun waste segregation.

The Hindu               17.01.2013

Cantonment Board strikes rich with kitchen waste

For more than five years now, St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board has been converting a huge quantity of kitchen waste into manure, while most other local bodies in the city’s suburbs seem to have their lost way in tackling biodegradable waste.

Due to effective implementation of provisions spelt out in Solid Waste Management Rules, 2000, the local body is able to prevent close to 3 tonnes of garbage from entering its dumping yard every day.

Further, kitchen waste is converted into high-quality organic manure through vermin-composting at four places in the Cantonment.

A variety of earthworm native to Africa is used in the vermin-composting process. “For converting municipal solid waste, we have found that Eudrilus eugeniae is much better than the ones naturally found in farmlands around Chennai,” said Shiva Krishnamurthy, senior project director, Hand in Hand, the non-governmental organisation that is helping Cantonment Board in its solid waste management project.

A longer life, faster multiplication and ability to digest kitchen waste faster were the reasons this variety of earthworm was preferred. They are procured from farms in Vedanthangal, Cuddalore and Puducherry.

In the process, each month, the Board is able to generate close to 2 tonnes of manure, which is sold at Rs. 10 per kg. “What we earn from the sales of the manure is negligible, but we are able to reduce a significant amount of garbage from entering our dumping yard,” said S. Prabhakaran, chief executive officer of the Board.

Source segregation is ensured in the 14,500 households and this has also eliminated dumping of waste in public places and subsequent complaints from residents.

Of the 9 tonnes generated everyday, 3 tonnes comprise kitchen waste, recyclable plastic and paper waste in equal measure, said staff.

The 120 workers engaged in primary collection sell the plastic waste they collect, earning additional income of Rs. 50 a day. There are plans to create kitchen gardens in each of the four sheds where vermin-composting is undertaken, the staff said.