2012

A PROJECT ON MARKETING
SUSTAINABLE WASTE
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Submitted by,

Aditya Agar (1211007)
Harini Venkateswaran (1211021)
Manu K Manohar (1211035)
Ravi Purohit (1211049)
Vignesh Ramanathan (1211063)


Submitted to
Prof. Mithileshwar Jha

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Marketing Sustainable Waste Management Practices

Introduction:
Sustainability can be defined as the goal of economic and social development that protects social
equity and enhances the natural environment. The worlds current rate of consumption and
pollution are unsustainable because they exceed the rates at which resources can be regenerated
and the wastes assimilated by the natural systems. This phenomenon poses a big challenge to the
marketers for delivering sustainable growth to the masses, profitably. In response, the marketers
are coming up with strategies like eco-efficiency, waste reduction, waste recovery and waste
recycling.

What is sustainable waste management?

Sustainable waste management is defined as the technique of disposal of waste in such a manner
that it addresses the need of the current generation keeping in mind and without compromising
on the needs of the future generations. What sustainable waste management also entails is an
overall gradual reduction of the wasteful consumption and hence the net waste generation.
Growing population, increasing disposable incomes across the world, improvements in standard
of living and a general disenchantment with the nature are some of the major reasons that have
led to increasing consumption levels and wasteful disposal practices being followed thereafter.
Sustainable waste management aims at using methods like reuse, recovery and recycling of
products to address these long term issues and minimize the wastage streams. It presents a case
for both, sound environmental policies and effective economic resource management.

Bangalore: The untold, waste-ful story

Limiting our analysis to within IIM Bangalore, we explored and tried to understand some general
trends about waste generation and management in the garden city. The story, not surprisingly,
is ugly. The 5
th
largest city of India, Bangalore generates about 3000-4000 tons/day waste out of
which about 72% is organic. The primary and secondary waste collection and transportation have
been satisfactory in the recent past and have enabled the city maintain its green look. However,
waste treatment remains poor and improper. While most of the organic waste was used in land
filling in the last 2 decades of the last century, even today, the number of compost plants in the
city is far less than required. The municipal corporation claims that about 67% of the total
recyclable waste is recycled, however, these levels also are far less than adequate and a lot of
non bio-degradable waste is still being used in land filling. Waste dumping also happens across
60 open sites in and around the city and is causing severe environmental and health problems.
Within a gap of 2 years, from 1998 to 2000, fermentable waste, paper waste and plastic waste
increased by 7%, 3% and 0.2%, respectively, a huge jump by any standards. Since then, the
population has exploded and waste generation continues to rise. Municipal corporation data also
shows that in 2009, the average per capita waste generation in the city was 0.58 kg/day, an
increase of 3.5 times over the levels in 1990.

Several reasons can be attributed to the state of affairs: lack of enthusiasm and involvement by
the citizens, improper segregation practices, low recycling knowledge and unattractive incentives
to indulge in sustainable waste management practices.
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IIM Bangalore: A 4-C analysis on sustainable waste management practices




Current Situation of food and fermentable products wastage at IIMB

To understand the existing situation of food waste generation in IIMB, we conducted 3 sets of
interviews, the details of which are provided in the appendix. As can be inferred from the
interview responses provided, the current wastage levels of food are not extremely high but are
not very low either. Also, there are several reasons that point to the fact that had it not been for
the demand estimations carried out by these places, the levels of wastage would have been much
higher than what they currently are. We have decided to focus only on food wastage as following
is the distribution of the total waste generated per day at IIMB:


Customer
a. Students belonging to various
courses: PGP, FPM, EPGP, PGSEM.
Both residents and non-residents.
b. Faculty members and
administartive staff of IIMB
c. Student Mess, Faculty dining
facility, Athica's, Amrith Kalash,
Java Green, Cafe Coffee Day, Amul
outlet, Park&Eat, etc.

