Challenge #1: No segregation at the source

Waste collection in housing societies occurs mostly through the local government or its empanelled vendors. In most cities, the lack of segregation at individual household levels presents several major challenges:

• The government is unable to segregate and process 100% of the collected waste
• Segregation is done under unsafe and hazardous conditions, posing health hazards and injuries to waste collectors 
• Mixed waste is dumped in landfills
• Due to a lack of infrastructure and poor enforcement of laws, waste piles up on the streets, in vacant sites, and in drains

All this begs the question,’ Why don’t societies segregate their waste?’

The main reasons are:

• Lack of awareness about segregation and waste management rules
• The habit of open dumping
• No strict rules that penalize non-segregationAvailability of collectors who don’t refuse mixed waste

Tips for achieving 100% waste segregation

Select environmentally conscious and responsible adults from the society or members of MC/RWA to form a waste management committee to conduct the following:

• Hold (virtual/physical) demonstrations in the society for residents, domestic help and housekeeping staff to understand and practice segregation
• Create awareness about the categories of household waste so that every home knows what items fall under dry, wet, and hazardous waste.
• Form a support group online/ on WhatsApp to answer residents’ queries on waste
• Discourage non-segregation and reward residents who achieve 100% segregation

Challenge #2: Incorrect/inadequate segregation techniques

Even when residents have started to segregate waste at home, they don’t always follow the right procedure all the way to close the loop.

Wrong practices include:

1. Source segregation without source reduction

Residents simply segregate without minimizing the amount of waste generated.

Solution: Practice the 4 Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle)

2. Hazardous waste is not sealed and labelled

Waste passes through multiple hands before final disposal. If domestic hazardous waste (diapers, sanitary napkins, glass shards, chemicals, etc.) is not labelled it ends up causing illness and injuries to waste collectors.

Solution: Wrap hazardous waste securely, double bag it with a label and seal it tightly.

3. Excessive use of garbage liners/bags

Dry and wet waste is separated into two garbage bags, doubling the volume of plastic waste.

Solution: Compost wet waste at home or cover it with newspaper before dumping. Dump the dry waste directly without garbage liners in the municipal waste collection truck.

4. Incorrect disposal of e-waste

Waste such as tube lights is carelessly disposed of, often mixed with other kinds of waste. Broken tube lights are a major source of mercury poisoning.

Solution: Hand over all e-waste separately to the collection agency. RWA can organize e-waste collection drives at regular intervals.

Challenge #3: Slow adoption of in-house composting

Three major obstacles stand in the way of individual/community composting:

1.     The misconception that composting is smelly and attracts maggots and flies

2.     Lack of interest and low enthusiasm

3.     Budgetary constraints

What are the possible solutions?

Waste committee members should lead by example and start composting wet waste at home or at a smaller scale in a common area initially. Show small, incremental sprints towards successful composting to generate interest and participation gradually. Laws of collective behaviour suggest that if someone sees their neighbours doing something together, they’re compelled to join in to be socially included. Once enough momentum is gathered, society can invest in larger community composting systems. For societies that need to compost on-site, vendor-based composting solutions are an ideal first step.

Budget limitations concerning community composting can be addressed by starting low-cost/DIY home composting solutions at first and scaling them up in the future.

Challenge #4: Lack of monitoring in housing societies

This can be considered the most important factor that decides the success of your waste management practices. Societies are often found starting waste reduction, segregation, and composting measures with enough involvement in the beginning but slowly lose interest and resort to old habits of mixing waste and producing more waste. 

Waste monitoring can be done in the following ways: 

• Appoint housekeeping teams to accompany waste collectors on random days of the week to ensure that every household is segregating waste as per rules. The findings/defaulters can be reported to the MC for further action
• Composting societies can also appoint volunteers, guards, and housekeeping staff to make sure that no wet waste is being thrown into municipal waste in the absence of information and supervision.
• Repeat offenders must be given an official warning and if non-compliance persists, they should be fined according to internal policies set by the MC/RWA.

Problems faced by the government with respect to housing societies

According to the former in-charge of BMC’s SWM Project, Pundalik Awate, “There are around 40,000 bulk generator societies identified in Mumbai, of which 10-20% are following all compliances while 20% have been notified to start following Solid Waste Management rules. Some societies avoid the mandate by claiming they don’t fall under the bulk generator classification, i.e. they produce less than 100 kg of waste. Some others are in the process of following the mandate.” There’s no clarity, however, on the 60% of societies that are possibly violating segregation and in-situ composting rules or are struggling to get the compliance measures off the ground.

