The disposal of the kitchen waste produced by the two cook-houses at the Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) was a problem till recently. It was dumped somewhere till it was lifted by the civic authorities.

When the authorities thought of recycling the disposal, the first idea to appear in their mind was of vermiculture. However, it has its own limitations. Finally, they decided to implement E-M technology which is user-friendly and cheap. E-M technology which stands for effective micro-organism utilises a unique combination of friendly bacteria in liquid form. When added to left-over kitchen waste in specially designed drums, the bacteria act in a manner that the left-over gets fermented and converted into a rich variety of compost. This compost, when added to soil, acts as an excellent form of manure.

"We used to purchase five truck loads of organic manure every year. Now all our gardens have this compost which is rich in essential nutrients and humus. When the compost was applied to imported seeds, their mortality rate was found to be low", said a source at the centre. To utilise the compost to the maximum, fallow land at the centre is brought under cultivation and patches of land are assigned to patients to cultivate.

The two cook-houses at the centre generate daily waste that can be filled in a 165 litre plastic drum. It takes five days for the waste to decompose. Ten plastic drums are used to produce compost. Perhaps this is the only capital investment in the entire project.

An EM solution has wonderful uses. It can be used in drains and toilets to keep them free from clogging. The work area near the kitchen, dining hall and wards is cleaned with the solution. It is used to mop floors keeping them clean and free from houseflies. It is also used to clean kitchen utensils.

Available at Rs. 115 per litre, the EM stock solution has a shelf life of six months. It can be used to prepare up to 70 litres of the secondary EM solution with rice wash water and a little bit of sugar. The ALC has developed this technology as a result of which effective method of kitchen waste management has become cheaper.