By Express News Service BENGALURU: Collaborative efforts of local politicians, citizens and a startup have led to an international award coming their way. The Better Together award, presented recently at the International Climate Change Action conference in Germany, recognised an innovative method, called Carbonlites, of conversion of wet waste to biogas and organic fertiliser solution. The initiative took off after members of a resident welfare association in Koramanagla observed a biogas unit run by the renewable energy startup, Carbon Master, at ISKCON temple. They approached BTM constituency MLA Ramalinga Reddy, seeking a way to implement a way of using the wet waste so that it doesn’t go to a landfill. MLA Sowmya Reddy of Jayanagar constituency helped them approach the concerned officials in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).“I am involved with ground-level issues in Koramanagala, so when residents approached my father, along with the solution from Carbon Master, we decided to take this forward,” Sowmya Reddy told CE. “Wet waste gets processed into biogas and is supplied to a restaurant as cooking fuel. The slurry from the waste is provided to farmers as organic fertiliser. This is a more effective way of dealing with waste instead of sending it to a dumping site,” she said, adding, “This is a good example of what we can do when stakeholders work together to solve a big issue like solid waste management. I also plan to implement it in my constituency. For this, segregation levels have to go up to 90 percent in the wards.” The award was conferred on May 22 by Svenja Schulze, minister of environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety in Germany. The portable biogas units supplied by Carbon Masters are made from reused shipping containers. “We supply the biogas to Truffles restaurant in Koramangala and are in touch with 200 farmers in the state who purchase the organic fertiliser from us. We have raised awareness on the bad condition of soil due to chemical fertiliser in areas such as Davangere, Mandya, Tumkur, Kolar, etc. Apart from serving as good manure, the slurry increases crop yield,” said Som Narayan, the co-founder of Carbon Masters.“Restaurants save 15 per cent of their energy consumption and also replace LPG, thereby using a more eco-friendly fuel. After we presented the idea to BBMP officials, tenders were called and we won the contract for five units in BTM constituency 10 months ago,” Narayan explained.

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