Composting wealth
In a recent survey conducted by the urban development ministry, Kanpur was rated the 10th most cleanest among 423 Indian cities. With 1,500 tonnes of waste being generated every day, the ranking points out to the efforts being undertaken to manage the solid waste in the city. Kanpur Nagar Nigam has collaborated with A2Z Maintenance and Engineering Services in a PPP initiative to treat the MSW in the city and will also generate power using this waste by setting up a 15mw power plant. ?Having studied the waste management market in Kanpur, we realised that quality of waste being treated can be controlled if a private player is involved right from the beginning till the end,?collecting the waste from the source and making compost out of it,? says Amit Mittal, chairman and managing director, A2Z Maintenance and Engineering Services. The company produces 1,000 tonnes of compost in just its Kanpur facility. ?We have sold about 15,000 tonnes of compost in the past three months, indicating towards the huge demand potential,? says Mittal.
Global recognition
Through a 2008 study on Indian Waste Management Services Market, Frost & Sullivan identified Antony Waste as the market leader in the municipal segment, with their presence in 14 cities in the country. Antony Waste Handling Cell Private Limited (AWHCPL) was established in 2000 and recorded a turnover of Rs 97.3 crore in 2009. AWHCPL has tied up with Lara Central De Tratamento De Residuos of Brazil for its upcoming projects at Kanjur and Mumbai. The Kanjur processing plant will process 4,000 tonnes per day (TPD) of waste and the project will run for 25 years, starting 2010. ?Local municipalities can help private players by giving them a free hand in carrying out all the tasks associated with SWM,? says Prakash Kurup, senior manager (finance), Antony Waste Handling Cell. The company has also set up a transfer station in their Delhi project to transfer 600 tonnes of MSW per day, reducing the cost incurred in transporting the waste from site to dump site which is 25 km away from the work site.
Community effort
Dissatisfied with the existing system of solid waste management, the Defence Colony resident welfare association in Delhi decided to take the responsibility upon itself to make its community a cleaner and hygienic place to live in. The initiative that began in 2005 in collaboration with an environment NGO, Toxics Link, promoted re-use and recycling and also helped in providing sustained livelihood to waste collectors. Almost 30% households hand over segregated waste to the waste collectors while the remaining mixed waste is segregated by these waste collectors to recover the recyclable and reusable materials for sale. Kitchen waste is then taken to the compost pits. This has to a great extent helped in reducing the dependence on MCD dhalaos, leading to diversion of waste from landfill. The RWA is selling 1 tonne of compost per month for Rs 10 per kg.