There’s money in the garbage bin

Waste disposal is not a subject that preoccupies too many of us, but Mohammed Dawood S was consumed by it. A student of biotechnology who had wandered into a sales representative’s job and realised that it was not his cup of tea, found himself thinking more and more about the potential in those vegetable shavings to turn into valuable organic manure. “I did much research before starting on my own,” he says. 

“Everyone talks about global warming without knowing the science behind it. The idea was to collect organic waste from residential complexes, process it and give that to organic farmers to use as a catalyst to set up and operate a waste collection and disposal system.” This was how he decided to start Earth Recycler to provide integrated environmental friendly services and solutions. Mohammed and his team mates started with MRC Nagar. 

“In July 2013, we approached apartment complexes in MRC Nagar. We started with meeting residents and members of residential associations. We learnt that almost all of them wanted to manage the household waste in order to safeguard the environment and natural resources, but what they lacked was a proper waste management and disposal system,” Mohammed found. Now he realised that he and his team would have to convince people about their plan. “When we started out, people didn’t understand the concept. We asked them to give us money to help us collect the waste. 

People were calculating about this and would not co-operate. We decided to think it over and approach it differently,” he says. So they went back to the residents’ associations with a new concept and offered to give them money for the recyclable waste collected from their houses. “The idea clicked. They started with one apartment complex and the rest of MRC Nagar followed suit. We then approached the corporation and they built a vermicomposting yard in the locality.” However, residents were worried about foul odour likely to emanate from it. 

“We have a research team that has created enzymes to make the process more effective. There are some plants that nullify the odour. The collected waste is first rested with dry leaves. It is then mixed with bacterial culture. We mix the rest with soil and earthworms for composting,” he says. What started with one neighbourhood has spread across the city. 

“We train maids, housekeeping staff and residents on waste segregation and disposal. We distribute posters and stickers that can be stuck in the kitchen and other prominent places where waste is generated. We arrange collection of waste on a daily basis,” says Mohammed. Earth Recycler now works with 57 residential complexes, five IT parks and five educational institutions.