Company
a. Student run initiative, low
capital investment
b. Some measures like biogas
plants, segregated bins already in
place, hence a lot more focus
possible
c. Aimed at creating awareness
and a voluntary change of habits
for a better campus
Context
a. Growing waste levels at IIMB,
approximately 3 tons of waste
generated by 1200 residents/day
b. Highly educated and
'enlightened' commuity,
opportunitites of better waste
management are high
c. Low awareness about waste
disposal. Interest, however, in
sustainable waste management
and new initiatives is high




Competition
a. No competition as such, only
the presence of cognitive biases
and hinderances
b. Elite perception associated with
"green" intiatives, perceived to
involve lot of effort and time
c. No incentive schemes for
subscribing to this practice
d. Letharge, inertia and
indifference by the students. Most
common argument: 'Lack of time'



4C
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Type of Waste Percentage share
Fermentable (Food) 71.5
Paper and Cardboard 8.39
Cloth, rubber, PVC, leather 1.39
Glass 2.29
Polythene/ Plastics 6.94
Metals 0.29
Dust 8.06

As per the current situation at IIMB, approximately 3 Tons of waste is generated daily out of
which food waste constitutes about 2.1 Tons. The major part of this food waste comes from the
students and faculty messes combined and it amounts to about 1.5-1.6 Tons. The number of
personnel employed to tackle wastage of this magnitude is also a good number. Though the
respondents reveal that they do not directly employ anybody for disposal purpose, their entire
staff of 24 people is engaged during early morning hours to help the waste pickers load food
waste in the trucks. The current situational analysis also reveals that PGP students are the major
culprits in generation of waste on campus on account of the following two things: a) The sheer
size of the 2 batches is extremely large (747 students in all), and b) There is a general disregard
to the notion of wastage and excess consumption as most purchases are cashless. The various
deterring practices that everybody has tried to adopt have also not brought about a considerable
drop in wastage levels, although it might be financially rewarding to the concerned entity.

What is the problem with adopting sustainable waste management practices?
A brief of our findings, and analysis thereafter


A photograph of an on campus recyclable waste bin filled with non-recyclable waste to the brim

The current problem can be identified by the responses to the questionnaire that we had floated
among the student community and faculty members. Based on the data collected, we can classify
and segment the IIMB community as customers of waste management services into three
different segments. This segmentation has been carried out on the basis of age and occupation
and is predominantly a demographic segmentation.
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Responses provided by:
1. Students under 25 years of age: These people predominantly are those who typically
waste anywhere between 10-30 percent of their food on a daily basis. The level of
awareness on the disposal of waste is also quite low here with only 32% saying that they
put the correct type of waste in the correct bin and close to 45% admitting that they are
not aware of the waste disposal method followed at IIM Bangalore. The most important
outcome of waste management in their opinion is the associated economic benefit with
recycling and electricity generation through biogas plants installed within the campus.
The most interesting observation, however, is that in about 88% of the responses received
from such people, they rate themselves excited and enthusiastic about the new green
initiatives that happen on campus. Also, the respondents in this age group were aware
about sustainable waste management since the age between 10-15 years.

2. Students between 25-35 years of age: This age group consists mostly of the FPM
students, and PGP students with a substantial amount of work experience behind them.
Close to 90% of the respondents in this age group waste 10-20% of their food on a daily
basis. The main items they dispose off in dustbins are glass bottles and plastic waste.
Although they rate themselves as 5/5 on waste disposal in proper bins, nearly 30% are not
aware about how the food waste is disposed off. For this age group, the most important
outcome of sustainable waste management is a clean and green campus. 80% of the
respondents in this age group are interested in any new green initiative that happens on
campus.

3. Faculty members >45 years of age: The level of wastage of food for the respondents
under this category is <10% of their daily food consumption. All the 8 members had
replied that the waste food goes to the biogas plant for treatment and have been fairly
accurate. Their consumption habits are highly eco-friendly as only 2 of them dispose
more than one item listed above in question 5 of the survey in the dustbins. The faculty
members are enthusiastic about the new green initiatives on campus and exhibit a high
level of awareness about sustainable practices as all of them say that the most important
outcome of sustainable waste management is availability of resources for future
generations. The responses vary widely on the age when they were first aware about
these practices and lies between 10-15 years for 2 respondents and >35 years for 6 of
them.

