May 19 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Experts raise red flag on waste disposal
Jayashree Nandi
|
New Delhi
TNN
|
Say It Does Not Address Pollution Concerns, Propose Model To Reduce Load On Landfills
The Planning Commission's taskforce on waste to energy (W2E) has recently recommended a public-private partnership(PPP) model for a combination of waste management technologies, including W2E plants, bio-methanation and composting, that can be integrated to reduce the load on landfills. For larger cities like Delhi, it mainly recommends W2E plants that generate power through gasification, incineration and other methods. Civil society groups, especially waste pickers, are up in arms as pushing PPP in W2E plants would mean loss of livelihood for informal waste pickers, they say. Environmentalists are also disappointed because the taskforce report fails to address air pollution concerns from W2E plants. The Okhla W2E plant is already mired in controversy over dioxin and furan emissions, and more such plants may deteriorate Delhi’s air quality further, they claim.The taskforce headed by K Kasturirangan is pushing for W2E plants in large cities across the country. It suggests tax incentives to make them financially viable and a “target of setting up 215 W2E plants by 2031 to generate 1075MW power”. The taskforce recommends that W2E plants be exempted from corporate income tax for the first five years of operation and be eligible for immediate refund of value-added tax.
The report recommends segregation at source and separation of waste into several streams, like construction and demolition, street sweepings and silt from drains, wet, biodegradable and recyclables, singlesource bulk waste collected
from market yards, restaurants etc. It advises minimizing of waste by implementing the `5R' concept: reduce, reuse, recover, recycle and remanufacture, and suggests recognizing the role of kabadiwalas in sorting recyclable materials. But this, environmentalists say , is too little to rehabilitate close to 3.2 million waste pickers across the country .“We are greatly disappointed that the informal sector workers, like junk dealers, scrap dealers and itinerant buyers, have been excluded,“ said Chitra Mukherjee of Chintan. Waste pickers are concerned about their future. “The Aseem Burman committee in 1998 had said that waste pickers are the backbone of waste management. After 14 years, waste pickers have been completely excluded. If corporates are being involved on a large scale, obviously waste pickers will lose livelihood. I think they don't want to see ragpickers on the roads so that cities don't look poor,“ said Shashi Bhushan Pandit of All India Kabadi Mazdoor Mahasangh.
The taskforce suggests separate collec tion and transportation of domestic, C and D waste, silt from surface drains etc and that “efforts should be made to collect waste from the doorstep and delivered directly to processing plants”.
It also suggests that municipal authorities consider inviting private companies to operationalize defunct plants and a funding support of capital subsidy can be extended to them.
The report states very little on how W2E plants will be monitored and what emission standards they will have to meet. “Who is going to monitor the technology? What are the standards? I am absolutely amazed that the report has nothing on monitoring mechanisms or its fallout on the environment and health. One lab report on dioxin or furans costs Rs 75,000. Who is going to pay for it? We have just one agency, CPCB, to monitor such emissions. Who will monitor smaller towns?” said Satish Sinha, associate director of Toxics Link, a group that takes up environmental issues.
The report recommends segregation at source and separation of waste into several streams, like construction and demolition, street sweepings and silt from drains, wet, biodegradable and recyclables, singlesource bulk waste collected
from market yards, restaurants etc. It advises minimizing of waste by implementing the `5R' concept: reduce, reuse, recover, recycle and remanufacture, and suggests recognizing the role of kabadiwalas in sorting recyclable materials. But this, environmentalists say , is too little to rehabilitate close to 3.2 million waste pickers across the country .“We are greatly disappointed that the informal sector workers, like junk dealers, scrap dealers and itinerant buyers, have been excluded,“ said Chitra Mukherjee of Chintan. Waste pickers are concerned about their future. “The Aseem Burman committee in 1998 had said that waste pickers are the backbone of waste management. After 14 years, waste pickers have been completely excluded. If corporates are being involved on a large scale, obviously waste pickers will lose livelihood. I think they don't want to see ragpickers on the roads so that cities don't look poor,“ said Shashi Bhushan Pandit of All India Kabadi Mazdoor Mahasangh.
The taskforce suggests separate collec tion and transportation of domestic, C and D waste, silt from surface drains etc and that “efforts should be made to collect waste from the doorstep and delivered directly to processing plants”.
It also suggests that municipal authorities consider inviting private companies to operationalize defunct plants and a funding support of capital subsidy can be extended to them.
The report states very little on how W2E plants will be monitored and what emission standards they will have to meet. “Who is going to monitor the technology? What are the standards? I am absolutely amazed that the report has nothing on monitoring mechanisms or its fallout on the environment and health. One lab report on dioxin or furans costs Rs 75,000. Who is going to pay for it? We have just one agency, CPCB, to monitor such emissions. Who will monitor smaller towns?” said Satish Sinha, associate director of Toxics Link, a group that takes up environmental issues.
