Decentralized Solid Waste Management—A Tool for Achieving the Benchmark for Successful Swachh Bharat Transformation at Institutional Level—A Case Study

Abstract

Today a greater challenge faced by the urban local bodies is the realization of sustainable solid waste management. Current mission mode projects of Government of India focusing on public health and sanitation like Swachh Bharat, Smart cities, and AMRUT, etc. are emphasizing the effective decentralized sustainable waste management practices. This paper focuses on the decentralized model started and adopted for the conversion of food waste and plant litter generated in Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI), Hyderabad campus into suitable compost that in turn used for agricultural productivity and in landscape management of ESCI campus with cost-effective model. This model allows communities to meet their needs and micromanage their solid waste at institution level by achieving a simple sustainable solution by avoiding the waste landing up in landfill site. The sustainable model developed in ESCI includes source segregation in all building like administrative, training hall, canteen, hostel and plant litter’s generated in the campus by two bin system, i.e. one bin for wet waste and second bin for dry waste. The dry waste is given to plastic recycling vendors and the wet waste is subjected to composting process (Aerobic) in a concrete ring placed in a bamboo shed. After 12 weeks of process, the compost is tested for its soil fertility index which is observed to have good fertility that is used in garden for plant growth.

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