What is Waste Management and How to do Waste Management are two questions that every apartment complex faces when they wish to undertake the activity. As an initiate we too have conducted workshops on the subject and have highlighted Project Green Diamond has always been a success story we love to share.
An 917 apartment complex, Diamond District would have a one truck load of waste daily. Having realized that this was a major issue and was causing great harm to the eco-system, they laid down certain goals which would be attained phase wise.
Phase 1 – Reach 90% segregation levels
Phase 2 – Extend it to the neighborhood
Phase 3 – Have a community waste sorting station and have a bio gas plant.
What were the challenges?
The managing committee encountered knew they had several challenges ahead of them before they could undertake the waste management process. Firstly, the apartment complex was 20 years old and hence there was no space available for waste management. Secondly, there were too many stakeholders i.e. opinion makers like the builder, facility management, house keeping association, etc. Thirdly, there were no standard best practices laid down by any one else. And lastly, the task to reach out to 917 apartment owners and 3000 employees working in offices.
They had to do 3 months of ground work and research before commencing with the project. This involved, learning from others domain knowledge, create awareness about segregation, set up a back end collection process, source funds for the project, have the right vendors and tie up with them, train the housekeeping staff and identify volunteers and block champions.
To undertake waste management, one must understand and lay down the process. The process for Project Green Diamond was a simple 4 step mechanism:
- Segregated Generation – separate waste at the point of generation by means of separation using separate bins. This would occur at source and thus required motivating the residents. For this there were awareness campaigns to spread the communication. They also purchased color coded bins. A Green Diamond run and Carnival was conducted for the residents to reinforce the message.
- Collection – The housekeeping staff was trained to collect garbage in the right bag. There were separate bags for different kinds of waste. The collecting personnel were motivated by means of incentives, monthly parties and so on.
- Sorting – Collected dry waste was further sorted at dedicated sorting stations. Paper, Cardboard, Plastic, Glass and Metal were all separated from each other.
- Waste Disposal – This was critical. Dry waste was recycled and sold off to local vendors. Bio-degradable and Toxic Waste was handed over to BBMP for treatment and disposal.
The logistical requirement for smooth and successful implementation of Project Green Diamond was a 500 – 800 sq ft room for secondary segregation, A budget of Rs. 20,000 – Rs. 50,000 for purchase of color coded bins and stickers and an additional manpower for secondary segregation. The money generated from sale of the waste paid for 2/3rd of the manpower required for secondary segregation.
Key Milestones of Project Green Diamond
- 82% segregation within 2 months.
- Monthly average of dry waste – 3 tons
- Average monthly income of Rs. 12,000
- Housekeeping staff was motivated with the gifts and tea parties.
- It motivated many communities to take up waste management
- It set new standards for large apartment complexes.
- Average collection over 3 months was – 3 tons of waste paper, 1.7 tons of plastic, 1.3 tons of cardboard, 2 thousand glass bottles, 200 KG of metal and 1 ton of aluminum cans.