The following broad problems can be identified on the basis of the responses and subsequent
interviews carried out with Prof. Deepak Malghan (Faculty Member, IIMB; interview provided
in Appendix):
1. The waste management system appears to be unviable as the amount of investment and
time devotion required is on the higher side initially. Being students who are stretched to
the limit, time is a premium on campus and in an effort to meet their needs students often
indulge in wasteful consumption.
2. Non-adoption of key practices is a key issue that has been holding back the initial
success of the waste segregation practices adopted by the institute. Penetration percent
still remains at around 24-25% (source: Interview with Saahas supervisor on campus).
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3. Awareness remains on the lower side with people who claim to have an early exposure
to sustainable practices actually know very little about the methods to actualize them.

Objective of the project:

Our objective is to come up with implementable recommendations to reduce the total food
wastage level by 25% from the current level of 2.1 Tons/day. We also aim to increase awareness
about sustainable waste management practices among the residents of IIMB and consequently
achieve a penetration rate of about 50% from current 25%.

Tasks to be carried out to meet the objectives:
To do a segmentation of the users within the IIMB community and carry out a
targeting strategy wherein we can identify the segment(s) which will deliver the
most substantial results
To carry out a psychographic segmentation of the targeted segment(s) from above
based on guna theory and map personality on to waste disposal habits
To understand about consumer needs, wants and expectations
To build a holistic marketing plan for propagation of sustainable waste
management techniques by data analysis using segmentation techniques
To build a marketing mix model of our recommendations for sustainable waste
disposal techniques and understanding the inherent limitations and benefits of the
same

Methodology:
Surveying users & non-users and profiling available market, target market and
penetrated market
Using secondary data available on the web for understanding waste generation
patterns and disposal habits in Bangalore
Self-rating questionnaires to be distributed amongst the target market consumers
to understand their habits, perceptions, expectations and perceived shortcomings
and barriers
Conducting surveys with exchange students to compare the waste management
practices adopted overseas
Carrying out a survey to identify the response of the target segment to the
developed marketing practices (heat map surveys)
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
The preliminary segmentation analysis has revealed that our primary customers are among
students and faculty members of IIMB and not the vendors and the mess themselves. Having
carried out interviews with 5 IIMB vendors charted out above (3 interviews provided in
Appendix), and 1 faculty member we understand the following:
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Customer Need: Clean and healthy surroundings, Sense of security for their children
Customer Wants and Expectations:
1. Availability of hassle free services and techniques to indulge in sustainable practices
2. Incentive schemes to maintain motivation and interest in pursuing these activities
3. Constant reminders against any deviations to prevent innocent lapses of commitment
4. Awareness drives and new initiatives to maintain momentum to drive home the point
To carry out a further segmentation analysis, we have taken the help of the guna theory
(Chakraborty, 1987). As per the theory, there are three types of gunas or personalities that people
generally exhibit:
1. Sattva: This kind of person is free from evil, immaculate, flawless, knowledgeable,
respects nature and goodness. Sattva guna is the most desirable condition of the mind and
the soul which is exhibited through concentration, consciousness, ease, enlightenment
and happiness. Such kind of personality makes a person free from desires and distractions
and moves him/her towards harmony and self realization. It is thus, we conclude, that
people exhibiting such kind of personalities are self-motivated for waste management and
do not need any additional attention.
2. Rajas: This kind of person is characterized by passion, greed, craving and restlessness.
He/she indulges in making plans, has high ambitions, and is desirous of good things in
life. They usually seek variety in life and are, in general, bored by constancy. Such
people do indulge in wasteful consumption which is fueled by their desires and hence, are
among the target users of our services.
3. Tamas: It is exhibited in sloth, procrastination, inertia, ignorance and heedlessness. This
is exhibited in excitement in perception and cogitative activity. Those in possession of
Tamas guna are reluctant to indulge in new activities and prefer to remain in sluggish
mode. These people do not value the limited resources in the nature and often indulge in
lazy wasteful consumption, making them one of our target segments.
On the basis of the questionnaire prepared to assess these personality traits, we have come up
with a psychographic segmentation of the respondents of the initial segmentation survey. The
survey and methodology of evaluation is provided in the appendix.
Students under 25
years of age
Students between 25-
35 years of age
Sattva 10 4
Rajas 12 7
Tamas 12 2
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Thus, we can identify from this small sample size of 55 respondents (including 8 faculty
members on whom the guna survey could not be administered) that our target segment
essentially comprises of students who exhibit Rajas and Tamas kind of personalities. In a way,
this is highly intuitive as we expect a Sattva person to be highly self motivated to care enough
about the nature to avoid any wasteful consumption and excess waste generation. We now
develop a positioning strategy to come up with our service offering and create a distinctive place
in the minds of our target audience.
Positioning and Recommendations: Developing a marketing plan for our target segment
We have come up with the following two marketing plans to position our service:
1. Introducing an incentive based waste disposal scheme for the students: This marketing
strategy comprises of a mutually exclusive three pronged approach:

