The Hindu             31.10.2013

Making productive use of garbage

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Park set up by Vettavalam town panchayat has, over the years, virtually turned into a manufacturing unit of myriad products.

The facility mainly produces natural manure and vermicompost. Besides composting, it segregates egg-shells from the garbage, pounds them, using traditional mortar, into powder that is then bottled and sold. The powder, used as manure, catalyses the growth of rose plants.

The facility also sells bottled leach, a liquid that seeps from manure production pits. Authorities say that people buy them for its weed suppressant quality. Plastic crumbs produced by crushing plastic disposables are sold to government agencies to enhance the durability of plastic roads.

Herbals and bamboo cultivated in the premises of the SWM Park with the help of manure produced there are another kind of production.

District Collector A. Gnanasekaran, who visited the facility along with reporters on Tuesday, said: “Apart from these manufactured goods, the park segregates 23 items from non-bio-degradable wastes found in garbage and sell them. Though the sales proceeds could not make up for the expenses of collecting, segregating and manufacturing things from the wastes, as of now, we hope that we could attain break-even at one point of time. Notwithstanding the gap between expenses and income, the centre already has accomplished its main objective of ensuring effective waste disposal and hygienic environment”.

The facility has a clean look and feel and lives up to the ‘Park’ tag. Asked how no stench emanates despite the facility handling garbage, S.M. Malayamanthirumudikari, Assistant Director of Town Panchayats, Vellore, told The Hindu : “Every kind of garbage takes a certain time to rot. For example, food takes eight hours and vegetables take 12 hours. But we collect, segregate and pile them up in appropriate pits and apply Effective Microorganism solution within the time the garbage takes to rot and stink”.

“The facility started in 2008 [is] performing well but Rs. 41.6 lakh funds received as part of Integrated Urban Development Mission for the year 2012-13 helped us to improve the facility in many ways. Three sheds were constructed, machines for cleaning and shredding plastic disposables; toilets built for the sweepers and Self Help Group members who work in the SWM programme and purchased 14 tricycles, constructed tiled pavements and set up eight solar lights.

All this infrastructure helps give the facility its pleasant and aesthetic look,” he said. Town Panchayat President A. Janardhanan and Executive Officer S. Ganesan expressed the hope that they could do more to sustain the glory of the ‘Park’.