Not only is the waste generated being segregated and turned into compost, the practice has also led to additional income for conservancy workers.
Workers busy at a micro composting unit at Poonamallee and (inset) another at Anakaputhur
Chennai:
Chennai’s suburban municipalities have decentralised their waste management process by setting up micro composting units to turn biodegradable waste to compost and selling the plastic waste to recyclers, thus earning additional income for the conservancy workers. In addition, bulk generators such as apartment complexes, institutions, hotels and other agencies have been asked to install the infrastructure to compost biodegradable waste within their premises.
Taking a drastic U-turn from the strategies of the Greater Chennai Corporation’s solid waste management, which include transporting the waste to the dump yards and employing environmentally-harmful incineration methods, the suburban municipalities are showing the way forward in efficiently managing the generated trash. Decentralised Micro Composting Units (MCUs) have been constructed to decompost the biodegradable waste generated, within the wards itself.
“After running continuous awareness programmes, it has been a few months since we have been collecting segregated waste from households. The biodegradable waste is sent to the decentralised MCU, which turns it into compost and is given to farmers,” said M Elangovan, Regional Joint Director for Municipal Administration, who oversees municipalities across Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Chengalpattu regions.
Plastic waste is collected every Wednesday and sold to scrap dealers. “To ensure that the conservancy workers are not exploited, we have set up a fixed mechanism. Every Wednesday, in presence of the municipality commissioner, the workers are handed out the amount generated from selling plastic waste to recyclers, depending on the quantity they bring in. On an average, every worker earns Rs 400-500 weekly from this,” added Elangovan.
Non-recyclables such as cloth and other materials are collected and transported to Ariyalur Cement factory, which has an MoU with the administration. “These non-recyclables are used in the kilns to generate fuel (refuse derived fuel) for cement production. The remaining waste — such as sanitary napkins and soiled diapers — barely 10 per cent of the total municipal solid waste, is incinerated in the MCU facility. Through these various means, most of the waste is disposed and there is absolutely no garbage dumping,” said the official, adding that public participation has been crucial in achieving their waste management goals. “Without the public’s support, we could not have achieved this. They were extremely responsive,” said Elangovan.
In fact, corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) — around Rs 11 crore — have been used to construct the 17 MCUs in Avadi, nine in Poonamallee and seven in Thiruverkadu.
For managing solid waste efficiently, it is critical to empower and motivate conservancy workers — which the municipalities are trying to achieve. In Anakaputhur Municipality, S Shoba, a contract employee, said that vegetables, plants, egg shells and other easily degradable items are kept in a closed container for a few days, after being segregated by another set of workers. “This waste will be fed into a machine that produces organic manure. Except for Sundays, the organic manure will be generated on daily basis, packed into 1-kg bags and given to the public for use in their terrace gardens,” she said.
The compost production depends on several factors. “The quantity of compost produced depends on the garbage collection. During the rainy season, the garbage collection is comparatively lesser. In Anakaputhur, conservancy workers are directed to collect garbage from door-to-door and an announcement is also made through a mic, which is fitted in the garbage vehicle, requesting residents to avoid using plastic bags,” added Shoba.
According to Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, bulk generators such as large-scale apartment complexes, institutions, hotels and establishments, which contribute to 30-40 per cent of total waste, should manage their waste within their premises. In these municipalities, bulk generators have been given several awareness sessions and introduced to empanelled waste-management solution providers.
Pallavara Municipality, which has six out of its seven MCUs functional, collects 104 metric tonnes of waste per day, 52 per cent of which is biodegradable and composted in these units. “Each of the units is constructed at Rs 40 lakh and the compost is given out to farmers, free of cost. There are additional smaller composting units, which are quite useful. Out of 130 bulk generators, 100 of them are composting their biodegradable waste within their premises,” said a sanitation official.
“For instance, there is an apartment complex in Pallavaram with 600 homes, where the residents themselves installed composting units. More apartment complexes have also started following this lead,” said Dr Elangovan.
Manoj Nair, director of My Green Bin, which offers localised composting solutions for wet waste using microorganisms, said that over two years, the awareness among the public on the importance of effective waste management has grown. “We get many enquiries for waste management solutions. My Green Bin, which is recommended by Swachh Bharat and an approved vendor for CREDAI, expedites the natural composting process through a fungal inoculum. The aerobic bin is made from Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics (FRP), which removes the “smell” associated with composting and there is no requirement to churn the waste – as is the case in most processes. From 60 days, the composting process has been reduced to 30-40 days,” said Nair.
The bin is designed to handle various capacities — from half-kilo per day to 200 kilos per day, at prices ranging from Rs 1,700 to Rs 2 lakh. “We are working to increase the capacity to 500 kilos per day. These bins have been installed in apartment complexes, hospitals and other establishments. Municipalities too are buying the bins from us to install in government-run schools, for instance,” said Nair.
Tambaram Municipality – with 75,000 households, generates 90-100 metric tonnes per day and 50 per cent of the biodegradable waste is composted in seven MCUs and 20 smaller units. “The municipality is also planning to buy 40 new vehicles, worth rs 7 lakh each, for collecting garbage,” said an official.
— with inputs from Sam Augustine and R Sathyanarayanan
Not a happy tale for town panchayats
While municipalities are surging ahead, residents in town panchayats like Chitlakapakkam fear that they are severely trailing in the domain of solid waste management. “In Chitlapakkam, we are at least 30 years behind other municipalities. To begin with, waste collection is done with bare-hands on tri-cycles. Door-to-door collection is done by Hand-In-Hand, an NGO, and garbage bins are cleared by the Panchayat. But when it comes to “management”, all trash — except recyclable items such as metal — is being dumped on the lake bed. Source segregation is not advocated by the Panchayat and the public too is squarely to blame for the “out-of-sight; out-of-mind” approach,” said Sunil Jayaram, a resident and activist from Chitlapakkam Rising group.
Why do we need MCUs?
- In the suburban regions, a person generates 250-300 grams of waste daily. 40-50% of this is wet waste
- Decentralised waste management is being practiced in the city’s suburban municipalities – by setting up micro composting units (MCUs), one each for every 2-3 wards.
- The number of MCUs in each municipality depends on waste generation.
- Each MCU can handle 3-5 metric tonnes of wet waste daily
- In addition, smaller MCUs (0.5 metric tonnes per unit) are being set up in public spaces such as parks which have 200-300 houses around it
- While wet waste is composted in these units, plastic waste is sold to recyclers and money distributed among conservancy workers
- Non-recyclables such as cloth and other materials sent to Ariyalur Cement factory for refuse derived fuel (RDF) to power the kilns.
- Sanitary waste and soiled diapers – barely 10% of the waste – is incinerated.
- Waste such as mud, sand and pebbles are used as filler materials.
Municipality and their MCUs
Municipality No of MCUs
Avadi 17
Poonamallee 9
Thiruverkadu 7
Pammal 6
Anakaputhur 2
Tambaram 7
Pallavaram 7
Smaller MCUs:
Pallavaram 20
Tambaram 20