IIT-Hyderabad makes its own waste management system

Hyderabad: In an effort to convert the campus greener and cleaner, the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) launched Resource Recovery Park (RRP) on Thursday.

"As a human race, it is our duty towards nature, to keep it intact for the future generation. RRP is one such small step in this direction," said Prof B S Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad.

The campus has a door-to-door waste collection mechanism with clear segregation, which will be collected using a battery-operated vehicle. The solid waste generated on the campus is broadly separated into dry and wet categories. Wet waste generated in hostel mess, is shredded and fed into a biogas digester and that will used in the student's dining facility. The wet waste from the residential areas is sent to the vermicompost facility at the RRP. The compost is used for gardening purposes.

All biodegradable wastes will be moved to the pits/windrow platform for composting. The biodegradable wastes are processed using microbial and vermicomposting techniques. Once processed, the compost is passed through a sieving machine to remove foreign particles and bigger chunks of waste. The compost is then stored in the compost storage room and later used as fertilizer.

Besides the institution had done several other things in this regard, like banning the usage of paper cups, single-use plastic water bottles, replacing RO water purifiers with UV water purifiers, door to door waste collection and bio-digester to growing more than 15,000 trees in the last two years. Resulting in significant reduction in carbon footprint in the campus.