Community composting is a largely unexploited solution that is gradually getting its fair share of attention in India’s sustainability and waste management landscape. The power to harness the potential of waste lies with housing societies and gated communities today who can reap the benefits of large-scale composting, produce rich organic fertiliser, create organic community gardens, or even generate revenue from the sale of good quality compost.

What is community composting?

Composting is a natural method of waste disposal used to turn biodegradable or wet waste into organic fertilizer. When different waste generators such as small and large households within one or several societies compost organic waste jointly at a specific site (ideally within the society premises, but sometimes in a nearby shared space) it is called community composting. The compost is used as fertilizer for growing fruits/vegetables/herbs and gardening within the society premises as well as individual homes. It can also be sold through municipal buy-back programmes or farmer-connects. Community composting requires large-scale infrastructure that allows large volumes of waste to be managed as close to the source as possible and thus diverted away from landfills.

Benefits of community composting

• Increased environmental awareness among communities
• Less waste dumped in landfills and fewer garbage trucks in rotation
• Improved soil, air and water quality due to reduced use of chemical fertilizer
• Community empowerment through self-reliance
• Green and natural neighbourhoods
• Financial benefits through sale of compost
• Better utilization of resources to reduce society’s expenses
• Creation of organic kitchen gardens
• Better health and well being of people who consume this produce
• Increased biodiversity

Types of composting

• Aerobic composting is when the decomposition process occurs in the presence of oxygen-rich conditions. This type of composting is the most common in housing societies.

• Anaerobic composting is when the decomposition occurs in the absence of oxygen. This generally suits individual homes, but not large-scale operations. It works well only with kitchen waste but not huge quantities of garden rejects. It’s not as easily scalable as aerobic composting is.

• Vermicomposting is when worms (usually red wigglers and white worms) break down the waste to turn it into nutrient-rich compost.

Choosing the right composting model

There are several different composting methods available to housing societies although in-vessel composting (or vendor-based composting solutions) is preferred by most housing societies.

A housing society’s decision to opt for the right composting model is driven by the following factors:

1. Quantity of wet waste

According to the numbers, at least 60-65% of waste generated in India is biodegradable wet waste. In cities like Mumbai, 73% of daily waste is compostable wet waste. Extrapolation allows one to conclude that at least half of the waste produced by a household would be wet waste. A housing society of 200 households could produce between 150 to 200 kgs of waste in a day.

Monisha Narke, Stanford graduate and sustainability expert, says, “Meals are cooked at home almost daily, twice or thrice a day, so we end up generating biodegradable waste. As per our waste audits, on an average a family of 4 members generates upto 1kg kitchen waste, 60-70% of which is biodegradable waste, 20-30% is dry waste and 10% is non recyclable trash. If managed well, we can easily divert 90% of our waste into recycling.”

According to the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, in-situ composting is mandatory for societies that generate more than 100kgs of waste per day, including residential societies/apartments with more than 100 units, and gated communities with an area greater than 5,000 square metres.

2. Budget

Based on the number of units needed for the entire society, the total investment can be divided among the individual houses. For instance, if a society of 100 households decides to install an aerobic digester worth Rs. 1 lakh with a capacity of 80kg per day, they’d have to invest Rs. 1000 each (and pay Rs. 100 as monthly operational cost).

To figure out which composting models are appropriate for your society, you can use SwachaGraha’s user guide which lists a good number of products and providers. Another resource to refer to is MOHUA’S Advisory on On-Site and Decentralized Composting of Municipal Organic Waste. It is a ready reckoner for housing societies and lists a range of products to compare price/dimensions/processing time and vendor details. The following classification has been made as per the size of the societies and the technology for composting.

Before investing in a model, keep a few things in mind:

• Read user reviews and feedback online. Visit other sites to evaluate different models and their performance
• Ensure that the vendor is legitimate and empanelled
• Be aware of monthly operational costs
• Shortlist at least 5-6 models and compare the price per unit, waste handling capacity, infrastructure requirement, and maintenance needs

Besides the basic installation, most vendors can train your housekeeping staff, maids and security guards to handle, run and operate composting devices. They provide user manuals which include step-by-step instructions on the entire process, including the carbon-nitrogen ratio (brown and green materials) and the compost turning requirements. Large housing societies with ample budget or time/labour constraints even opt for contracting agreements along with the composting system so that hired professionals can take care of the entire society’s composting setup.

