Aafrin Kidwai 
Picture credit: by Del Barrett on Unsplash
In Kanpur, GIZ recently completed a waste characterization study. At six different transhipment stations in the city, an eight-person team gathered samples from different waste streams.
The study found that about half of municipal waste is organic in nature. Organic waste makes up nearly half of municipal solid trash (46%) on average, according to the waste stream analysis. Here is what the study found:
- Food and kitchen waste (93 percent)
- Garden waste (5 percent)
- Wood waste (1 percent)
- Other biodegradable materials such as husks and straw (1 percent) used for packaging.
The aim of the study is to understand Kanpur’s ongoing organic waste management processes and promote the development of a sustainable municipal strategy for organic waste management. It is intended to help city managers determine the advantages of various waste treatment options, such as composting processes or anaerobic fermentation processes. Based on the knowledge gained, standard instructions for the implementation of waste characterizations will be drawn up, in addition to a roadmap for setting up decentralized composting plants. This is intended to promote the recycling of city compost in other parts of the country as well.
As part of its “Export Initiative for Environmental Technologies” to promote German enterprises and transfer important information and technologies, the German government has been conducting such research in various regions of the world, which is tied to GIZ’s “Cities Against Plastic in the Sea” programme.
This three-and-a-half-year project, which began in 2019, is aimed at improving practises to prevent plastic from entering the marine environment. It is being carried out at the national level (at MoHUA), in select states (Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and in the cities of Kanpur, Kochi, and Port Blair.
Disclaimer: This article is taken from a press release issued by GIZ
