Aerobic composting

Aerobic composting

In the presence of air, aerobic bacteria act on the complex organic matter and break it down into simple nutrients.

Five conditions

1. Aeration: Ensure maximum aeration inside the tanks at all times. Holes in the tank and bamboo pipes inserted into the holes help in this.
2. Surface Area: The larger the surface area, the faster the decomposition. Removing big chunks of vegetable waste like banana leaves to be fed to the cattle, coconut shells, egg shells, lemon and citrus fruit peels, will leave only smaller pieces that can get easily decomposed.
3. Moisture: Maintain moisture at all times. Using cow’s urine also enriches the compost.
4. Bacteria: Maximum bacteria help in optimal decomposition. Thoroughly mix the organic waste with bacteria-rich biogas / cattle dung slurry, before loading into the compost tanks.
5. Temperature: In cold areas, keep the sheds well covered and insulated. Having biogas-powered lighting inside the sheds increases the interior temperature.
Procedure

Cover one end of the bamboo pipes with loosened coconut fiber and insert those ends into the holes. After separating cattle edible vegetable waste, egg shells, coconut shells and lemon peels from the organic waste, mix the rest of the waste with bacteria-rich biogas / cattle dung slurry. Uniformly mix every bit of the waste with the slurry. Load this mixture into the tanks for composting. Add the waste everyday till the tank becomes full. After 60 days from the day the tank gets full, remove the compost, dry it (partly) by spreading it in a shady area and sieve it. Remove the final pieces of metal, plastic and glass in the compost. Remove pieces of non-decomposed organic waste and put them back into the compost tank. Keep the sieved compost moist, and pack before selling in small quantities.

Have a separate tank for composting sanitary napkins. Deposit the napkins covered by paper into a pit dug in the earth and spray cow dung slurry on it. After six months after the cotton is composted, sieve it and remove the plastic covers.

Have a separate tank for composting non-vegetarian waste, which is collected in paper covers.

Have a small black piece of slate on the tank or a black-painted area where you can write with a piece of chalk. Note the date you started loading waste into the tank, the date the tank became full. The harvest date will be 60 days after the end date.

List of Recyclable Waste

Preparation and the Sale of Recyclable Inorganic Waste

1. Segregation: The following types of inorganic waste should be segregated for recycling
Paper

1. Colour Paper
2. Colour White
3. White Paper
4. Computer Paper
5. Note Paper
6. Dummy white
7. Tamil Magazine
8. English Magazine
9. Tamil News Paper
10. English News Paper
11. Butter Paper
12. Brown Paper
13. Milk white

Metals

1. Aluminum Sheet 1st Quality
2. Aluminum Sheet 2nd Quality
3. Aluminum Cent Bottle
4. Aluminum Cool Drinks Bottle
5. Aluminum Paste Cover
6. Aluminum Tablet Cover
7. Aluminum Powder
8. Aluminum Cap
9. Aluminum - Hard

Plastics

1. L.D. Colour
2. L.D. Print
3. L.D. Nice
4. L.D. Hard
5. Oil Cover
6. Water Cover
7. Lezzy Cover
8. P.P
9. P.P (Print or Colour P.P)
10. Yellow, Rose, Blue Cover
11. H.D. 1st Quality
12. H.D. 2ND Quality
13. HM
14. H.M. (Print)
15. High Print
16. Ordinary Print
17. Dummy Print
18. Road Waste
19. Raffiya
20. Black Cover
21. L.D Plastic (Glucose)
22. National Plastic
23. P.VC Plastic Tube
24. P.V.C Plastic Cable

25. Toy Plastic 1st Quality
26. Dummy Plastic - 2nd Quality
27. Tea Cup 1st Quality
28. Tea Cup 2nd Quality
29. Mono Patti – White
30. Mono Patti – Colour
31. Glucose Tube
32. Pet Bottle – White
33. Pet Bottle – Colour
34. Pet Bottle – Dummy
35. Film Role – Dummy
36. Bottle Cap
37. L.D. Cap
38. Candle
39. Suttile Patti
40. Crystal
41. PP, Plastic
42. Syringe
43. Needle Cap
44. X-ray Black & White
45. Milk white
46. L.D. Plastic – Dummy White
47. L.D. Plastic Tablet Cover
48. Plastic Chapels
49. Big Plastic Tablet Cover
50. Toner (No.12)
51. Toner 1st Quality
52. Toner 2nd Quality
53. Cartridge 1st Quality
54. Cartridge 2nd Quality
55. C.D. Breakable
56. C.D. Non Breakable
57. Hair
58. Radio Caste Dummy
59. White Plastic

