Mumbai firm processes tender coconut shells, says it can replace wood in crematoriums

Around five tonnes of tender coconut shells are collected on a daily basis by the firm’s workers

For the past one month, members of KK Brothers, a city-based firm, have been collecting shells of tender coconut across B -ward (Masjid Bunder) and C-ward (Marine Lines) and processing it at their waste treatment plant in Masjid Bunder. They plan to make briquettes from the waste, which they say can be used to replace wood in crematoriums. Apart from shredding coconuts, five tonnes of wet waste is processed at the treatment plant on a daily basis.

The waste is collected from 27 locations across the city, all of which are bulk generators.

“What we also intend to do is make coco peat from these shells, which could be used in nurseries as a substitute for soil. In that case one could save a lot of water because coco peats can absorb water for seven days. Currently, this model is being followed in Pune and Chennai,” said Nandkishore Khose, 52, co-founder of KK Brothers.

Khose said they are in talks with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to use the briquettes they plan to make from the waste as a replacement for wood at the crematoriums in Bhandup, Parel and Reay Road.

Akshay Nanaware from Akshay Solutions, who is in charge of the organic waste convertor at the waste treatment plant in Masjid Bunder, said that of the three tonnes of shredded coconut generated daily, 150kg is used in the composting system in place of saw dust.

“We require more saw dust in the composting machine as compared to shredded coconut. Also, tender coconut cannot be shredded along with other wet waste, which is how we came up with this option,” said Nanaware.

The treatment plant also processes wet waste. The waste is collected from 27 locations across the city, all of which are bulk generators, but do not have space in their premises to process the waste. Around two tonnes of compost is obtained from the process after around 25 days.

KK Brothers’ initiative comes after BMC has stopped collecting waste from bulk generators (those who generate more than 100 kg of wet waste a day or have an area of 20,000 square metres or more), and asked them to manage their waste themselves.

Udaykumar Shiroorkar, assistant municipal commissioner, B-ward, said efforts such as these help him manage the waste in his ward, thus reducing the trash being sent to dumping grounds.

“Masjid Bunder as an area is densely populated and compact with a lot of restaurants, who do not have space and cannot process their waste on their own. As a result of which waste treatment at the site becomes important, thus place was provided to KK Brothers to look after the waste,” Shiroorkar said.