Temple Waste Transformation

Wi In the bustling city
of Ujjain, as dawn
breaks, thousands
of devotees make
their way to the
Mahalakaleshwar Temple, offering
vibrant flowers in a display of devotion.
These flowers, rich in devotion, often
meet an unfortunate fate, discarded
into rivers or dumped in landfills. While
many might think a single handful of
flowers wouldn’t create much harm,
Nachiket Kuntla, head of research
and development at Phool.co, paints a
different picture. “When an individual
throws flowers into the river,” he
reveals, “[he] thinks, ‘what harm can a
handful of flowers cause?’ But we are a
country of more than a billion people, so
imagine the effect.”
Kuntla’s words resonate with the
mission of the Swabhav Swachhata
Sanskaar Swachhata) campaign,
launched to mark the 10th anniversary
of the Swachh Bharat Mission. By
focusing on recycling floral waste from
temples across India, the campaign
embraces sustainability, turning what
was once discarded into valuable
resources.
Coming back to Ujjain, the
Mahalakaleshwar Temple, with
its 75,000 to 100,000 daily visitors,
produces an astounding 5-6 tonnes of
floral waste each day. To tackle this,
the temple introduced the ‘Pushpanjali
Econirmit’ vehicles, which collect and
transport floral waste to a 3-ton-perday processing plant. The waste is
transformed into organic products
like compost, briquettes, and biofuels.
Women from the Shiv Arpan Self-Help
Group (SHG) have taken the lead,
crafting over 30 million incense sticks
and other eco-friendly items. Their
efforts have not only helped reduce the
temple’s environmental footprint but
have also provided stable employment
opportunities for many.
In Mumbai, the Siddhivinayak
Temple faces a similar challenge with
its 40,000 to 100,000 daily devotees.
Floral offerings here range from 120 to
200 kilograms per day, which prompted
‘Adiv Pure Nature,’ a sustainable design
house, to collaborate with the temple.
They collect the waste thrice weekly,
transforming it into natural dyes for
textiles like scarves, garments, and
linens. Utilizing a range of materials,
from marigolds to coconut husks, this
initiative showcases how temple waste
can fuel artistic and ecological ventures.
Kanpur-based Phool.co, a trailblazer
in the temple waste recycling space,
collects approximately 21 tonnes of
floral waste each week across major
cities like Ayodhya, Varanasi, Bodh
Gaya, and Badrinath. The company
turns this waste into incense products
and has also developed an innovative
leather alternative, ‘Fleather,’ earning
accolades such as PETA’s Best
Innovation Award. Phool’s operations
not only combat waste but also over
secure livelihoods to women who
receive benefits such as healthcare,
transportation, and provident funds.