Maurya Sheraton's Waste Management Solutions

Written by Caroline / 12 February 2010 / Read Caroline's latest blog entries.

The Maurya Sheraton has been composting its waste for over two years, processing almost 600 kilos of food waste generated daily from the six restaurants and hundreds of rooms inside the hotel, along with about 200 kilos of plant and yard waste daily, turning it all into high grade fertilizer. In doing so, the hotel has been able to eliminate all external chemical fertilizer use in the hotel's expansive lawns and has gotten international publicity for its work.

In discussions with the hotel's administration, we learned that they have been able to reduce costs dramatically by producing their own fertilizer, and the costs of the composting unit - about 10 lakh, or 20,000 USD - was paid for within the first year of usage. The excess fertilizer generated is donated to "The Ridge" - the forest lung of Delhi that has one portion running opposite the Maurya. The gardens alongside the road are all maintained by the Maurya at low cost due to donated compost.

Most interestingly, this entire unit takes up a very small amount of space and requires only two staff to manage the entire system. Both staff people are completely deaf, and were trained by Maurya Sheraton and Excel (the technology provider) to fulfill their roles using sign language.

The Excel Organic Waste Converter takes up less than 1 x .5 meters of area, and grinds all food and plant waste into fine particles. While grinding, the food is mixed with an accelerating enzyme which acts as a catalyst for decomposition. The food is also mixed with a natural lemongrass compound, and sometimes with a chili powder, to maintain a pleasant odor and reduce the amount of animals and bugs interested in eating the compost material.

The ground waste is placed in small baskets, and placed on racks. In less than two weeks, the food particles are further broken down by microorganisms to become a safe, fertile soil supplement. This is a cost-effective, innovative, and traditional solution to the problem of food waste, thus eliminating the transportation emissions generated by trucking waste to a landfill, the methane emissions from food waste decomposing anaerobically in a landfill, and the energy used to generate and transport chemical fertilizers. Plus, it generates good, safe jobs for staff who  might not otherwise be able to work in the hospitality industry in India.