IIT Hyderabad sets up resource recovery park to manage waste

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) has been making all efforts to make its campus greener and cleaner. The institute has now developed a comprehensive waste management system by setting up a resource recovery park (RRP) on the premises. 

The institute has already banned usage of paper cups, single-use plastic water bottles, replaced RO water purifiers with UV water purifiers, implemented door-to-door waste collection, set up a bio-digester and planted more than 15,000 plants in past two years to reduce carbon footprint.  

On the facility being commissioned recently, Prof BS Murty, Director, IITH, said, “It is a sheer pleasure to see the campus becoming greener. IITH always has a keen interest to serve society in the best possible way and it starts from the campus. The culture of a clean campus will not only make a better place to live, but when students leave the campus they will develop similar premises wherever they go. As a human race, it is our duty towards nature, to keep it intact for the future generation. RRP is one such small step in this direction.” 

He said, “The campus already has a functional sewage treatment plant based on membrane bioreactor technology. The solid waste generated on the campus is broadly separated into dry and wet categories. Wet waste (food waste, vegetable peelings, etc. which are readily biodegradable) generated in hostel mess, is shredded and fed into a biogas digester. The generated biogas is used in the student’s dining facility. This reduces the consumption of fossil fuels. The wet waste from the residential areas is sent to the vermicompost facility at the RRP. The compost is used for gardening purposes.”  

The institute processes biodegradable wastes using microbial and vermi-composting techniques. Once processed, the compost is passed through a sieving machine to remove foreign particles and bigger chunks of waste. The compost is then stored in the compost storage room and later used as fertiliser. 

Read more:

• IIT Hyderabad inks pact with Korean drug firm to co-develop new drugs
• IIT Hyderabad Courses & Fees 2021
• IIT Hyderabad Admission 2021 for BTech, MTech and PhD