a. Negative incentive based strategy aimed at groups: Under this plan, we plan to allocate
separate waste disposal bins for recyclable and non-recyclable products on every hostel
floor to allow efficient waste segregation at the origin itself. This strategy works in the
manner that every day, whenever waste collection happens, the person in-charge will note
the violations, if any, that happens on a particular hostel floor. Initially, we can target a
violation cap of 7 times post which a mail will be sent to the entire IIMB community
displaying the shoddy state of affairs on that hostel floor along with photographs of all
the residents of that floor. This serves as a transformational appeal of credible fear and
shame and will help generate sufficient peer pressure to avoid repeating the same.
OR
b. Negative incentive based strategy aimed at individuals: This strategy calls for individuals
to maintain two waste bins, recyclable waste (green) and non-recyclable waste (red) bin
in their respective rooms. These can be provided by the IIMB Hostel and Mess
committee at the time of registrations as a mandatory requirement in all rooms. Whenever
the students want their rooms to be cleaned, there can be a simple SOP asking them to put
the waste bins out of their doors so that it can be collected by the waste pickers. Again,
waste pickers can be given the data sheet where they can simply check mark the students
room in which proper segregation has not been carried out. A maximum of seven
violations can be tolerated post which a fine of Rs.50/- per violation can be levied and
will be promptly deducted from the students mess account and the student will informed
of the same. This can deter the students from improper segregation and can also help
control consumption by posing a believable fear and threat as per the prospect theory.
OR
c. Peer pressure based marketing plan: Under this plan, we plan to allocate separate waste
disposal bins for recyclable and non-recyclable products on every hostel floor as was the
case with recommendation a. However, this plan calls for an extreme step: when the
violations exceed the set cap, the hostel office can shoot a mail to the residents of that
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floor saying that therell be no waste collection from the bins of that floor for the
remaining part of the month/2 months. In such a case, to dispose off waste, students
would either have to go to some other floor or some other hostel block which will be
painful for everybody. This will thus create sufficient amount of peer pressure to conform
to the standards as otherwise the group will collectively suffer because of mistakes on the
part of individuals.
Such plans act as stimulant for people to follow correct waste disposal norms and regulations. It
has been observed across the campus that there is a rampant disregard for waste segregation and
students tend to dump the wrong kind of waste in bins which have been color coded for specific
kind of wastes, and the picture taken above also corroborates this. Segregation of the waste at the
origin node simplifies a great deal of work for the waste pickers and segregators who spend
nearly 3-3.5 hours segregating food waste from non bio-degradable waste daily. This will help in
making sure that a major chunk of the food waste reaches the bio-gas plant and is put to
environment friendly re-use and is not disposed off along with other non-recyclable waste which
is currently the case.
This kind of marketing plan works best for the students who exhibit Rajas profile which is
typically a signal of money mindedness and craving for a good lifestyle involving consumption.
2. Using provocative and satirical communication strategies at carefully chosen locations:
This kind of communication strategy is aimed at being a constant reminder for people to
not indulge in producing waste beyond a certain limit. As per the initial survey floated,
we found that amongst our target consumers, the level of food wastage on a daily average
basis is approximately 21%. With such high levels of food wastage, analyzing the data on
world hunger indices, we find that if the food was not wasted but given away for free, we
could bring down Kenyas malnutrition levels to half of its current level. Such thought
provocative messages coupled with satirical messages such as Man found life on Mars.
Great! Just pray that you find some food for your children there too. can be very
effective in establishing the correct amount of fear in the minds of the students. This
communication strategy can be in the form of posters, banners, ads displayed on the
television once or twice during lunch and dinner hours, etc. The only thing to be kept in
mind while pursuing this strategy is that it has to be regular phenomenon with an invasive
communication methodology as recall and recognition both have to be very high. This
communication thrives on the principle that the information has to be hammered
regularly on to the consumer to bring about a change of behavior and therefore, attitude.

