The Hindu    06.09.2012

Convert hotel waste into biogas: BBMP

The city generates about 4,000 tonnes of garbage every day; of this, at least 1,500 tonnes is waste generated by hotels, darshinis and small eateries. The waste that can be used to generate bio-fuel is only ending up at the dump yards.

City Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Rajneesh Goel met members of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels’ Association on Wednesday to convince them to install biogas generators. This would not only be profitable to the hotels, but also reduce pressure on landfills.

The two urged the hoteliers to stop using plastic and switch to biodegradable materials. By setting up biogas units on the hotel premises, the dependence on liquefied petroleum gas would come down. Other than hotels, caterers, marriage halls and malls could also benefit from these units, Mr. Goel suggested.

Also present at the meeting was Sheetal Singh, a biofuel researcher from the Karnataka State Bio Fuel Development Board. Mr. Goel said that she would be able to provide the technical expertise as she has a domestic biogas unit at her house. Ms. Singh said that domestic biogas units could be set up in even apartment complexes and hotels. “I use only kitchen waste as raw materials and hardly depend on LPG. At most, I buy two LPG cylinders a year,” she said.

Vasudeva Adiga, president of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels’ Association, said that the 6,000-odd hotels under the association were paying private contractors to pick up waste from them.He said that the association welcomed the 100 per cent ban on plastic, a resolution which the BBMP council recently adopted.