Bottle Item

1. Glucose Bottle–1000 Ml
2. Glucose Bottle –500 Ml
3. Glucose Bottle –350 Ml
4. Glucose Bottle - 250 ml
5. Glucose Bottle - 100 ml
6. Glucose Bottle – 125 ml
7. Tonic Bottle
8. Tonic Bottle 5ml Long
9. Tonic Bottle 5ml Short
10. Tonic Bottle 10ml long
11. Tonic Bottle 10ml Short
12. Horlicks Bottle (Big) (Without cap)
13. Horlicks Bottle (Small)(With cap)
14. Horlicks Bottle (Big) (With cap)
15. Horlicks Bottle (Small) (Without cap)
16. Mini Apple (Batham
17. Crush-Cool Drinks
18. High Crush-Cool Drinks
19. Injection Thakkai
20. Injection Bottle (50ml)
21. Injection Bottle (50ml) Short
22. Injection Bottle Short (White)
23. Injection Bottle (50ml) Short (Colour)
24. Injection Bottle ¾ Short (Colour)

25. Injection Bottle ¾ Short (White)
26. Injection Bottle (20ml) Short (White)
27. Injection Bottle (125 ml)
28. Injection Bottle (5ml)
29. Injection Bottle (20ml) Short (Colour)
30. Injection Bottle (10ml) Length (White)
31. Injection Bottle (10ml) Length (Colour)
32. Injection Bottle (5ml) Short Colour
33. Injection Bottle (5ml) Length
34. Injection (Light weight) (Thackai)
35. Dettol Bottles 500 ml
36. Bottles 250 ml
37. Bottles 100 ml
38. Bottles 50 ml
39. Acid –Bottle –Big
40. Acid –Bottle-Medium
41. Acid – Bottle-Small
42. Pickles1/2 Kg Jam Bottle
43. Pickles ¼ Kg Jam Bottle Short White
44. Tomato Sauce Bottle (½ Lts) Medium
45. Tomato Sauce Bottle (1Lts) Long
46. Tomato Sauce Bottle (1/2Lts) Long
47. Tomato Sauce Bottle (1Lts) Long
48. White Glass
49. Colour Glass
50. Ram Bottle
51. Mini Beer (Old)
52. Long Beer (New)
53. Beer Bottle 275 ml
54. Quarter Bottles
55. Quarter Bottles (Small)
56. Sadha
57. Sent Bottle
58. Assalt
59. Chappai 500 ml
60. Chappai 250 ml
61. Kal-Chappai
62. Glass Plates
63. Tube Light
64. Bound Lights
65. Veta - 30 ml-–Short –25mm Neck
66. 30ml Bound Bottle White
67. 30ml Bound Bottle Colour
68. Bound Bottle White ¾
69. Bound Bottle White 50ml
70. Bound Bottle Color 50ml
71. 100ml –22mm neck
72. 50ml-28mm neck
73. 100ml Bound –25mm Neck
74. 10ml Bound –2mmNeck
75. 15 ml –22 Drops-22mm Neck
76. 200ml –Lee 52 –25mm Neck
77. Pound bottle (500ml) White
78. Pound bottle (500 ml) Colour
79. Pound bottle (400ml) White
80. Pound bottle (400ml) Colour

Glass

1. Cool drink Bottle
2. Soda Bottle
3. Horlicks Bottle
4. Medicine bottle
5. Mini beer bottle
6. Beer bottle (new)
Glucose Bottle
Rubber Item

