Ramakrishna Mission startup for managing wet waste

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Feb 12, 2020: Under the guidance of Ramakrishna Mission, a Swaccha Mangaluru startup - Mangaluru Resource Management Institute - has been started to handle wet waste in apartments in the city.

 

Mangaluru City Corporation has already set a deadline for bulk waste generators including apartments to fix the waste on their own.

Briefing reporters, Swami Ekagamyananda, convener of Swacch Mangaluru campaign of Ramakrishna Mission, said that the menace of garbage sliding during the monsoon at the landfill site at Pacchanady has made Mission to think of alternative ways to manage the wet waste. Accordingly, Swaccha Mangaluru volunteers have come up with a start-up to strive to ensure that zero wet waste reaches landfill site at Pacchanady, he added.

Using the pot-composting method, the startup will handle wet waste generated in apartments. Each flat must pay a monthly fee of Rs 150 and a one-time deposit of Rs 1,000, that will be returned after the third year. Each flat will be given two bins worth Rs 400 to dump wet waste generated, free of cost. The volunteers of the startup will visit the apartments daily and will put the household wet waste in the pot compost unit, cover it with a layer of coconut husk and return the bins to households.

The pot composting units will be kept in the parking area of the apartments against pillars, without obstructing the movement of vehicles, said Ekagamyananda. After carrying out Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan for five years to create awareness among the public, which concluded in October last year, the Ashram has been receiving several appeals to continue the noble work. Accordingly, a few volunteers of the Abhiyan mooted the idea of the startup to work for the cause of Swacch Mangaluru under the guidance of Ramakrishna Mission, he explained.

Comprising three units of specially designed pots, it converts all kitchen waste into manure. Black soldier fly that is attracted to such waste convert it into manure, which the startup is ready to buyback. The startup will also help potters to earn their livelihood by supplying pots, he said.

Ramakrishna Mission has started the initiative of pot composting as part of phases 4 and 5 of the Swacch Mangaluru campaign and has targeted to install pots in 4,000 households. ’We have received bookings for 4,719 pots. The Mission has so far has distributed 2,800 pots and 2,500 households are using it effectively. The pot composting is a green initiative, which does not require any electricity or hundreds of acre land to dispose of the waste,’ the seer said.