BENGALURU:Five years ago, when New Krishna Bhavan owner Gopinath Prabhu adopted zero-solid-waste management in his hotel, many wondered how long he could manage it with his limited number of employees and how he would meet the cost of it. Today, Gopinath can proudly say that he has reused/recycled more than 200 tonnes of waste.
New Krishna Bhavan hotel located in Malleswaram is one of the oldest hotels in the city and a landmark for many. Many of the diners are not aware that the food they waste is not trashed. Hotel owner Gopinath ensures that every bit of 150-200kg of waste generated every day is re-used/recycled for other purposes including composting.
His success lies in understanding the composition of his waste, and segregating it into three bins and a bag instead of the usually prescribed two bins and a bag. Wet waste such as vegetable and food waste goes into one bin, dry like coconut husk into another and coffee/tea powder into third, and plastic and paper are dropped into the gunny bag.
The wet waste is sent to a piggery, coconut husk is used as fuel for stoves, coffee/tea powder is sprinkled over a nearby park as compost and plastic handed over to recyclers.Implementing zero-waste management was a challenge initially, particularly getting employees interested in the process. But now they are proud of their effort. This waste-management method has also corrected excess production, says Gopinath. “Initially we maintained a register to audit the wastage. We found out that we were cooking more than needed, and so we cut back on production, which saved our money too,” he says.
“We saw that we needed only 3 kg of rice but cooked 5 kg. Many times, ingredients like lemon and other vegetables used to lie unused and rot. With our waste audit, we cut back on unecessary spending,” he adds. Gopinath started on this mission in 2013, after he was tired of irregular work by the BBMP contractor.
“He was not punctual and would come during peak business hours. The bad smell that collected waste let out put off customers. On top of it, they were asking for money to come regularly. One day I decided to put an end to it and do something on my own. My friend Ramakanth who is a waste-management expert guided me in designing this system,” he says.
In the beginning, Gopinath and his manager Rajan had to monitor the system, but now employees follow it without supervision.Bhavani, who washes vessels, says that placing the bins close to her work area also makes it easy for her.“In other hotels, we collect the food waste till end of a shift and then another person sweeps it up and dumps it in a bin kept far away,” she says.