1. Rubber
2. Hawaii Chappell
3. Rubber Band
4. Rubber Gloves
5. Rubber Tube
6. Rubber Tyre
7. Rubber Sheet
8. Rubber Chappel
9. Rubber Tube
10. Tyre Tubes
11. Shoe Bottoms
12. Leather Sponch
13. Rubber floor mat
14. Electrical Wire
15. Electrical Other Item
16. Leather 1st Quality
17. Leather 2nd Quality
L.D. Tharmacoal Sponch


Others

1. Iron
2. Iron Plate
3. Steel
4. Cell Battery
5. Copper
6. Gun Metal
7. Bone
8. Brass
9. Cloth

2. Package the segregated waste and store in a place that is safe.
3. Sell it to the local recyclers as and when enough amounts accumulates.

General instructions for enviro-friendly birthday party:

General instructions for enviro-friendly birthday party:

1. Egg free Cakes. No Non – Veg food for the participants.
2. We can have Chocolates with out wrapper (Plastic cover)
3. Dress for Birthday baby can be Eco-friendly ( Cotton or Kaadhi products). Please avoid using original Silk clothes, which was made by killing lakhs and lakhs of innocent worms. How ever, we can use Span Silk, which is eco-friendly.
4. If there are any decorations or Name board, please use flowers. Avoid plastics and other products.
5. We can use one time use and through Steel tumblers/ Steel Cups/ Spoons/ etc., (washing will be done by the end of the function or next day and will be used for next function again)
6. Avoid paper or plastic covers spread on tables.
7. Please purchase bakery products, which will be fresh and also order all products with out preservative (Chemicals).
8. If any music for our function, please manage 20 or less than that decibel (Sound).
9. Please avoid room sprayers and if needed use our traditional practices.
10. If there is Dinner or lunch, please follow few methods to avoid large volume of food get wasted.
11. Please use eco-friendly plates like Plantain leaves. (Arc-nut plate or regular steel or fiber plates).
12. If there is any birthday invitation, please go for cloth invitation with plain white hand kerchief or invitation through email for every one.
13. Purchase can milk from local milk suppliers (example: In Tamil Nadu, we have Aavin Milk supply through Government – they will supply can Milk), instead of Packet milk for coffee or Tea.
14. Please use digital camera for photoes.
15. Please avoid all, one time use and through plastic and other materials through out our function.


Eco-friendly gifts:
1. Please avoid plastic covers for packing gifts. Plastic covers with aluminum coating inside and looks shining, which is non-recyclables.
2. Planting trees on that particular time (Birth time if morning 6.00am to evening 6.00pm – we will plant trees on behalf of child in any part of Vellore)
3. Distributing Fruit Tree saplings and coconut tree saplings to Bellow Poverty Line (BPL families) people free of cost.
4. Distributing fruit/ Flowering creapers/ Vermi-compost / Seeds packets/ Bag pouch etc., to the people attending birthday party.
5. Conducting Birthday party – Zero Waste Management – Party – sending all recyclables to nearby shops, compostable items in to pits, etc., - No burning of garbage – Avoid thermocoal or Styrofoam products which is non-recycables.
6. Your family can take a decision that through this birthday gift (if it is in the Money form) one environmental project / School project / Blind home / any charitable trust/ Supporting one poor student education etc., in Hydrabed or in any part of India can be supported in you child name. You can declare this birthday party as an enviro-friendly party in you invitation.
7. People can give smooth and weight less gift articles to your child. Avoid sharp or metal items or Sound making gifts or digital/video games etc., which are not child friendly.
8. Please make sure at least one Tree sapling can be planted on that evening in the same place and make fencing for it, before starting birthday party.
9. Your family can rescue at least one cattle, on be half of your child (Calf, Dry cow, Bull etc.,) which goes for slaughter house and send it for nearest Gosala in Hydrabed or we will do it for you in Vellore.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Solid and Liquid Waste Management
Training Program

‘Vellore Model’




Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
(asked by residents and government officials)

Q 1: I am already paying taxes to the government. Why should I pay extra money for waste management?

