Kitchen market waste turns bio-fertiliser

A man collects organic waste at Karwan Bazar kitchen market in the capital yesterday to be used as raw material for producing bio-fertiliser. Photo: STARBio-waste generated at the city's kitchen markets might no more be used for land filling and such other purposes since it is now being utilised as a raw material for producing quality bio-fertiliser. Collecting the organic waste from the markets, mainly Karwan Bazar vegetable market, local private firm Waste Concern, in association with its Dutch partners, has launched a compost plant at Bhulta in Narayanganj. This is the first 'carbon trade-based' bio-fertiliser plant in the world and also the first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in Bangladesh. Waste Concern is working on waste management for long.The executive board of the UN-approved CDM under the Kyoto Protocol has already registered the project which will entitle its owners to get certificates for 'non-generation of carbon'. And they will sell those to developed countries. “We are producing fertiliser in such a process that we prevent generation of half a tonne of greenhouse gas by producing one tonne of fertiliser," said AH Md Maqsood Sinha, managing director of the plant--WWR Bio Fertiliser Bangladesh Ltd. A UN-approved body-- Designated Operating Entity (DOE)-- examines whether a plant generates carbon or not, and provides certificates in this regard. Such certificates have a $ 25 billion global market. Under the CDM, developed countries seek to meet their obligations to cut carbon emissions by sponsoring carbon-cutting schemes in poor countries. PRODUCTION METHODOrganic waste is collected from the kitchen markets and carried to the fertiliser plant. Dried and fresh waste is then mixed and piled up at specially-made pre-composting site at the plant. In the composting process, temperature is kept at 60 degrees Celsius and oxygen level above 10 percent. Composting and drying in different phases take 40 to 55 days before the production of bio-fertiliser. As much as 25 to 30 tonnes of bio-fertiliser can be produced from 100 tonnes of waste.Fertiliser produced at this plant will be sold at Tk 4 to 5 per kg while bio-fertiliser now sells at Tk 10 to 12 per kg. The plant built at a cost of 12.5 million euro now handles 138 tonnes of organic waste a day. Two more plants will be set up at Gazipur and Savar next year, raising the total capacity of handling waste up to 700 tonnes per day. In the capital, 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes of waste are generated every day, of which 80 percent is organic. Agriculture Adviser CS Karim yesterday inaugurated the plant while Dutch Ambassador in Dhaka Mrs Bea Ten Trusscher attended the opening ceremony as special guest. Others present on the occasion included Mayor of Narayanganj Pourasabha Selina Hayat Ivy, Jan Banooe, chairman of the plant, Mohammed Reazuddin, member-secretary of Designated National Authority on CDM of Bangladesh government, and Shirin Kamal of the UNDP.
The Daily Star : Published On: 2008-11-26