Page 25 - Clean India Journal Magazine June 2019 Issue
P. 25
COVER STORY
is vast: Food waste, paper, tin, glass, treatment plants, where it undergoes continuous aeration that
plastic, hazardous, biomedical, encourages the growth of bacteria which digest its organic
construction, etc. Using Chassis- constituents. After several stages of filtration, it is used for
mounted Hydraulic Compactors, Auto flushing purposes in the passenger terminal, as well as for
Tippers, Multi Cap Refuse Collectors landscaping. A whopping 46% of RGIA’s water need is met
and other devices, this waste is by its own recycled water.
collected and brought to a centralised Stakeholder sensitisation
waste processing facility. Here, waste
is segregated into various categories. An airport is managed by several agencies, each of which
While the passenger terminals have is itself under the authority of a different body. Members
always two bins side-by-side for of some agencies, such as the CISF and Customs, are
wet and dry waste collection, not all frequently transferred just as they are beginning to adapt to
passengers put the right waste in the RGIA’s ethos. GMR facilitates better coordination between
right bin. “But over time, our need these agencies for better results. Five years ago, it launched
to segregate waste is reducing. More a program called Rishta, to impart soft-skills training to
and more people are conscious about airport employees.
separating different kinds of garbage.” “Here we have stakeholder engagement. We make them
Food waste is mixed with sawdust drivers of projects. We give them timelines, and see how
and digesting bacteria; open-air, they deliver. We are working for a cultural change towards
aerobic composting is done, and up to being sensitive to the environment.”
two tonnes of compost produced every
day. This compost is used in place
of chemical fertilisers for the airport
landscaping, and at on-site vegetable
farms. RGIA was the first Indian
airport to set up its own composting
plant.
Non-biodegradable waste is
collected and separated according
to categories. Hazardous waste
is put into closed containers and
appropriately disposed to the
authorised agencies. E-waste is
collected by the IT department and
handed over to authorised recyclers.
Even oil and grease from aircraft
maintenance is collected and handed
over to the authorised agencies for the
reprocessing. . Since the new terminal
is being built and the existing one
remodelled, excavated soil is shifted
to low-lying areas, and steel waste and
wood waste are sent to recyclers.
Wastewater is collected, treated
and reused at the airport itself. It
is pumped through a closed-pipe
system to two in-house sewage
Clean India Journal
www.cleanindiajournal.com 25
June 2019