This strategy is expected to work because of two reasons:
a. Highly literate and educated students are the intended recipients of the message.
Thus, distortions in sending across and conveying the message will be minimal.
b. The point of contact with such messages will be at least three times a day, during
lunch, dinner and one other meal people have, which is quite high
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Under this strategy, we have carried out an experiment where the two posters provided in
Exhibit . were put up in the students mess and Amrith Kalash for two days at locations
which were found to have a high probability of being in the zone of sight. These posters
appealed to the sensitivities of the students exhibiting Rajas and Tamas gunas as we also
asked them to indicate which part of the poster appealed to them the most through a heat
map survey also provided in the same appendix.
At the end of the experiment, we were able to quantify the results in terms of reduction in
the number of food waste bins filled post a meal. This number, in these 2 days of
experiment came down from the existing 2.5 to 2.25 which is a saving of nearly 40 kgs.
For the long term, taking into consideration the case of students mess, it is a dining hall
of size 5100 sq. ft. which attracts an average crowd of 160-170 students at a time during
rush hours. To be in visual reach, the first big message can be displayed in the hand wash
area where almost 95% people wash their hands before starting their meal on a daily
basis. The communication can be placed at chest height opposite to the mirrors so that
even be read opposite in the mirror while washing hands. The other banners stuck in the
used plate collection area where the collection of waste food also happens. If messages
such as Kenya are displayed there, there can be expected a gradual reduction on
emotional connection account and a safe estimate is to assume development of awareness
in one out of four people who come in contact with the message. This can help us reduce
our food wastage by 20-25% gradually.
Marketing Mix analysis of the Recommendations
Price:
a. The pricing of the service should be kept as low as possible as the customers have a very
low acceptance of such practices and even more so in a green campus like IIMBs.
b. The total price comprises of investments in selecting the right bins and developing the
communication strategy to harp the message constantly to bring to the fore the points of
differentiation and a high recall span.
c. The negative incentives can help recover the expenses by charging fines and other non-
compliance fee. This can be set at Rs. 50/- per violation to establish credibility.
d. This pricing strategy is essentially penetrative pricing which increases incrementally as
the differential value is non-existent here as there is no direct competition.
Product:
a. The service offering is still in its introduction phase in the product/service life cycle.
b. Majority of the people want to participate in our service offerings but are not able to do
so due to lack of appropriate incentives and know-how.
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c. The service mix comprises not only of proper waste segregation and collection, in it are
also bundled things like lessons in life to use resources judiciously, inbuilt negative
incentives, satisfaction of a basic need of hygiene, etc.
Place:
a. The waste management practices can be delivered with the partnership of the
administration, hostel committee, waste pickers, and mess committee.
b. Selecting the appropriate channel to create awareness is also a major concern. This
service will follow a selective distribution model where a few select places where food
wastage levels are very high, such as the mess and Amrith Kalash will be selected to
