Latest from Waste Management India

One great news for the private waste management sector in India comes from the city of Agra where Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam  has outsourced the function to a private firm on a fee basis- where the major polluters will be charged a fee to dispose their waste. This is a step to ensure that people don't get away after polluting our environment and somebody oversees the whole process to guarantee safe disposal of waste.  This also imbibes a sense of cautiousness within the community and makes them think before they dispose anything here and there as  when they know they are paying money for a particular services, they'll be more interested in knowing what happens to it.

In Pune, a new hazardous and bio-medical plant is going to be set up under PPP on a cost sharing basis-25% Central govt., 25% State govt. and rest 50% by private firm to handle about 3000kgs of waste.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has identified 3 new landfill sites at Tajola, Ambernath and Shil Phata to handle the growing waste in the upcoming years. The garbage output is expected to double from 11000 odd tonnes to 19500 tonnes in the next 25 years. 


Small cities have come up with exemplary progress which shoes that if there is a will and proper planning then any problem can be solved. Rajkot has entered into PPP to collect and efficiently dispose the waste generated in the city everyday, where earlier only 25% of the households were having their waste collected compared to the present 90% households. The waste collectors are paid about Rs.10 per household per month for the collection, segregation and disposal. The recyclables are sold off and the remaining is landfilled. Also fines and penalties are levied on people who litter.


Though this is not a new concept and every municipal council has made plans on the same lines in some way but what needs to be seen is how to successfully implement that plan. If these plans are implemented in proper manner, there will be no unpleasant sites in our cities in the first place.


To reiterate the fact, we at Ecowise follow the best practices to not only collect the waste door-to-door but also treat them by making compost to make least burden on our landfills.


So, Join our campaign towards cleaner cities. 

Religion and Waste Management

I was very excited to hear in the news few days back that the durga puja celebrations this year will turn eco-friendly with clay and chalk idols with vegetable dyes on them so that they dissolve easily. There were also claims of pandals turning to solar and LED lighting. Some went over the top giving such eqipment for free (link)

But how much was actually done towards this is a pretty dismal story. Hordes of materials, flowers, frames, decorations and hundreds of idols were immersed in the Yamuna and Hindon rivers and their remnants lay scattered all around littering the whole area and bringing down the entire mood of the festivities..atleast for me.

I don't buy the practices in our religion where we pray and destroy our sacred things at the same time. Our rivers are sacred to us, then why do I have to see people especially stopping on the sides of bridges upon rivers and throwing their so called 'puja stuff' down the rivers. They don't realise that this very muck will come and haunt them in the coming years in the form of choked drains and rivers. They can take the pains of packing, transporting and stopping especially to throw their waste, but they can't walk down the street and throw the same in the municipal bins.  Maybe by throwing in bins, they won't get the supposed benefits of their 'particular tradition'.

At major places I have seen the authorities put sites to throw the waste near rivers but haven't seen any use of that..maybe the authorities ought to mention an additional message something like-
'For your religious waste ONLY, try this fast-track way to get directly to the Gods-
Undersigned- All religious heads'

Waste Management in Asia

Waste Management In Asia

Waste Management in Asia: Two decades of solid economic growth have added to the problems of waste management in most Asian countries. Estimates provided by ministry of environment, government of Japan (2006) on waste management in Asia estimate that Asia generated more than 3 billion Tons of solid waste in the year 2000 and the figure will most likely go up to 9 billion tons by 2050. The environment program of the United Nations has estimated that waste generation in East Asia and the Pacific region has been increasing at the rate of 3%-7% on a yearly basis.

The increase in volume of waste generated by Asian countries pose an immense challenge to the welfare and growth of countries located in this region. According to an article on waste management in developing Asia by Amit Ray (Indian Economic Service, New Delhi) and the data from the Basel convention most Asian countries (Excluding Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea) will see significant rise in per capita waste generation.

The two growth pillars of the Asian Continent, India and China with their huge population and every growing demand for consumer goods require immediate attention. China is already the world’s biggest municipal waste generator. China generated about 190 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2004 and expected to reach480 million tons by 2030 (World Bank 2005). The more important aspect of this is that the composition of waste has shifted towards plastic and paper.

The volume of waste in India is on the rise at an alarming rate. Economic growth and increased purchasing power means that the people are consuming more and generating more waste. Large cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai generate up wards of 10000 tons of waste daily. It is estimated that by 2030, India will generate more than 125000 tons of waste on a yearly basis.