A: Sitting back and asking questions will not take us anywhere closer to the solution. If we sit up and take the initiative, we will also gain the power to demand more and better services from the government in other areas.

i. How much money do you spend for the doctor every month? Don’t you pay more than Rs.20 for a single consultation? Plus the cost of medicine. Most of these diseases are caused by unhygienic surroundings. You will be saving a lot of money if you contribute Rs. 20 every month for a systematic ZWM.

ii. If the drainage gets blocked, don’t you pay the workers to clear them out for you? Our workers will clean your drains regularly, which will be covered by your monthly subscription fee.

iii. Your money is not going to the government. It is going towards generating employment for the poor people. 4 people get employed by every 275 households.

Q 2: What benefits will I get in return for the subscription fee I pay every month?
A: For just Rs. 20, you will enjoy 40 benefits / advantages over the current system. These are:
1. Waste will be collected at the doorstep.
2. Waste is collected between 7 and 10:30 am, mostly before office hours.
3. A free dustbin (bamboo) will be given to each household to separately store dry waste.
4. The formation of residents’ association for ZWM also provides a platform for people’s participation and ownership of other developmental activities of the area. This also serves as the bridge between the local community and the local administrative body.
5. A calendar – information card will be given to each household.
6. Workers will return any checks, important documents, license cards, ATM and credit cards, jewels and money found in the waste from the houses.
7. Every household gets phone numbers to register complaint if they have problems related to waste collection.
8. The tricycles have a distinct bell, so that the households don’t confuse it will the sounds of other bells (ice cream vendors, etc.)
9. Waste is collected on all the seven days of the week throughout the year (including rainy days). Workers work half-days even on holidays. One worker is appointed to substitute workers on leave.
10. There will not be any unsightly road-side dustbins attracting flies and giving out smell.
11. Stray dogs and pigs will stop visiting the area, thus preventing diseases like brain fever and rabies.
12. No motorised vehicles are used for waste collection and no motorised equipment is used for the ZWC operations. So, there is no noise or air pollution.
13. Small tricycles serve narrow streets and lanes.
14. Tricycles are covered to avoid littering.
15. We appoint a supervisor for every tricycle to monitor the waste collection.
16. All workers have uniform and ID card so that they can be easily identified.
17. It is ensured that the workers have no police case, and have a good character from the local police station.
18. Drains are cleaned, and the wild shrubs growing along the streets are cleared in the afternoons.
19. Workers plant trees in the area and take care of them.
20. Workers develop and maintain street gardens. Waste will not be burnt ensuring that there is no air pollution from burning.
21. Clean drains and the absence of dustbins discourage mosquito and house fly breeding.
22. Clean drains and clear surroundings reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases.
23. Supervisors have cellphones and can be contacted at any time.
24. Dead animals are removed from the area when informed.
25. Special service is provided on special occassions (functions, ceremonies and family get togethers).
26. No phenyl or bleaching powder is used in the area or in the ZWC.
27. Employment generation for the local youth reduces anti-social activities (like theft and pickpocketing) in the area.
28. Residents will be informed when the workers will be on leave for half-a-day.
29. Receipts are given for all monetary contributions made.
30. Servants will be trained (on request) on waste segregation and depositing it in respective compartments in the tricycle every morning.
31. The tricycle contains a first aid and a tool box, which can be used by the residents or passers by when needed.
32. The tricycle contains a complaint box, where residents can deposit complaints / suggestions on any civic / environmental issue in their area. These will be handed over to the appropriate authorities.
33. The local dumping ground is done away with, reducing soil, water and air pollution.
34. One tricycle will not serve more than 275 families, ensuring a good ratio and good care and individual attention to needs and problems.
35. Garden wastes are collected in the afternoons on request.
36. Some of the compost generated at the ZWC is used to develop roadside gardens.
37. Workers also function as messengers for important events of social relevance like polio vaccination drive, election information, demonstrations, etc.
38. Empty plots in the area will be cleared, cleaned and maintained, reducing dangers from snakes and rodents.
39. Separate waste collection facilities for marriage halls and hotels ensure that their waste does not get dumped in the residential areas causing inconvenience.
40. Local schools and colleges will be involved wherever possible, to generate awareness. They will be encouraged to develop ZWM as a learning activity.

