Waste management technologies lined up

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Are you pondering over how to get rid of the garbage that has piled up on the roadside next to your apartment? Do not lose heart. Indigenous waste management technologies lined up by various firms accredited with Suchitwa Mission on Sooryakanthi ground have come up with some unique and innovative methods to deal with the garbage issue, which has been creating a furore in the city and around for quite long.The exhibition-cum-workshop organised by Suchitwa Mission was intended to develop a alternative waste addressing mechanism that is cost-efficient, reliable and ecofriendly. The highlight of the exhibition were biogas plants, which varied in size, material of construction and treatment capacity.Renoris Greenergy, a private firm based in Kozhikode, displayed a unique, but effective, biogas plant model which can decompose 100 kilograms of degradable waste a day.The preliminary step in the treatment of biodegradable waste is to churn the garbage into pulp, which is then fed to the biogas plant. The leftovers of food and other domestic waste are converted to cooking gas, containing 95 per cent Methane. The gas can be then stored temporarily in a gas balloon for future use.The device is so appealing both in its design and promised efficiency, except for the exorbitant price. A unit will cost one around Rs 6 lakh. The unit is most suited for  residential areas and educational institutions.A portable biogas plant equipped with water jacket might go down well with those whose wallets are relatively thin and who do not produce that much garbage which is required to operate a mega one. A small-sized household waste treatment plant manufactured by Renoris can deal with 2.5 kilograms of kitchen waste.Be it egg shell, bone waste or vegetable remains, the trash just needs to be thrown into the crusher. Result: No need to wait for the gas agency to deliver you an LPG cylinder. That is the package. And the cost is also alluring, Rs 4,5OO for a unit.For the ardent organic farmers, the expo has something. An earthen pot, the biggest that one can get these days, is all that one needs to procure. Lol, a strain of micro organism, is also available here.Degradable waste needs to be dropped into the pot for a month. For the restless souls, they can uncover the lid a bit early and hope that next time they would not do the same mistake. A month means a month. After that, the compost at the bottom of the pot can be collected and used as manure.But the gem among the innovations was the model of the waste-treatment plant set up by Eco Friendly Centre, based at Kodungalloor. Its package is too strong to resist, as the company will install the main machine, the Automated Plastic Separating Module, at its own cost. In return, the customer will have to arrange the land and the building. Waste need not be segregated as the machine will do it by its own.The crusher will crush the waste after the plastic is segregated from the rest. The slurry formed will be processed in a biogas plant which pasteurises the liquid content and converts it into manure. The solid waste is also converted into manure. The manure, along with the recycled plastic granules, would be taken back by the company as its share of return.