3. Space availability and location of the composting setup

A society needs to designate space based on the number of units and other factors such as aeration and protection from rodents and rain. According to Savita Hiremath, Bangalore-based journalist and composting expert who runs the blog Endlessly Green, housing societies in Bangalore have established successful composting techniques in common areas, terraces and even basements. She adds that though there may be certain challenges initially, residents quickly learn and adapt with enough practice.

Savita advises communities to do their due diligence by visiting the vendor site to check all components involved in an enclosed composting option. “The success of your compost lies in getting the recipe right. If societies have any doubts about the quality of their compost, they should get the compost tested in a lab to ensure it meets the standards.”

Regarding housing societies wanting to opt for composting systems other than in-vessel style, Savita, who is also a member of the Solid Waste Management Round Table says, “It’s not that housing societies cannot opt for vermicomposting, but it’s more prevalent in individual households and not everyone may be comfortable handling worms. Pit composting on a large scale is also possible, provided there’s enough space and housing societies are willing to take up a labour-intensive project. Besides, community composting is largely driven by volunteerism. Those who initiate the project are enthusiastic and proactive, while others may not be as motivated. But for societies that are willing to take action, there are plenty of resources online, a plethora of composting products and social media communities for assistance.”

Monisha, who is the Founder & CEO of RUR Greenlife, makers of RGGC bio-composters for small and large-scale composting, offers some words of caution, “Traditional methods like pit composting and vermicomposting have been extremely successful in composting vegetable peels and garden waste, however they pose challenges when we add citrus peels or cooked food. The high calorific value of cooked food releases heat which is not favourable to worms, while the cooked food in compost pits may invite rodents and pests that can lead to secondary problems.”

Why should housing societies avoid instant composters?

There are multiple instances where builders have installed 24-hour composters as well as societies that have fallen prey to automatic waste composters claiming to produce compost instantly. “These machines produce toxic smoke and burnt carbon which is detrimental to soil and plant health, while increasing the power bill to Rs 25,000 or Rs 30,000 per month. Societies should not blindly accept what a builder or a vendor offers. They must ensure that the model they choose allows for natural composting,” Savita says.

Monisha adds that concepts like 24-hour composting and 14-day composting are myths. “Composting is a natural process that requires 90 days to stabilise fully. Within 45-60 days, under right conditions it starts to smell earthy and is ready to be applied to the soil. The best method is to let nature do its job,” she advises.

How to use your society’s compost?

• Leachate/compost tea can be diluted (20 parts water-1 part leachate) and used as a spray for gardening
• Use the final compost for your own society, then distribute the leftovers to others
• Compost can be distributed among all residents to encourage them to take up balcony gardening
• Leftover compost can be sold to nearby bulk buyers or local farmers through a local network

The future of community composting

There is still lack of awareness among communities who either don’t know about the benefits of composting or are not interested in it. 
Monisha cites 3 reasons why composting isn’t popular everywhere.

• Easy availability of avenues to throw the waste away and ‘not in my backyard’ mentality
• Myths that composting is dirty and smelly
• Lack of strict implementation of policies

But she is of the strong opinion that with increasing consciousness among people towards climate change and sustainability, the future looks promising. “India being a tropical country, the temperatures and other climatic conditions favour the natural composting process. As a futuristic approach, one must think decentralised composting at individual homes and in communities so that the waste is not traveling to another location to be composted or dumped irrationally. Through decentralised composting, one can mitigate massive CO2 emissions.”

Amarpreet Singh, Head of Business Strategy and Sales at Daily Dump, a design-led composting solutions company that makes Aaga composters, observes, “Seven years ago, nearly everyone who started composting in their communities was doing it for environmental reasons and to reduce their contribution to the waste problem. Over the years we have seen that due to fresh policies and stringent measures, communities have started composting as a way of adhering to the regulations as well. For a few months composting of wet waste took a back seat and the decisions to start composting were delayed. But there are encouraging signs of people coming back to thinking about wet waste management. Also because of working from home, there has been a rise in the number of individuals and communities wanting to garden and grow food in their premises.”