Q 3: If we have the compost shed in the residential area, won’t it give out bad smell?

A: The following steps undertaken will ensure that the composting process does not give out a bad smell
Reason for bad smell
1.Waste is not collected on some days. It gets accumulated in the road side dustbins for more than one day rotting.
2.Waste stays in the household for more than a day.
3.Delayed composting creates anaerobic (absence of air) conditions.
4.Anerobic conditions created in the compost beds and tanks, due to weight of waste loaded everyday.
5.When bacterial innoculum is not uniform (when sprayed on layers of waste), some parts of the waste do not decompose fast.
6.Sometimes, bacterial innoculum is not available for use immediately.
When workers stand on top of the compost beds, they compress the waste creating anaerobic conditions. The leachate that oozes out in the pressure also stagnates and causes bad smell.
7.When large vegetable pieces like whole ash guard are dumped in the compost tank, they take a long time to decompose. The rotting of these large pieces causes bad smell.
8.Increased moisture content causes bad smell.

How it is avoided
Waste is collected on all the 365 days a year.
1.Waste gets collected in less than 24 hours after generation.
2.Within a few hours of collection, fresh bacteria from cow dung are introduced.
3.The tanks / beds have holes / gaps with bamboo pipes inserted in them for continuous aeration.
4.The waste is thoroughly mixed with cowdung slurry and only then fed into the compost beds and tanks. This ensures that the waste is uniformly exposed to bacterial action.
5.Cattle dung is available 24 hours since the ZWC has a cattle shed right inside.
6.Workers never stand on top of the compost bed while loading or unloading the waste. They use a ladder, and do the operations from outside the bed / tank.
7.Workers cut large chunks into small pieces and then load them in to the compost tank.
8.In case the moisture content of organic matter increases, dry matter such as dry leaves, saw dust, or residue from already sieved compost, etc. are added.

Q 4: Will this project last? How do we know this will not shut down in a month or two?
A: ZWM is now mandated by the Supreme Court. This will be a people’s project, and hence will continue over time. It is already going on successfully in a lot of places.

Q 5: If private workers are taking up SWM, what will the government sanitary workers do?
A: There is a perpetual shortage of workers, and there is a lot of work even in this area. They will be employed in regular sweeping of the streets, regular cleaning of the areas and the drains, cleaning of areas before the launch of ZWM, desilting clogged canals, etc.

Q 6: If the Municipality stops taking care of SWM, what is their job?
A: SWM is not the only job of the Municipality. It has many other responsibilities like birth and death registration, census, water supply, Public Health Centre, preventing disease by maintaining the sewers and storm water drains, mosquito control, controlling the quality of food sold along roadsides, controlling the population of stray dogs and pigs, etc. Also, the work load of the Municipality has increased many times with the population growth from before to now. Relieving them of the SWM pressure, we can expect (and when necessary demand) better services from them in these other areas.

Q 7: What is the role of the ward councilor, if the local community association is formed to manage the project and for overall area development?
A: The ward councilors are not excluded from the committee. They are important members of the planning committee. It is clear that without people’s participation, the ward councilors cannot fulfil their duties effectively. In many places, the direct involvement of the local community has brought in resources and other forms of help when needed.

UNDERSTANDING WASTE

UNDERSTANDING WASTE

• What is waste?
Waste is any material that is thrown away as unwanted. It has other names like garbage, trash and rubbish. What is considered waste by one society may not be considered so by another. For example, in throwaway societies like the US, a good-quality plastic cup may be thrown away as waste. The same cup may be reused several times in India.

• How does nature manage its waste?
In nature, there is no such thing as waste. What is given out by one system is taken in by another. When a tree sheds its leaves, they fall on the ground, get consumed and broken down by soil organisms into simple nutrients. The tree absorbs these nutrients once again to grow new leaves.

• How did we end up in a waste crisis?
Before the industrial revolution, we were largely a biomass civilisation and used natural materials. Production processes were driven by animal, human, water and wind powers, limiting production to just meet the needs of the people. Waste was organic, biodegradable and limited in quantities. After the industrial revolution, we became a mining civilisation. Production processes began to be driven by fossil fuels, resulting in production in excess of human needs. Waste became non-biodegradable and toxic, and began to be generated in huge quantities.

