Balangoda Urban Council solid waste management project a success story:

One man's garbage another man's treasure

by Sajitha PREMATUNGE

Nimal Premathilaka, Chief Public Health Inspector, Urban Council, Balangoda

Waist deep in waste, it was amazing to hear a high spirited Saroja say "Nothing is impossible for us." Not to sound condescending - quite the contrary, because the service rendered by Saroja and the like is worthy of commendation - but it requires amazing endurance levels to work in a garbage dump. But the dump site Saroja works in is no normal garbage dump. In fact it is one of the most successful composting projects in the country - the garbage dump managed by the Balangoda Urban Council - one of the very few success stories concerning waste management.

In spite of the fact that this particular site receives more than 2.5 tons of waste every 45 minutes, the authorities have proved that garbage is money.

Commenced in 1998, the composting plant of Balangoda Urban Council is one of the most successful in the country. Secretary, Balangoda Urban Council, Nalin Pushpakumara said that over 40 local authorities use the expertise of the Balangoda Urban Council composting program. He pointed out that, according to research, while the people of the lower and upper class have got used to segregation of garbage people of the middle class still show reluctance due to their busy schedules. Consequently he observes the need for an attitudinal change.

"It is difficult to reform attitudes of the adults." This is why the Balangoda Urban Council has picked out five schools for their awareness programs, where five resource centres to turn in non biodegradable waste, have also been set up.

Chairman of the Council Gamini Weerasinghe said that no election campaigns are conducted using polythene within Balangoda city limits. Prof. W. Abeyewickreme, Chairman, Central Environmental Authority said that if proper waste management techniques are followed three out of four deaths - that are caused by epidemics like dengue - can be prevented.

Recyclable

As for any urban council garbage had been a major problem for Balangoda, it is so no more. "Garbage is a valuable resource. Unfortunately it is at the wrong place at the wrong time" said the mastermind of the Nimal Premathilaka, Chief Public Health Inspector, Urban Council, Balangoda. "Our job is to put it in the right place at the right time." But it was no easy task to get the compost plant off the ground.

Balangoda compost plant

Nimal Premathilaka explained that it was trial by error all along. Balangoda Urban Council commenced their waste management project, amongst many complaints by the villagers, with least amount of land, money and least sophisticated machinery.

"We tried to solve our garbage problem taking into consideration the biological, social, technical and economical behaviours of garbage" explained Nimal Premathilaka. 70% of the waste produced in Balangoda is biodegradable. Which means that it can be turned into compost. 20% more of the garbage is recyclable. "Only 10% of Balangoda garbage is problematic." Collection centres have been set up for the collection of non degradable garbage.

The success of the Balangoda waste management project lies in its sustainability. For a composting plant raw material - garbage - is of utmost importance. The factory would be running at a loss if a proper collection method is not maintained. "We collect garbage every hour on the hour."

However one of the major challenges faced by the project is garbage segregation. In addition to attitude problems of the public, the inefficiency of public garbage collectors have hindered the process.

"A frequent complaint made by the public is that although they segregate garbage, public garbage collectors dump garbage out of the bags straight on to the tractors with no consideration for segregation" said Nimal Premathilaka.

Consequently there is no point in asking the public to segregate garbage under the prevailing collection process. "70% of the segregation process is carried out in the plant itself by labourers, rest by machine."

Although segregation by hand may be very tedious and may not be 100% accurate, segregated garbage is a valuable resource.

Compost

The segregated biodegradable waste is then subjected to what is called a 'filing' process. But compost production is time consuming. Nitrogen and carbon are two essential ingredients in the decaying process. Obtaining Nitrogen and carbon was a problem we had to deal with at the initial stage of the Balangoda waste management project. The only viable source of Nitrogen was the animal waste produced by the local fish market, farm and the slaughter house. The animal waste was buried in the middle of the 'file' to facilitate the decaying process. "It is of utmost importance to keep aerobic conditions, so the decaying process is performed by aerobic bacteria, to prevent the production of unpleasant odours" explained Nimal Premathilaka. Consequently it is important to constantly maintain just the right temperature for aerobic bacteria inside the files. "Whenever we failed to do so we received many complaints from the locals about extremely unpleasant odours."

Another major problem the composting plant of Balangoda had to face was leachate (a secretion containing contaminants, formed by leaching), which also produced strong unpleasant odours.

Saroja Working at the compost plant

"The solutions adopted by developed countries concerning leachate was not economically viable for a waste management project in its infancy, like ours" said Nimal Premathilaka. But Nimal Premathilaka's correspondence with an Indian scientist came up with the very viable solution of 'dilution'. "The scientist explained that leachate diluted in water produce less odour."

However the nearest source of water was a natural water spring that was used by the public at the time. The Balangoda Urban Council's waste management project came up with another ingenious solution to obtain water for dilution of leachate without depriving the public of their water. "We devised a method to collect used water from the spring."

The leachate was allowed to mix with water, in a ditch that ran around vicinity of the Balangoda composting plant. The mechanism that makes the Balangoda waste management project so successful and foolproof is the reuse of diluted leachate to reduce the temperature of the 'files' of garbage, in order to ensure the survival of aerobic bacteria. The whole process is an interconnected cycle, which ensures its sustainability.

It is not only sustainable, but one with nature, often acting as symbiotic ecosystem. "The lack of storks is a good indicator of odour" explained the Chief PHI. They are also a biological control for maggots. "Maggots surfaces from the 'files' due to rise in temperature and storks feed on them." A natural phenomenon observed during April is an explosion of fly population. "The storks are scared off by fire crackers during the new year festivities. Lack of their only natural predator results in a sudden increase in fly population in the area."

Moisture

The files of garbage are turned constantly either by complicated machinery or by labourers. After four turns a file reaches its maturity, when it becomes essential to cease all bacterial activities. 5% - 8% of moisture is reduced by sieving.

"Not even the leftovers are discarded in the process. The refuse from the sieving process - already rich in bacteria - is added to the 'files' to speed up the decaying process. "This also reduces the leachate excretion."

The moisture of the sieved material is yet again increased by adding leachate. Mixing leachate also enriched the compost.

Another problem encountered by the project is the excess silicon in the finished product. "This is a frequent complaint made by our customers. And our solution was to mix burnt husks with the garbage." Heavy metals are another form of waste that can be toxic to plants.

To prevent heavy metals - that mix with garbage in form of discarded batteries, etc... - the Balangoda Urban Council refrains from collecting garbage from service stations and educate the public to refrain from disposing of such waste with other garbage.

Normal biodegradable waste is not the only waste treated in the compost plant of Balangoda. Sludge collected from toilet pits are the raw material for Balangoda super compost. The sludge is collected in a coconut fiber treatment tank to separate particles from water. "This process is so efficient that the water derived has been tested and proven good enough to drink!" The dried sludge is then put in a dry bed, where the temperature rise would annihilate any pathogens.

Balangoda compost plant has now turned into a major supplier of compost for Sri Lanka's plantation and agricultural industry from Balangoda to Batticaloa. The Balangoda Urban Council's waste management program is an excellent example for many projects that never got off ground due to technical, monitory difficulties and protests by the public.