Standardization of construction waste management and implementation of organic waste management solutions at Infosys campuses
Student name: Ms Swati Aggarwal
Guide: Dr Prateek Sharma
Year of completion: 2012
Host Organisation: Infosys Ltd.
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Digu Aruckamy
Abstract: The objective of the study was to come up with guidelines for construction waste
management as a step towards standardisation of the CWM practices at Infosys and
provide solutions for the organic waste management at some of the Infosys campuses. A
recommendation for the meaning that should be derived by zero-waste by Infosys was
also given. Besides this a waste management strategy was recommended for the
organisation.
For the CWM guidelines literature review was carried out so as to get an understanding
of the types of construction material and their management. Construction site visits to
various Infosys campuses and to other sites outside Infosys were carried out to
understand the present scenario of CWM. The interviews with contractors, subcontractors
and other people working on the sites helped to identify existing gaps in the
present practices of CWM. Since not all Infosys sites could be visited, a questionnaire
was prepared and the replies from the teams at various Infosys campuses were
analysed. Finally a draft of the guidelines was prepared and presented to the team and
the feedback from them incorporated to prepare a final guidelines document. The
detailed guidelines for five kinds of construction waste i.e. concrete, wood, steel,
hazardous waste and packaging material were also provided.
For providing organic waste management solutions, several relevant vendors were
contacted for proposals. The proposals received were analysed and reviewed
technically. The solutions were shortlisted based on the requirements and limitations,
and discussed with the vendors. The most suitable solutions were selected after the
vendors provided updated proposals based on the discussion. The main technologies
studied for kitchen organic waste were vermi-composting, organic waste composter
using biotechnology and in-vessel technology. For sludge management, technologies
studied were solar drying and anaerobic digestion.
Keywords: construction waste management, organic waste management, sludge
management, waste hierarchy, zero waste