Savita advises communities to do their due diligence by visiting the vendor site to check all components involved in an enclosed composting option. “The success of your compost lies in getting the recipe right. If the societies have any doubts about the quality of their compost, they should get the compost tested in a lab to ensure it meets the standards.”

Community composting success stories

Several housing societies in Bangalore and Mumbai have produced amazing success stories of composting done right. For instance, a housing society in Mumbai has turned 4 tonnes of trash into 400 kgs of compost and 16 big societies in Mumbai who do on-site composting are donating compost to farmers. One society in Mumbai has been selling compost fertilizer to farmhouse owners at Rs 10-15/kg.

Housing societies in Bangalore are at the forefront of the composting movement, creating vegetable gardens with the compost they produce. Some produce up to 70kg of compost a day. Through a campaign called SwachaGraha Compost Connect, a brainchild of Solid Waste Management Round Table, the excess compost is taken from bulk generators to farmlands. The campaign has so far sold 60 tonnes of compost in about 40 truckloads. The idea was to encourage more farmers to turn organic and at the same time make it easy for societies to deal with their excess compost. The initiative addresses the issue of soil health on a macro level by taking the 3 Ms to degraded soil: Moisture, organic Matter and Microbes.

There is no dearth of techniques for societies willing to take up community composting. Although community composting takes research, participation and perseverance, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Society admins can now add, delete, assign new roles as per their convenience and what suits the functioning of their society using the Society Dashboard. Admins can also modify these roles and give permissions to the roles created at any time. MyGate provides admins 10 default roles and an option to create 5 more roles on the dashboard. 

Follow these steps to create a new role…

1. Login to the MyGate dashboard (dashboard.mygates.techletsolutions.com) using your admin credentials

2. Click on “People Hub”

3. Select “Admin User list”

4. Select “Manage Roles”

5. Add Custom Role with or without existing roles as a template

6. Select permissions based on the action the Role needs to take. Each permission can be assigned in 2 modes, ‘Read’ and ‘Full Access’ mode.

(A) Read: Only view access will be provided to the role of the selected feature

(B) Full Access: The selected role can perform all the actions of a society admin

These permissions can be modified in the future. Save the Role.

The created custom roles are assigned to the users via “Manage Society Admins”. Assign the Role to the user by entering the email ID, Name, and Phone Number.

For more information, get in touch with your MyGate Representative.

What’s new on MyGate

As more than half of the world is adapting to and even promoting remote working environments, housing societies shouldn’t allow themselves to conduct day-to-day operations poorly due to social distancing protocols. Adopting technology to run your society efficiently is an optimum solution for the foreseeable future.

Conducting group video meetings isn’t as tricky as you’d imagine, once you’ve gotten over the fear of the first dreaded rigamarole of getting everything organized among various committee members so that they can familiarise themselves with a new medium of communication. Digital natives may even have trouble with their checklists as the process involves group participation of diverse people. 

Our guide will make it easier for Management Committees to hold society meetings online.

Whether it is the Annual General Body Meeting, Special General Meetings or Managing Committee meetings, they can all be conducted through video conferencing by following a few ground rules and preparing in advance.

Steps to follow before the meeting:

1. Prepare the agenda for the meet
2. Prioritise important topics for discussion
3. Assign a time duration for each discussion so that every item gets enough time to be analysed and weighed according to urgency and importance
4. Select the right medium to hold the meeting
5. Send meeting invites to all participants

How to choose the right video conferencing app for General Body meeting during the pandemic

There are loads of free online meeting apps in the market, the most popular are Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a warning regarding Zoom, stating that the app has major weaknesses that may make it vulnerable to data theft and hacking of calls midway. Several countries have banned Zoom, including US, Australia and Germany.

The MHA has also issued guidelines to use Zoom safely which you can read here.

Not all participants attending the meeting may be habituated to using video conferencing apps. Ensure you email a quick tutorial to assist participants in navigating/using the app so that they can join the group call and operate the app during the meeting.

