Did it hurt you when someone called your country the dirtiest in the world? Did you ever react on seeing an empty packet lying on the streets? Or on the stinking garbage dump of your colony?
Well! This man did. And in a big way. Manik Thapar had decided “to clean up his country” quite early enough when he was doing his MBA in Michigan in the USA.
It was with this motive that he set up the Eco Wise Waste Management Pvt. Ltd., a waste management company in Noida two years ago. He was just 23 years of age then.
Two years on, the company collects garbage from six sectors of Noida on the outskirts of India’s capital, New Delhi. The recycle firm caters to 25,000 households and many big commercial and industrial establishments like the Haldirams and GE. This might well be a step to solve the garbage problem of Indian cities.
Environmental pollution
In India, Delhi alone generates nearly 7,000 tons of garbage per day, states Vatavaran, a Delhi based NGO involved in waste management. Most of this waste is dumped untreated in the landfills which are mostly open dumps.
“There is no scientific landfill site in all of India”, asserts Manik. There are various health problems directly associated with it.
Such landfills not only contaminate the ground water but also emanate dangerous gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Treating them in plants like the Eco Wise recycles most of the junk, so that only around 25 percent of the waste goes to the landfill site.
Treatment of waste
Ecowise collects garbage from households and also from some big commercial and industrial clients like the Haldirams and GE. “The waste is segregated and divided into bio-degradable and non biodegradable waste. The biodegradable waste is further converted into compost” explains Manik in his friendly tone.
Wet waste which consists mostly of kitchen waste is converted into organic and vermiculture compost. Cow dung and worms are used for this. The organic manure is sold at Re 1 per kg while the compost is sold at Rs 40 per kg.
So! Along with the cleaning campaign, the CEO is also making a lot of money. And it is not only him who benefits from it. “My venture saves the Noida Authority Rs 9 lakh a day”, asserts the young entrepreneurial.
I cannot but admire this bold initiative of the mature youngster. After all "Who wants to invest in garbage?"
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