spread the message.
c. A volunteer team will also be required to monitor the progress for about 2 months after
which early adopters will join in to this service.
Promotion:
a. Using provocative posters and banners initially in the aforementioned areas and
progressively throughout the campus at strategic locations will help create and sustain the
buzz about this service.
b. The communication strategy will follow a transformational appeal and will cater to the
fear and self pity bracket under the same.
c. Volunteers will also constantly inform people about the ill-effects of over-wastage; and
joint sessions can be held in the auditorium by a bunch of experts on the issue as a part of
Marketing Management course (attendance will be compulsory for the same).
The way forward: A discussion with the overseas students and their reactions and comments!
A survey conducted with the overseas students studying at IIMB under the student exchange
programme revealed that these students do not think very highly of the waste management
practices currently in practice in IIMB. From the 14 responses that we managed to secure, the
following were the key results:
a. An average rating of 5.16/10 was given to IIMBs waste management and disposal
practices.
b. Everybody in the sample group knew about sustainable waste management practices
unlike the 75% penetration of the concept among Indian students at IIMB.
c. Only 2 students were aware that a biogas plant existed on campus for treatment of
biodegradable food waste.
d. The only waste management practice that had a 100% recall level among these students
was the use of separate bins for collection of different types of waste in public areas.
e. 8 out of the 14 respondents say that their waste management and disposal habits have
changed for the bad after coming to IIMB.
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Produced below are some of the key insights we obtained from the students who were willing to
share what waste management practices are followed at their campus and what can be done at
IIMB to make it at par with other world class institutes in terms of sustainable waste
management:
Have any of your usual waste disposal methods/practices changed after coming to IIM-
Bangalore?
1. Student from University of Cologne: Back home I segregate my waste, but next to the
rooms is only one waste bin. So it is not possible to segregate waste.
2. Student from Alto, Helsinki, Finland: Is a higher number for the above rating good or bad?
Compared to the rest of Bangalore, the waste mgt in IIMB is good, since there are no trash cans
outside campus. However, more could be done with visible recycling, as in different bins for
bottles, biodegradables, etc. In my home campus there are separate bins for general waste,
biodegradables, paper and cardboard. We rarely throw bottles in the bin because bottles can be
returned to any supermarket, for which we receive from 10cents up to 40cents a bottle. So what
has changed is that here I do not recycle as I would back home.
3. Student from HEC Paris: Yes : no more distinction between plastic and paper in the Hostel
area (there are two dust bins in HEC campus' rooms) so I stopped doing it in the hostel although I
keep doing some kind of recycling in the campus where there is a bin for plastic and a bin for
food waste.
4. Student from UBC Sauder School of Business, Vancouver: I understand there is waste
separation at IIMB, but at my home campus, the separation is much clearer, with bins for
plastic/glass/cans, bins for biodegradable waste, bins for paper, and bins for garbage. The
separation at IIMB doesn't seem as strict as I see many people putting any waste they like into
any garbage can they see. So I suppose my waste management practices have become more
careless after coming here.