Common group call etiquette for society meetings during the pandemic

• Send a meeting reminder on the day of the group call via email, WhatsApp or any other communication app.
• Appoint a moderator (Secretary/Chairman) to conduct the session.
• Make sure that the video/audio are on for each participant. Place the camera correctly, not too high or too low.
• Record the meeting for making the minutes later. All society meetings are required to have official Minutes of Meeting.
• Instruct the participants to have the meeting agenda in front of them (digital version/printout).
• Dressing appropriately for the meeting is a must. The physical settings of the room should be such that there’s enough light but no noise and other disturbances.
• Keep the app on mute when you’re not speaking so that there’s no distractions for other speakers.
• Do not speak out of turn or interrupt others when they’re speaking.
• Make sure each participant engages in the meeting and gets enough time and consideration while putting forth their views and suggestions.
• Keep body movements to the minimum and maintain eye contact.
• Do not carry on small talk and avoid discussing topics that are not in the agenda (unless something is pertinent to the topic).
• Chairman/Secretary should use the screen sharing options while discussing important financial reports, bills, legal documents, etc., to give the participants a visual walkthrough of the topic and inspire trust.
• Keep it short. While video conferencing is only a tool for replacing physical meetings, participants tend to get antsy and distracted when the meetings go over 30 minutes.

Things to remember

If you’re holding a special general body meeting, the pre-notification timelines will still apply, i.e. (5 day’s notice, minimum required quorum, and other proceedings), except everything will have to be done via email and no physical circulars should be handed to maintain social distancing protocols.

Know more about special general meeting guidelines.

Similarly, the notice period for organizing Committee Meetings also applies, which according to the bye-laws, are, “3 clear day’s notice of meetings of the Committee to all the Members of the Committee which shall state the date, time and place of the meeting and the business to be transacted there at, in consultation with the Chairman of the Society.”

The time to hold Annual General Body Meetings is usually August-September. Co-ops had been granted permission by the Maharashtra government amidst the pandemic to conduct their AGM as well as other day to day activities via digital platforms and further stated that decisions taken during such digital meetings will be considered valid.

Even if the threat of the virus subsides, virtual meetings may become the norm among housing societies as they provide all the conveniences of a physical meeting with the added perk of saving time.

As a potential tenant, you will have to make sure that the property you’re renting doesn’t come with any hidden or unexpected costs. While you’re surveying the home, you are already aware of the basic questions you might want to ask, like rent, tenure of the agreement, basic amenities like water heater, furniture, electrical appliances, etc. Check out our list of other equally important questions you might not remember to ask while the house-hunting process.

Is the security deposit amount fair?

There’s no standardised legislation for rental security deposits. But landlords usually charge between two to six months of rent as a deposit, depending on the landlord’s inclination, furnishings, and amenities in the house and the location of the property. If the amount is higher than six months of rent, you must negotiate with the landlord.

When is the rent due? How often does it increase?

Agree upon a date of rent payment that’s mutually convenient for you both, along with the method of payment (cheques/NEFT). Also, determine the grace period for payment. Landlords usually allow for a 7-10 day grace period from the due date. Rent is usually raised by 5-10% after a year.

What amenities does the property have?

Inquire what facilities are available for tenants to use on the premises, such as a gym, pool, sports complex, etc. If yes, ask about the rules, charges, restrictions, and timings for use.

Does the house have a gas pipeline?

Check if the house is equipped with a gas piping connection or has an LPG cylinder system. The former is ideal for a tenant, if not, check with the landlord if they’d provide you with an existing LPG registration that you can use during your tenure.

What is the penalty for breaking any clause of the agreement?

A rental agreement lists the number of items and fixtures in the house before moving in, such as furniture, electrical fixtures, electronic equipment, etc. You’ll be responsible for compensating the landlord if you damage anything. Before moving in, check if everything is in working condition. If the damage occurs due to other reasons, you can have it fixed yourself and present the landlord with the invoice. Similarly, if you break the lock-in period (3-6 months), you’ll have to forfeit a certain amount from the deposit.

What are the neighbors/neighborhood like? How safe is the building?

Confirm if there’s a guard on-duty 24/7. Also ask about the neighbours (type of people on your floor) and any special instructions you need to know about the neighborhood, e.g. ongoing construction work, nearby public transportation, etc.

What are the rules for guests/visitors?

Single tenants are often bothered by society to not invite guests overnight while others may be restricted to have get-togethers after hours. Find out if your landlord imposes such conditions on your stay.

When will the security deposit be returned after vacating the property?

