Written by K. Mohanasundaram
BORDA Partner - ExNoRa International
In 2009, ExNoRa International successfully implemented DESWAM in Kulithalai Municipality with financial support from BORDA–CDD. The programme which was initiated in 3 wards was later extended to all 24 wards in a phased manner. Biodegradable waste is converted to organic manure by aerobic composting and value addition by vermicomposting using the tank, heap and brick methods. The income from the sale of vermicompost to the local farmers is around Rs.10, 000/- per month and the sale of recyclables about Rs.4, 000/- per month, respectively.
The valuables in the non-biodegradable waste are segregated at household level by the Street Beautifiers and sold though in an unorganised manner. In order to motivate the Street Beautifiers on the finer aspects of segregation and to recover maximum quantity of recyclable waste, an exposure visit to Vellore was organised The Street Beautifiers, Supervisors, Link Volunteers and Sanitary Inspectors were divided into 2 batches of 25 each and visited Vellore on 18th March and 9th April 2010, respectively. ExNoRa International made the necessary logistic arrangements for the exposure visit, financed by Kulithalai Municipality.
Christian Medical College (CMC) SWM
ExNoRa Green Cross, an affiliated wing of ExNoRa International has established SWM operations in Christian Medical College (CMC) campus for the staff quarters, canteen, college and so on. The unit employs over 240 women in 2 shifts. The waste generated in the campus is brought to the Waste Processing facility and segregated. Workers are paid salaries from the sale of recyclables, compost and earthworms.
The biodegradable waste is fed to cattle rescued from slaughter houses and the cow dung is fed to 2 biogas digesters. The gas generated is used in the workers canteen and the activated sludge from the digesters is composted by earthworms and the compost is sold for a good price. The food waste is sold to a local piggery.
The non-biodegradable waste is segregated into 232 varieties, packed and sold to recyclers through a tendering process.
Sripuram Golden Temple Waste Processing Centre
Sripuram Golden Temple is situated in Vellore. On an average 60,000–70,000 people visit the temple daily and on special occasions and weekends, the number of visitors exceeds a lakh. The temple authorities have set up a waste processing facility (WPF) with the technical support of ExNoRa International. Four to five MT of garbage generated daily is processed by 70 workers. The biodegradable waste is converted into organic manure by aerobic composting and vermicomposting. The recyclables are segregated into 48 categories, packed and sold to recyclers. The average income from sale of compost and recyclables is Rs.1 lakh pm.
The visit to the 2 facilities proved to be a good learning process for the sanitary staff of Kulithalai Municipality as the segregation into finer degrees and the value for the waste was well understood. The interaction with the CMC staff and Sripuram WPF clarified several doubts that the Kulithalai staff had in regard to segregation, storage, packing and sale of recyclable waste.
As a follow up to the visit, the Chairman, Sanitary Inspector and the staff had an hour-long meeting at Sripuram and worked out the steps to be implemented at Kulithalai.
