The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore is processing nearly 1,000 kg of wet and dry waste daily inside the campus and has banned the use of plastic. It aims to become a zero-waste and a net-zero energy campus. It has already made the campus a no single-use plastic zone, replacing the plastic in canteens with wooden forks, spoons and paper plates.
The institute has set up a system of inhouse collection, segregation and organic degradation of food and kitchen wastes across a 35,000 sq ft area after mixing and grinding the wastes in a thrasher. The manure processing of the wet wastes is used in the campus garden, which has a 5,000 sq ft of organic garden with fruits, vegetables and herbs.
The Director professor of IIM-Indore, Himanshu Rai, said that the institute aims to become a zero-waste campus in future and has already started taking initiatives to reduce the consumption of electricity and water.
He said that the kitchen wastes from the faculty residents, canteen, hostels and other spaces within the campus are used to manufacture manure inside the campus. No plastic bottles are used on the campus, and the community members only use copper water bottles.
He added that the taps in the institute had been reinstalled with special faucets to help reduce water utilisation in a mess by 50%. The institute has an efficient rainwater harvesting system and rooftop solar panels on the buildings to save electricity.