Ideally, the landlord should return the deposit amount on the same day of the tenant vacating the house, however, if the landlord asks for a grace period for returning the deposit, include that as a clause in the agreement.

Is there free parking space available?

The tenant is entitled to get the landlord’s parking space.

Are the utility bills paid?

Make sure that the landlord agrees to pay any pending light, gas, or water bills from previous tenancies. Even if it’s a previously unoccupied home, there will be a monthly bill that the landlord needs to clear.

What is the extent up to which I can make changes within the rented house?

This doesn’t mean minor changes like moving furniture around or putting up new drapes. It means structural changes to the house of small and big kinds. For instance, if you have a split AC and the house is pre-designed with a window AC set-up, you’ll need the landlord’s permission to install the split AC. Drilling, installing your own fixtures, meshes, etc., will need to be pre-approved by the landlord.

What is the landlord/building’s policies on pets?

While some landlords may not have a problem with pets, society and the neighbours may take issue. Or it could be a pet-friendly building but the landlord may not want pets ruining their furniture and assets. There may also be a restriction on the number of pets and types of pets allowed in society.

How old is the building?

Landlords of older buildings may charge lesser rent but there may be problems associated with the building, like damp walls, broken fixtures, no parking space, etc. It’s better to know if you might face any trouble arising out of ill-maintained buildings.

Is the landlord willing to repaint/repair the house?

Upon the previous tenant’s vacancy, the landlord is expected to clean up the house and at least give a mini makeover to the house like repainting it or repairing any distressed parts of the house. If you find it’s in disrepair, such as leaky faucets, missing bulbs, damaged water heater, ask the landlord to fix it before you move in.

Be alert during the surveying/questioning stage and get a legally binding agreement made so that there’s no reneging from either party. Also, ensure that the landlord agrees to pay his share of the agreement registration fees/stamp duty at the registrar.

Enjoy contactless payments, instant receipts and great savings on society dues payments

The beginning of every month can be a stressful time. You’re keeping track of all the payments to be made – society dues, household bills, rent, and daily staff salaries. Add to this the hassle of having everything scattered across cash, cheques, e-wallets etc. Now remember that you might have to follow up with various people for receipts and acknowledgements. Already feeling exhausted?

This is where Mygate payments can be of help. It is a quick and easy way to pay and manage your community bills via a single app with a payment option of your choice and without hefty convenience fees.

Why pay society dues on Mygate?

• Contactless one-click digital payments 
• View dues by date, month and year in the app 
• Receive maintenance overdue reminders & never miss a payment
• Download receipts of paid dues and other society bills 
• Pay via credit cards, debit cards, UPI or e-wallet options 
• Payments will be acknowledged via SMS/Email 
• 0% charges on RuPay Debit Card Transactions
• Access your entire transaction history in a single place
• Get updates on the current status of your payment
• Connect with Mygate support for payment related queries

How to pay society dues

• Tap on the ‘Community’ tab
• Click on the ‘Society Charges’ card
• Click on ‘Pay Society Charges’ on the invoice raised
• Select the mode of transaction – UPI, Debit/Credit Card, Net Banking, Wallet and click on ‘Checkout’
• Enter the details and click on ‘Pay’
  • For UPI, enter the UPI ID For Debit/Credit Card, enter the card details
  • For Net Banking, select the bank and login
  • For wallet, select the wallet and login
• The convenience charges are displayed on the screen. Click on ‘Continue’ to make the payment

With Mygate Payments, you can also pay house rent, utility bills and domestic staff salaries the quick and easy way. Get started with Mygate Payments today.

**This feature is available under Mygate’s ERP Package. Contact your management committee or Mygate relationship manager to enable Maintenance Payments in your society today!

Mygate ERP comes with a number of other useful features including quick access to essentials, healthcare at home, digital society updates, and emergency alerts in case of crisis.

Laburnum Society in Gurgaon has much to celebrate. To achieve significant milestones in their journey to clean and green living, the residents have embraced the concept of mindful waste management and now champion the cause to anyone who wishes to learn and adopt best practices.

This condominium complex in sector 28 of Gurgaon houses 250 units and has an amalgam of multicultural influences. Their conscious waste planning supports a sprawling garden with a steady supply of compost from a well-organised composting system.

