Sustainable Solution to the Food Waste Disposal at Workmen Camp

Abstract

The object of this research is to find out sustainable solution to the food waste disposal at workmen camp.In current years, food waste disposal at workmen camp is one of the major problems being faced via many nations the world over. In the workmen colony at Chittapur, kalaburagi district, Karnataka State, India, a chain of kitchens were constructed for cooking purpose and some of small canteens were also functioned. Big quantity of food waste was collected daily from these eateries and disposed at a faraway place. Food waste is highly degradable in nature, if not disposed properly it causes environmental pollution. Hence, it is very important to identify sustainable environmental method to dispose food waste at workman camp. An anaerobic digestion method was adopted. And constructed an anaerobic digestion system with a capacity of 500 kg per day at workmen camp. This establishment is the first time in the construction industry at workmen camp in India. An Anaerobic Digestion has been recognized as one of the best options that are available for treating food waste, at the end it produce methane gas   and compost with nutrients. Biogas is a mixture of CH4 and CO2 about (55:45). Micro-economical benefits by energy and fertilizer substitutes and macro-economic benefits through decentralizing energy generation and environmental protection is the main advantage of biogas plant using food waste at the workmen camp. Biogas generated can be used for thermal applications such as cooking or for generating electricity. The digested slurry is a well stabilized organic manure and can be used as soil fertilizer. Plant was designed to handle 500 kg of food waste /day. 27 kg LPG was generating from 500kg of kitchen waste and producing organic manure with plant micro and macro nutrients. This can be used for growing plants and in agriculture. The annual revenue has generated Rupees of 10.62 lakh and the annual expenditure was Rupees of 1.8 lakh. The net benefit of Rupees 8.82 lakh. Payback period is 2.1 years. This process controls the environmental pollution and fulfilled the concept of reduce, reuse and energy recovery. This establishment is the first time in the construction industry at workmen camp in India. It controls the environmental pollution and fulfilled the concept of Reduce, Reuse, and Energy Recovery.