The municipal corporation of Chennai has already allowed the office-bearers of housing societies to fine their residents for non-segregation. The amount of penalty is fixed after getting the general consensus of all residents and is based on the size of the society and the number of repeat offences.

According to Kamlesh Singh of Swayam Swachatta Initiative Limited (SSIL), a government-empanelled waste management agency for South Delhi, gated communities here have achieved 50-70% waste segregation. However, to bring it up to 100%, RWAs must be cooperative with agencies and think of waste management as their responsibility. Residents must not see waste management as an additional unwanted chore in their routine. “Bringing about a behavioural change is a slow and steady process”, he says.

“The penalty for not segregating waste is Rs. 200 for every default whereas RWAs can also be penalized Rs. 10,000 in a month if they fail to deal with waste in accordance with the Rules. But, waste can easily be deposited in the Auto-Tippers plying on the streets as they get stationed at ‘halt-points’. For this, there are no charges to be paid by the user. This is a street-level collection service provided by SDMC/SSIL.”

Bangalore has been making steady strides toward solid waste management but not without its challenges. Nalini Shekhar, Co-founder and Executive Director of Hasiru Dala, a Bangalore-based social impact organization and waste collection agency says, “Apartments that have engaged with responsible service providers who insist on proper compliance, have a segregation level of 98%. There is 60-80% segregation in most wards, with high participation in solid waste management.”

She recounts the challenges of at-source segregation, “In Bangalore, the system is set for collection of dry and wet waste separately in 38 wards and now that needs scaling up. Dry waste is collected by waste-pickers / Self Help Groups but the dry waste processing infrastructure is too small for the level of collection we are doing. Since segregation is getting better, the decentralized infrastructure should catch up. Another major challenge is that the payment for service providers is never made on time, some dry waste collectors/waste-pickers have to wait for as long as 25 months!”

Key approaches for housing societies to manage waste better

• Consider waste management a civic duty, not a burden or a useless chore.
• Apply strict penalties for non-segregation within society.
• Build awareness towards waste management by making it a priority, not an afterthought.
• Have a budget for segregation infrastructure like colour-coded bins and awareness generation material. Start collecting funds for composting in-house.
• Educate residents about the correct classification of what is considered wet, dry, and hazardous waste.
• Have residents experienced in home composting mentor others
• Conduct sessions on the importance of segregation through interactive measures, surveys, debates, and other immersive activities.
• Have a society leaderboard for the most efficient waste segregating households and update it weekly/monthly. 
• Incentivise households that show positive improvement in segregation.
• Invite local/national sustainability experts and environmentalists to speak at your society and invite neighbourhood societies as well.

Composting and its benefits to housing societies

Community composting is a largely unexploited solution that is gradually getting its fair share of attention in India’s sustainability and waste management landscape. The power to harness the potential of waste lies with housing societies and gated communities today which can reap the benefits of large-scale composting, produce rich organic fertilizer, create organic community gardens, or even generate revenue from the sale of good quality compost.

What is Community Composting?

Composting is a natural method of waste disposal used to turn biodegradable or wet waste into organic fertilizer. When different waste generators such as small and large households within one or several societies compost organic waste jointly at a specific site (ideally within the society premises, but sometimes in a nearby shared space) it is called community composting. The compost is used as fertilizer for growing fruits/vegetables/herbs and gardening within the society premises as well as individual homes. It can also be sold through municipal buy-back programs or farmer connects. Community composting requires large-scale infrastructure that allows large volumes of waste to be managed as close to the source as possible and thus diverted away from landfills.

Benefits of community composting

• Increased environmental awareness among communities
• Less waste dumped in landfills and fewer garbage trucks in rotation
• Improved soil, air, and water quality due to reduced use of chemical fertilizer
• Community empowerment through self-reliance
• Green and natural neighbourhoods
• Financial benefits through the sale of compost
• Better utilization of resources to reduce society’s expenses
• Creation of organic kitchen gardens
• Better health and well-being of people who consume this produce
•  Increased biodiversity

Types of composting

Best Composting and Easy.