Pre-composting scenario in Laburnum Society

Prior to the launch of the waste management project, the garbage was disposed of through a vendor. However, there was no segregation since this was before the introduction of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016.

Turning motivation into solutions

It was the personal motivation that inspired a group of residents to take the first step. They reached out to influencers within the community to seek support and alliance. The group was able to enlist 11 volunteers to form an official waste management team. Everyone was on the same page and put in the work to create a strategy that would not only solve their waste management problem but also guarantee successful results.

The team put their brains together and came up with a plan. They visited 4-5 societies that had already been doing community composting. They also researched several composting models,  recorded all the findings from society visits, and made a comparative analysis of every society’s composting system. 

Finally, they chose Daily Dump’s Aaga which is an aerobic ‘hot pile’ de-centralised composter. The team found this solution to be ideal because it was an organic way to compost without using water and electricity. Aaga composters come in pairs – one pair is needed for every 18-20 homes or 18 kgs of wet waste per day.

The team made sure that the residents were involved at every stage. Residents were sent emails a few times, keeping them informed of the composting initiative and their support was requested with gentle persuasion. At the same time, the Board Members were kept in the loop at every step of the way and nothing was executed without their approval. Pilot projects were taken up in some apartment blocks.

Gathering funds was also done with the standard procedure of the society. A budget was proposed to the Committee which was approved in the next AGM.

Building awareness was the next part of the project that the Waste Management team set out to do. The intention was to visit each household in the complex and clearly instruct the members on how to identify and segregate the different categories of waste. Since this was a lengthy and complex procedure in terms of the sheer amount of households and the fact that everyone had to be present to understand best practices first hand, a prior appointment was taken with each house and training was imparted in 10-15 minutes. The responsibility of residents to ensure adequate segregation, but the housekeeping staff and domestic help had to be trained for the rest of the endeavour. The domestic staff of residents were trained thoroughly in four batches in one day so that they could understand how to segregate correctly. The housekeeping staff received hands-on training on how to use Aaga composters correctly to begin the operations.

The system doesn’t require too much manual labour. The composters are rodent proof and the waste doesn’t need to be mixed or turned. Another benefit is that the composters is that they have an inbuilt tower that regulates the air so the society could ensure that no foul odour is produced.

Successes and challenges

Initially, it was difficult to ensure 100% segregation. A few households kept mixing dry waste like foil and paper into the wet waste. To remedy the problem, email reminders are sent from time to time to residents to ensure that new domestic staff is briefed on segregation.

Even though Laburnum society doesn’t measure output, they do compost around 250 kgs of waste daily and the process functions quite smoothly at present. Compost is distributed to residents for free. Every four months, each household can pick up 5 kgs of compost. There is a scheduled slot system for distribution and members have to bring their own bags to take home the compost. The compost is also used for gardening in the common areas. The society intends to not only continue composting wet waste but also has plans to further segregate dry waste and adopt best practices for recycling. The residents have been  helpful and receptive throughout the entire journey. 

Lessons for other societies

The team is able to give useful inputs to other societies based on their experience. They say:

• Do not go to war with either residents or the RWA. Their support and cooperation are essential. 
• Be very sensitive, listen to everyone, reach out to the community with positive messages.
• Choose a system that does not waste water or electricity and don’t use any system that burns the waste and promises ready compost in 2 days. Compost is formed through a process of degeneration so give it time.
• Work very closely with the housekeeping team because they are the true waste warriors. Make them understand the ‘WHY’ of the initiative before you even get into the ‘how’.  Provide refreshments when you meet; give them an annual award; let them feel proud of the SWM project.”
• Use epoxy paint for the waste management area and oil paint of a cheerful colour on the walls for good aesthetics. The area  should be well-lit and citronella oil vapourisers can be used to keep it smelling good.
• Installing a couple of exhaust fans to ensure that there is no odour.
• The area should be kept spotlessly clean to keep rodents and insects at bay.

Laburnum is yet another ‘lead by example’ story that should resonate with other societies who may have contemplated taking action towards in-house composting and segregation but may have not found enough motivation. Personal drive combined with clever planning is key to getting the job done right. Most of all, alignment of minds towards a greener community is the secret ingredient that ensures success amidst setbacks.