Some hotels can’t stomach waste disposal onus

‘If BBMP can’t cart it away, let it waive property tax and garbage cess’

According to the BBMP, wet waste constitutes at least 80 per cent of the garbage generated by hotels.

Differences over effective ways to dispose of and process waste emerged among members of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels’ Association during a panel discussion, ‘Dedicated waste management solutions for the hospitality industry’, at the Wake Up, Clean Up Bengaluru exposition here on Tuesday.

While the owner of a famous eatery was sharing the success story of becoming a zero garbage output hotel, an association member declared disposal of waste was not hotels’ responsibility. Soon after Gopinath Prabhu, owner of New Krishna Bhavan on Sampige Road, explained the simple steps his establishment took towards becoming a zero garbage hotel, association member P.C. Rao pointed out that only in Bangalore were those running hotels tasked with garbage management. He contented that it was the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP’s) job as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act 1976. “If the BBMP is going to entrust hoteliers with disposing of garbage, let the property tax and garbage cess be waived,” he remarked.

But association president Vasudev Adiga assured the BBMP of support from the hoteliers by reducing the quantum of garbage by doing away with disposable items and segregating waste at source.

Just 5 out of 300

Mr. Prabhu said his hotel generates around 300 kg of waste, of which a mere five kg of inerts is handed over to the BBMP. He said that 200 kg of cooked food waste is picked up by piggeries, 25 kg vegetable and fruit peels are composted, 25 kg coffee grounds and tea leaves and 25 kg of ash is given to parks. Used paper cups and serviettes are sold to scrap dealers once every 15 days.

Zero output

Tejaswini Ananth Kumar from Adamya Chetana Trust, which provides midday meals to 72,000 primary schoolchildren in the city, said there was zero garbage output from the trust kitchens. The trust uses briquettes and coconut shells as fuel, besides biogas. While the ash is sent to farmers’ fields, vegetable waste to goshalas while leftover food is distributed in slums at the end of the day. She urged caterers to use reusable utensils, even if it means increase in water usage to clean them.