Will India’s food waste help fuel their economic growth?

Will
India’s food waste help
fuel their economic growth?

 (http://www.ricardo-aea.com/cms/will-india-s-food-waste-help-fuel-their-economic-growth/)

                                                                                                                                    (07.10.2013)

According
to the World Bank Report What a Waste, India’s urban population of
320 million people produces over 100,000 tonnes per day of municipal solid
waste
(MSW) . 

Much
of this is organic waste comprising mainly food. Using World Bank figures, it is possible
to estimate that India
produces 38,350 tonnes of organic waste per day. That’s enough waste to fill
the Chidambaram Cricket Stadium in Chennai to a depth of 680 metres – that’s
over 2.5 times higher than India’s tallest fully constructed building (The
Imperial, Mumbai). These are sobering figures when one considers that almost 80
million people in Indian cities lived below the poverty line in 2009/10 and 221 million people in India are acutely malnourished.

India’s
food is wasted
across the supply chain, from field to fork. It is estimated that a quantity of
wheat equivalent to the entire production of Australia goes to waste in India each year while at
least 40% of all its fruit and vegetables is lost between grower and consumer
due to lack of refrigerated transport, poor roads, inclement weather and
corruption. Table 1 illustrates the level of
organic waste generated by a few of the cities considered by the World Bank in
its recent What a Waste study.

Quantities of Food Waste Generated by a
Selection of Cities in India Food waste as a fuel for
growth

  A
large proportion of this organic waste is likely to be unavoidable (food waste from preparation,
plate scraps, spoilage, green waste etc.). For this element of the waste stream
a sustainable solution will be necessary to avoid this waste ending up in
landfills which will contribute to further environmental degradation. Organic
waste is the largest element of the municipal solid waste stream in India, comprising more than
half by weight. There is much to be gained by making smart use of this resource
and collecting the organic materials separately.

Food
waste is an excellent feedstock for a biogas generation process and has the
potential to generate much needed renewable electricity, as well as producing a
soil conditioner for agriculture and reducing the environmental impacts
associated with the uncontrolled degradation of organic waste materials (water
and air pollution, and odour generation).

And
there is growing evidence that biogas systems for processing organic waste can
work in India. Many
households particularly in the south and south west have installed biogas units
operating on household food
waste. One company, Biotech, located in Kerala is reported to have installed 20,000
biogas units generating renewable electricity. The Appropriate Rural Technology
Institute (ARTI) have developed a small scale AD biogas system which can be installed in urban house (often on the roof at
space is tight).

Businesses
too are starting to rise to the challenge. The Food and Beverage (F&B) industry is
considered a majority stakeholder in the production of food waste. In Hyderabad the
city’s hotels such as Mariott and The Taj Hotels group have implemented the food waste hierarchy
targeting prevention of food
waste where possible and with the donation of any excess to locals schools and
NGOs before any consideration of energy production or disposal. The ITC Grand
Kakatiya have even installed an on-site biogas unit enabling them to produce
nutrient rich compost which is given to the hotel landscapers or put up for
sale. And in Mumbai, the Dabbawala Foundation in partnership with an NGO called
The Happy Life Welfare Society have launched a food donation campaign “Share my Dabba” where
surplus food can be
donated to those in need. There are signs that the Government is starting to
take the issue more seriously with particular focus on 5 star hotels.
Guidelines prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in early
August emphasis donation of food
and offering half portions to guests.

On
the whole, there is a lot of organic waste out there and the evidence suggests India is slowly but surely
moving towards source segregation. But now is the time to have foresight and
think strategically about how India
can utilise the organic waste it collects in the most efficient way. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) developed the “National Master Plan
for Development of WtE” in India.
Within this plan a high level ranking of energy from Waste (EfW) technologies
was undertaken based on the following criteria: “System Configuration, System
Auxiliaries, Environmental Aspects, Resource Recovery and Commercial Aspects”.
The report concluded “Biomethanation (or anaerobic digestion) has emerged as a
mature and widely accepted WTE technology on a global basis. It ranks first
with a good track record and less environmental impacts”. This suggests there is
support for the proliferation of the technology, at least from higher level
government agencies that is.

But
the realities of deploying such technologies cannot be underestimated. The
process requires a near to homogenous composition with minimal contamination of
non-organics such as plastics and metals. One only needs to think of Bangalore
(formerly the “Garden City” now nicknamed the “Garbage City”) in order to get a
sense of the challenge. Last September communities living around the city’s
landfills protested against the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for
dumping untreated waste. The communities took to the street stopping garbage
trucks and causing mayhem. The city’s streets began to clog up with piles of
untreated, decaying waste at every corner and open areas of land (4,000 tonnes
per day is generated in Bangalore). The segregation of waste was made mandatory
in October and BBMP have taken a zero waste pilot programme to 30 wards.
Although training has been provided to the waste collectors or pourakarmikas no
facilities exist to keep the waste separate and residents are highly cynical.
The city lack sufficient infrastructure and the influence of the “garbage
mafia” is strong and difficult to break. This short film (part of the Risk, uncertainty and technology in India project) really sums up
the challenges.

Energy
generation is just one way to deal with India’s growing mountains of organic
waste. But to make this management route a reality there are many hurdles to
overcome including reliable source segregation of food and garden waste, efficient collection
systems, and input from all stakeholders (including residents, businesses,
public and private sector). Success can, and will, be achieved given the right
amount of time, expert guidance and intelligent investment. However, this is a
whole other topic which needs careful attention and international support – so
watch this space!