Non-burn Technologies (NBT) in Management of Food Wastes—A Possible Paradigm for Smart Cities

Abstract

Management of solid waste especially the municipal solid waste and in turn food wastes has been a serious challenge for both urban and rural settings. The basic flaw of segregation at source as well as non-uniformity of processing wastes leads to severe environmental and societal pressure. Presently, large-scale management of municipal solid wastes generally is taken care of by integrated solid waste management plants producing refuse derived fuels, compost, landfill of inert materials and recycling of appropriate materials. However, as we move towards smart cities along with a population with mixed aspirations, dynamic food habits with enhanced mobility, there is an urgent requirement of revisiting management of food wastes with a new dimension that addresses issues of land requirement, pre-treatment and utilization of biodegradable component with alternate end uses. Every day thousands of tons of consumed food is wasted in the country. Non-burn technologies (NBT) and thermo-mechanical processes can assist the management of food wastes without being too harsh on resources. These can also be of great use, where there are smaller lots of food waste or municipal solid waste generated on a daily basis. These technologies which were erstwhile utilized for treatment of biomedical wastes are being tested for pre-treatment of municipal wastes across the globe. This paper attempts to cover the status and relevance of such technologies including one which has been designed and developed in India, available processes which can be adapted in existing end-use sectors, in a systematic and planned manner with the involvement of relevant stakeholders. The major advantage of such technologies and processes would be the low time conversion, ease of handling the wastes and use of resultant products as energy resource or simply as compost or further processing.