1) OWC AAGA

The Aaga is an aerobic ‘hot pile’ decentralized bulk waste composter. It makes composting simple, labour-saving, and hassle-free for apartments, offices, resorts & all community institutions. Daily Dump offers demos for community members to clarify questions and ensure informed decision-making in your community. We also provide detailed, hands-on training for housekeeping staff to ensure smooth functioning. You can install it on terraces, in open spaces, and near the entrance. The internal ‘breathing tower’ regulates air flow and ensures no foul odour. Ergonomic design allows easy harvesting of compost. The Aaga is a product that your housekeeping staff will be happy to use. By getting your community to use it you will inspire others and create a living lab for your children to learn hands-on. 

Directions for use

• The Aaga composter has to be used in series, starting with 1 pair for every 18kg
• Add daily organic waste (from the kitchen & garden).
• Contents do not need to be mixed, stirred, or shifted.
• Layer with adequate Remix Powder daily for smell-free, odor-free composting.
• Harvest compost after 4 weeks (first cycle) and then every 2 weeks.

2) COMPOST ECO SERIES WITH CURING SYSTEMS AND INBUILT SHREDDER

PROCESS OF SEMI-AUTOMATIC COMPOST MACHINE:

Alfa Therm decentralized composting machines are used to effectively dispose of organic wastes (food waste and similar biodegradable wastes) resulting in volume reduction and converting the organic waste into high-quality compost. The process of the semi-automatic composting machine is as under:

• Segregation of waste.
• Feeding of segregated organic waste into the composting machine.
• Shredding of waste and adding Bio-culture as Suggested.
• The waste will be processed in Batch Size.
• Put into the curing system.
• Within 10 days your compost is ready for use.

3) FULLY AUTOMATIC WITH AN INBUILT SHREDDER

PROCESS OF FULLY AUTOMATIC COMPOST MACHINE:

Alfa Therm decentralized composting machines are used to effectively dispose of organic wastes (food waste and similar biodegradable wastes) resulting in volume reduction and converting the organic waste into high-quality compost. The process of an automatic composting machine is as under:

• Segregation of waste.
• Feeding of segregated organic waste into the composting machines.
• Inbuilt Shredding of waste and adding Bio-culture as Suggested.
• Processing of waste into compost machine
• Ready compost for use.

SALIENT FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES:

• Fully Automatic and compact in size.
• All contact parts are of Stainless Steel construction.
• Stainless Steel Outer body.
• Processes all types of organic waste (Canteen Waste, Kitchen Waste, and garden Waste).
• Volume reduction of organic waste into high-quality compost.
• Ready compost in 24 hours
• Noiseless, Odorless, and Maintenance-free.
• No harmful gases.
• No pathogens.
• Reduces large amounts spent on transportation to landfill sites

4) BIOGAS

Biogas plants are waste-to-energy plants that convert organic waste into methane. Biogas plants rely on anaerobic digestion, a fermentation process in which organic waste is digested by microbes to produce methane (Biogas). Earth Recycler’s bio-gas plants are robust and durable and completely process organic waste in the shortest possible time with less maintenance costs. 

We stand with the best understanding of the entire process, from the disposal of waste and other raw materials, through processing, to the delivery of the final product. Biogas plants are best suited for Restaurants, hotels, and food industries which generate large amounts of food waste and are looking for significant long-term organic waste management solutions in addition to being environmentally responsible. We offer biogas plants of different capacities from as small as 0.5 cubic meters in size.

Why Facilus? 

 Organized, Integrated Facility Management Services! 

•  Focused only on residential apartments, villas 
• CEO will Monitor all sites and monthly Meetings  
• 24*7 Technology-backed & IoT Service 
• 100% legal compliance in operations  
• SMEs are Core Team 
• Cost optimization initiatives (Power Savings, Water Savings, Segregation at source)  
• Sustainable living (Segregation, Rainwater, Organic composting, Wastewater Treatment)  
• Predictive maintenance and effective operations  
• Statutory Requirements 
• Liaison with Govt bodies to handle all escalations  
• Over 100+ services categories,1000+ vendors 
• A Trustworthy mentor for RWA’s  

Contact Us.

Jagadeesh P

CEO, Founder & FMS Auditor @ Facilus Facility Management Pvt Ltd.

Mail ID: jagadeesh.p@facilusfms.com

Mobile No: +91 87470 78508

Website: www.facilusfms.com

Address: 20/1, 2nd Floor, 14th Cross Rd, opp. to SBI Bank ATM, 1st Block, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560010