The fastest growing component in the waste stream is e-waste. E-waste contains toxics such as lead, cadmium, mercury. These elements can contaminate the underground water table over time by leaching into the ground and have an adverse effect on communities located nearby. The total e-waste generated in India excluding the items that are imported is estimated to be 146180 tons (2005 Figure). There are over 25000 people employed by scrap yards in Delhi, where 10000-20000 tons of e-waste is handled every year (2005 Figures).

The major challenge is that waste management in most Asian countries is undertaken by the informal sector, mostly comprising of waste pickers (Referred as rag pickers in India) and middle men or waste traders. Most industries and house holds dump their waste into open fields and scientific landfill sites are rare to come by. Countries like India have come up with MSW rule 2000. A document prepared by the ministry of forest and environment India. These rules are applicable to all states and regions in India and the central government expects local government and municipalities to insure that the rules are followed in their respected regions. Various other issues at local municipalities and governing bodies, such as lack of resources (or wrong allocation of resources), lack of proper institutional institutes, social and cultural stigmas relating to the field of waste management, and a general lack of knowledge and awareness are only adding to the challenge.

Urgent steps are needed to establish an integrated or umbrella model of waste management on a domestic level in various Asian countries. Strengthening and enforcing environmental standards, making polluters pay, legislating environmental laws and creating an all inclusive policy framework are just some on the many requirements that need immediate attention.

Tell Us What You Think About Waste Management In India

Worldwide Municipal Solid Waste Expenditure

Worldwide Municipal Solid Waste Expenditure

Zero Waste management policy, what does it actually mean?

Zero Waste management policy, what does it actually mean?


I came across an interesting waste management article on Zero Waste policy and what it actually on wastersblog.com a great site for resource and information on waste management news. I was Shocked to learn that there is actually no definition for the word Zero Waste, it is actually a term that is coined by politicians as it fits their environmental and waste management agenda perfectly. The only way to define the term zero waste is to look at projects that claim to be working towards zero waste philosophy around the world.

According to a study by green alliance in 2006 “Zero Waste” or “No Waste” terms were meant to mean no un-recycled waste and not much more. Practically Zero Waste is tough task to achieve even with all the technologies that we have access to, yet it is a goal that many municipalities strive to achieve. It is in fact documented that municipalities that strive towards a zero waste policy have some of the highest recycling rates in the world.

A common feature in many zero waste policies is that of source separation of recyclables and many countries like Canada do put this law into practise rigorously. But what happens when you try and implement a zero waste management policy in a country like India, where there is no source segregation. Surprisingly the effect is reverse. In my experience, India boosts one of the highest rates of residential waste recycling in the world. On the flip side it also boosts the one of the poorest rates of collection, segregation and treatment of organic waste in the world.

Countries in the west and in Europe have a systemized and organized waste management industry and the zero waste policy is determined based on landfill and house hold charges. In India which does not have a single scientifically managed landfill and where majority of households do not pay for waste collection services the determining factor is the price of recyclables in the open market. Numerous households sell their recycling waste to local scrap dealers, and the left over recyclables in the waste are removed by rag-pickers or the local waste collector. Three different continents all working towards zero waste management practices. The difference is that waste management in India is unorganized, not regulated and there is little involvement of municipal bodies to in-force the law, recognize the unorganized sector for their involvement and make them part of the privatization drive.

As mentioned, achieving a Zero Waste target is an uphill task, but the desire for continuous improvement and working towards a zero waste community is the biggest lesson. Zero waste is a vision and continuous improvement has to be strived in reducing waste from source and by involving our political class to start making changes in the way that they operate.

Eco Wise Waste Management

Green Bin Blue Bin

http://www.eco-wise.info/

How to dispose household waste

Talk @ Green India

Here What Talk@Green India has to say-

Our aim is to focus on show casing the talent of fresh young minds, aiming to harness their potential and thus arrive at a plausible solution to make a Green India in the coming years.

We, a group of B.tech students, are taking an initiative to start a campaign throughout India to spread awareness & nurture hidden talents. With the aid of this platform, we aspire to help change India into a World Leader.

for more visit- http://talkgreenindia.com/aboutus.html

Eco Wise CEO Manik Thapar on IBN Live

http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/46931/mbagrad-mints-money-from-garbage-management.html

http://www.eco-wise.info/