Please suggest any simple practices followed on your home campus that can be replicated in
IIMB
1. Student from HEC Paris: First, I think it would be helpful to explain clearly what waste
management practices are going on at IIMB - this would help inspire students to do their part (at
my home university, posters and emails go around explaining the waste mgmt systems in place
and how they're reducing our footprint). Aside from that, the most useful thing I can think of is to
encourage people to use re-usable water bottles - this is very common at my home university.
2. Student from University of Cologne: At my campus, waste is always segregated at the
origin. Waste bins are never far.

Thus, we can clearly see from these responses that sustainable waste management is a concept
that has caught prominence in the western world and has the potential to put India under extreme
pressure if not adopted now. As the respondents say, the practices are very easy and
unsophisticated to implement. However, what is needed is conviction and patience to follow
these practices day in and day out till they become a part of our daily lifestyles. It is only then we
can contribute truly to the betterment of our future generations and the world at large.
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Appendices
In the form of interview excerpts carried out at Amrith Kalash and Students Mess:

Amrith Kalash (Respondent: Mr. Gangadhara, supervisor)

q. Approximately how much food waste is generated in a day at your facility?

A total of close to 150-200 kg of food wastage is encountered by us on a daily basis. Though it
might sound less but majority of our wastage items are high cost such as pulses, rice products,
etc. A total of 2% of the kitchen items go waste and for the prepared food, this level is 5%.

q. How many people are involved in the disposal of this waste?

Again, our production for most fast moving items like idli, vada, etc. is made to stock. However,
there is some notion of demand and we produce only that much. Some other items are made as
per orders. This way we ensure minimal wastage and hence do not employ anyone specifically
for the purpose of disposing off waste materials.

q. What is the frequency of waste collection? Details regarding the disposal of waste (What
happens after it is picked up, etc.)

Waste segregation is done by our employees only and we religiously engage ourselves in
ensuring that there is proper disposal of degradable and non-degradable items. The waste
collection frequency for food waste is 1 day and is done by the agency Saahas. Waste
collection period for other wastes is 1 week and it is dumped in the open area behind new hostel
blocks where BBM trucks carry this waste out of the campus. Food waste after it is picked up,
goes to the biogas plant for electricity generation for the campus.

q. Do you undertake any special measures to reduce wastage or excess consumption?

We cannot really monitor excess consumption as we charge money for food and thereafter if
people waste food, it is essentially their loss. On our part, we de-incentivize plastic consumption
by charging Rs. 5-10/- per plastic containers people take from us to carry food. We also charge
Rs. 1-2/- for plastic carry bags.

q. Are you willing to spend a portion of your monthly earnings to bring down wastage levels?
We will use that money to invest in banners and posters and come up with other plans.

We are skeptical about the effectiveness of use of banners and provoking posters and other
marketing tactics. Traditionally, people who have been wasting food are PGP students only.
Faculty, PGSEM and EPGP students usually eat thaalis and seldom waste anything. However, if
someone has to waste food, theyll not think twice before doing that and if someone is in a hurry,
theyll not hesitate in buying plastic packs. However, given a chance to contribute, we are
willing to spend up to Rs. 5000/- to ensure that wastage levels get further minimized. Our
wastage per day amounts to Rs. 1500 and so the investment seems fair.

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Students Mess (Respondent: Mr. Nageswara V)

q. Approximately how much food waste do you think is generated in a day at student mess?

The waste generated varies highly from day to day depending on the consumption of the
students. On an average it will come to 4 bins of large size (.25 cu. Meter).

q. How do you manage demand supply mismatch?
Earlier, students who went on holidays had to inform us beforehand. Based on that we used to
vary the quantity we prepared. But this year that practice has been scrapped. So we prepare the
same quantity every day. In case of excess supply, the block staff and other workers consume it
and we do not have much wastage.

q. How many people are involved in the disposal of the food waste? What is the frequency of
waste collection?

There is one person involved who is hired by the college. We dispose the waste in a bin outside.
He collects waste from there around 5 a.m everyday.

q. Things regarding waste management about which you are not happy and you think need
improvement.

We could ensure that the extra food prepared which goes as waste at the end of the day can be
given to poor children. The students on their part must take care not to overfill their plates and
waste food. They could instead have 2-3 helpings if needed.

q. Willingness to spend money and effort on improvements to waste disposal techniques?

This is decided by the mess committee. We have no say in the costs. But we are prepared to put
in extra effort around an hour or two if needed.

q. Have there been any major changes with regards to the waste management practices followed
by you at point in time since your inception/tenure at IIMB? If yes, provide details.

In the 18 years that I have been here, there has been only one change. Earlier, the waste was
collected by an external organization on a monthly basis for Rs. 250. Four years earlier, the
segregation of wastes was brought in.

q. Do you expect any help and support from the administration? If so, details.

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The students should also be concerned about the waste generated. The admin could bring back
the practice of students informing in case they go out on a holiday.

q. What are the roadblocks you are facing and how do you intend to eliminate them given you
were responsible for waste management?

Given the current scenario where we are not able to judge the demand accurately, I think we
should reduce the quantity of preparation. We could prepare less and continuously monitor the
consumption level and prepare more when needed.