• Modern waste is a mixture of all the following different types of wastes:

1. Municipal Solid Waste: Commercial and residential wastes generated in a municipal area in solid or semi-solid form.
Organic: Degradable wastes like vegetable, vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, coir, cotton, leather, shells, flowers, fish, dead animals and garden waste. When not contaminated with chemicals, organic waste can be composted, turned into resource and safely returned to the earth.
Inorganic: i. Safely recyclable materials like paper, metal and glass; ii. recyclable (but not safe) materials like thermoplastics; iii. non-recyclable materials like thermosetting plastics, thermocol, composite materials (eg. Aluminium coated paper); iv. toxic waste like batteries and electronic waste.

2. Hospital Waste: Infectious waste like soiled bandages, used cotton, pathological and anatomical waste; inorganic waste like tubes, plastics, glass and syringes, generated in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, blood banks and veterinary hospitals. Hospital waste could pose great health risks when mixed untreated with the general waste stream.

3. Construction Waste: Rubble, wires, pipes, steel and wood from the demolition of existing buildings. Though most of this waste is inert, it is huge in volume and weight and often blocks roads and nullahs.

4. Industrial Waste: Solid waste from industries is in the form of sludge containing toxic heavy metals, oils and bleaches besides other chemicals, usually toxic. These are often mixed with municipal solid waste.

5. Electronic Waste: Used computers and other electrical and electronic gadgets like television sets, refrigerators and cell phones. This highly toxic waste (due to the presence of heavy metals) is on a steep rise.

Others: Rocks, coal waste and other ore-processing residues are mining waste, which, though inert, covers extensive land (usually natural) areas and degrade the environment. Nuclear waste is radioactive and can cause serious environmental and health damages. Human waste, though solid in form, currently gets mixed with fresh water and gets treated as liquid waste.

• Who generates how much?
A person in an industrialised country like the US generates more than twice the amount of waste (2 kgs per person per day) than a person in a less-industrialised country like India. A city dweller in India generates twice the amount of waste than a villager. An Indian with an income higher than Rs. 8,000 generates more waste per day (800 gms) than a person with an income less than Rs. 2,000 (200 gms).

Toxic Waste

Waste is toxic when it contains or releases hazardous chemicals (e.g. heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium) or releases hazardous chemicals (Persistent Organic Pollutants like dioxins and furans), which are disruptive to the normal functioning of the human organs. Some of the health defects are reproductive and birth defects, nervous disorder, cancer and brain damage, immune and hormonal systems dysfunction. The following are the most common toxic municipal wastes:
• Smelting waste, batteries and electronic waste contain heavy metals.
• PVCs (chlorinated and brominated plastics) release dioxins on burning.
• Tyres and thermocol release harmful gases on burning.

The Worldwatch Institute has listed toxic waste as one of the most serious global issues threatening the humankind. It is not only generated within India, but is also being imported in huge quantities from the Western countries, where toxic waste disposal is very expensive and is required to follow stricter standards.
PLASTICS

This material, which was invented 50 years ago, is manufactured using petrochemicals as raw materials. It is normally inert and does not degrade for thousands of years.

Plastic bags are a menace in India, as they clog the drains and can be swallowed by the cattle and choke them to death. Though thermoplastics can be melted and remoulded again, they lose their original quality and eventually become non-recyclable. Thermosetting plastics (bakelite and melamine used to make switchboards) cannot be recycled.

28% of plastics produced in India is PVC, the most dangerous of all plastics. When disposed by burying, additives leach into the soil and pollute the groundwater, and when burnt, it releases toxic dioxins, a Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP). POPs can stay on in the environment for a long period of time and have been marked for global elimination in the POPs Treaty signed under the UNEP.

Exnora Green Cross - Vellore
1/15, Kesavapillai street, Ist cross, Sainathapuram, Vellore 632001.
Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 0416-2263500 / 0416-2264500 (Off) Cell: +91 - 94433 - 18523
email : velloresrini@hotmail.com