40-year old PhD holder decides to improve the conditions of dumping grounds after his dog falls ill from inhaling foul smell coming from a dump yard. He starts a mission to convert waste from open grounds into something useful
Kabir Udeshi/ Pic courtesy/ Twitter
In 2103, Kabir Udeshi, a Ph.D. holder from the University of Michigan, came up with a model that converts biodegradable waste into cooking fuel. He fondly calls this innovation 'Dedko' which means frog in Gujarati. Kabir compares his machine to a frog's throat; the gas in the machine expands just like a frog's throat. A year later after his invention, he quit his well-paying job to focus on his technology and started his own enterprise called ‘Flycatcher Technologies’.
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Kabir, who studied in a university in the US, realised the importance of a clean environment, something that lacked in India. At first, he also ignored the open dumping spots like everybody else in the city.
One fine day in 2012, his dog fell ill from inhaling the foul smell coming from a dump yard, which prompted him to take matters into his own hands to improve the conditions of the dumping grounds. With this, he started a mission to convert waste from open grounds into something useful.
Working with a multi-national company, Kabir had very little time in hand to research about his project of making his lifestyle waste-free. Despite the financial crunch, he continued his research. After extensive research and talking to experts on waste management, he concluded that wet waste makes up for most of the garbage that is dumped in landfills.
According to NDTV, Kabir says, "Waste has been one of the crises in our country that is growing by day due to consumption habits and reducing this waste generation overnight is impossible. This also makes it a breeding ground for viruses, bacteria and pests such as cockroaches and rats. If we are to ensure a healthy environment, we must adopt methods to manage and process our organic waste immediately. Thus, using the waste to make something useful from it by recycling or composting is the way out."
Kabir travelled to different parts of the country to study the techniques of composting to coming up many bio-digestor models at home. He experimented with various models of composting before deciding on a system that converts biodegradable waste into fertilizers and cooking fuel. His machine costs around Rs. 25,000 and has the capacity to convert 2 kilos of biodegradable waste into cooking fuel within 24 hours.
The Dedko system operates on the principle of Anaerobic Bacterial Digestion. This system has millions of bacteria that work with internal mechanisms. They convert the organic waste into organic fertiliser and fuel gas which is stored in a balloon bag or cylinder so that it can be used for cooking. His innovation also prevents waste from being dumped into landfills and saves expenses in Oil and Petroleum products that account for almost 50 per cent of Indian imports.
Kabir, says the machine has helped him generate employment too. For the production, service and operation of digesters, he has hired ten people. Dedko is approximately the size of a washing machine and can be used at home and workplace. Since his machine's waste capacity is low, Kabir developed a bigger version of the machine called ‘Rhino’ which can be used by bulk waste generators.
For the last five years, Kabir’s family has stopped discarding wet waste and 30 per cent of the fuel used at his home for cooking comes from Dedko. The output generated is organic fertiliser and fuel. The fertiliser, when put to use, will generate organic fruits and vegetables – a boon to a healthy life. The fuel gas is clean to burn and has no fumes, as is with other gaseous fuels like CNG or LPG. Hence it is healthier when compared to wood, coal or liquid fuels. As of 2011, less than 30 per cent of Indian households use fuel gas. The digester systems enable more people to enjoy the health benefits of using a clean fuel gas for cooking, says Kabir.
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