Chapter 10 delves into the specifics of various composting initiatives, past and present, in Hyderabad.

Pretty much all of the success of small scale composting initiatives within Hyderabad depends/depended upon how “pure” the raw organic waste is. Large producers of organic waste such as restaurants and hotels see more of their organic waste becoming compost because #1 They have the resources to sell their waste to private companies and #2 Their waste tends to be separated at source by employees. Un-separated waste (organic from inorganic) tends to end up in landfills because there isn’t a large enough management system, formal or informal, in place to offer this service. Un-seperated waste is more costly to deal with because it requires that extra step in order to avoid contamination.

Although education of the general public about the importance of separating waste is growing in large part due to the work by NGOs and CBOs, this last issue of motivating local households to separate their waste prevents composting from having a large impact environmentally and economically.

In general terms, organic waste in the city is dealt with in the following ways:

• Park Services use leaf and branch litter in compost, reuse it in flower and shrub beds.
• Rich households will compost their own organic waste, and use it on their own private gardens
• Vegetable and fruit markets will sell raw organic waste to farmers (to be used as animal feed or composted for fertilizer)
• Large industries will sell their waste directly to farmers or third party waste disposal companies, who either sell their wares further down the chain or compost it themselves for re-sale.
• The Hyderabad horse club has manure transported to farms daily to be used in mushroom growing.

One disappointing detail about the use of compost and organic waste by farmers is that although it has been shown that organic compost yields better crops and can be used on a wider variety of crops (unlike chemical fertilizer or manure) the number of farmers using it is going down due to a number of factors. Two of the largest reasons being the cost of transporting compost out of the city to rural farms is getting higher and commercial fertilizer and poultry waste is thought to be cheaper than compost. Also, as mentioned in my previous blog entry, the rise in volume of non-biodegradable/toxic waste being mixed in with the organic waste makes it impossible to use for growing food. This makes separation at source all the more critical, although it doesn’t solve the problem of cost of transportation.

The article goes on to describe the experiences of  two NGOs, Sukuki Exnora and SPEQL, in their attempts to build sustainable composting options within the city. Sukuki Exnora, with the help of a government grant, built a small vermicomposting plot in Indira Park. While the site provided a few relatively well paying jobs, safety equipment and operated within budget, complaints from residence soon made things difficult. The site, by its very nature, produced a terrible odor, that made its way into the surrounding neighborhoods. On top of that, the organic waste attracted rodents to the area. After re-locating, some of the complaints abated, but these initial problems are currently preventing the NGO from opening a second site in another part of the city.

SPEQL also opened a vermicomposting site withing the city. Their’s is located near the Kothapet fruit market and relies daily on organic waste directly from the various vendors.  Unlike Sukuki Exnora, SPEQL started out with more funding, better tools and more efficient machinery. However, they reportedly do not offer as much in the way of employees safety and job security. They have sometimes come into conflict with the local market committee, although the reasons are not specified in the article.

Overall, the composting initiatives in Hyderabad, although successful on a small scale, have yet to prove their viability on a large scale. Producing compost continues to be very costly compared to peoples’ purchasing power, and the lack of awareness within the general population about its benefits is also a barrier. On the other hand, since the publishing of this article, I have seen that the interest in this area continues to grow within India. It would be worth exploring how composting can be made more financially sustainable as well as try to solve the problem of cost of transportation and the environmental annoyance of odor and the more serious problem of rodent infestation.

 

-Ashley