BARC bucket can process kitchen waste

Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) struggles to find a feasible solution for its garbage woes, scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre said they are about to launch a project using a bucket that can turn domestic waste into compost within two days.

Nisargadoot is a bucket, treated with chemicals and bacteria that turn a kilogramme of biodegradable garbage into compost within 48 hours. Easy to use and reusable for years, the process has the potential to resolve dumping problems forever, said the scientists.

A larger version of Nisargadoot is the Nisargaguna, a large-scale, self-sustainable plant that turns four tonnes of garbage into 100 kg manure and 60 kg biogas daily.

Scientists from BARC told The Asian Age said that the idea of Nisargadoot came from the need for a small-scale domestic procedure which could resolve the segregation issue and stop biodegradable waste from going to the dumping yard.

The buckets in the Nisargadoot function with the help of aerobic bacteria, which work in the presence of air.

“The bucket can come in various sizes, but for a pilot project, the buckets can contain 1 kg of waste. Once the garbage is closed, it takes two days for the bacteria to turn it into manure. Since there is no release of methane during the process, it’s completely safe and can be used at home,” said S. Mehetre, scientist working on the project.

Nisargadoot is slated to be implemented as a pilot project at a few societies in Chembur who seemed interested to use and check the feasibility of the product. “All one has to do is sort out the biodegradable material and put it in the bucket. We know it works best and we are hoping it will be a successful product,” said Mr Mehetre. Nisargaguna was ideally planned to be used on a ward level with a capacity to turn four tonnes of garbage into biogas and manure.

BARC has been using this process for the past decade to power its training quarters, canteen and create manure for the entire BARC campus.

Bibhuti Mishra, another scientist, said that the project has been picked up by different state governments to be used in their offices and residential areas. Nisargaguna is more efficient than any conventional biogas plant because it’s self-sustainable and the outcome includes biogas, which can be turned into electricity or used as fuel and manure, a perfect fertiliser, he said.

“We add all the kitchen waste, papers, leaves, everything which is degradable in the first stage of the plant which grinds the content into fine pieces. Then the content goes into the second stage of the plant where water, heated by solar panels at the degree of 45 degrees with the help of thermophilic bacteria starts the fragmentation process. The entire content then passes through a pipe to the final stage of the plant, which is a floating dome. While the dome is water sealed to prevent oxygen from escaping, in this stage, anaerobic bacteria create biogas and methane out of the content 15 feet below the ground,” explained Mr Mishra.

While the process takes around 20 days, the plant has the capacity to accommodate four tonnes of garbage and can serve an entire ward. The plant costs around Rs16-17 lakh.

“Currently, there are more than 250 plants across the nation. Some 60 of them are in the state; however, all of them are privately-owned,” said Mr Mishra.