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Kitchen waste turned to manure. An indigenous way to do just that has been found by Sharad Kale, a senior scientist at Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (barc). Thanks to Kale, the institutes's kitchen waste is being turned into methane gas and manure. The gas thus produced is used to cook food. The plant has been installed at the nuclear agriculture and biotechnology division of barc and deals with 600 kilogrammes of kitchen waste daily.

It works on the same principle as that of a gobar gas plant in which the bacterial decomposition of waste produces energy, reveals Kale. Before the waste is thrown in the main tank, it is mixed in a pre-digester, which helps in the breakdown of waste. The cost of the plant is Rs 5 lakh and can be recovered within two years. It has a capacity to handle one tonne of waste.

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