RECYCLING FOR SUSTAINABLE

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Almitra H PatelMember, Supreme Court Committee

for Solid Waste Management in

Class 1 Cities in India

almitrapatel@rediffmail.com

www.almitrapatel.com

LET US BE PROUD OF INDIA’S SMALL ECOLOGICAL

FOOTPRINT !

We use 50-100 gm non-degradable waste per capita per day in larger cities, vs

1-2 kg per capita per day in the West.

This is NOT backwardness. We shouldnot copy the ways of throwaway

cultures.2

In India, recycling supports 0.5 – 1% of a city’s

population

Almost all plastics are recyclable, and arecollected if it is economically worthwhileand gives a survival wage.

Thin carry bags are not collected now from mixed waste or at dumpsites.

Increasing micron thickness to 20 micron,then 40 or more has not helped at all.

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Thin-film plastics in our mixed waste is increasing

In 1993, 1-2% by weight reached the dumps.In 2003, this rose to even 7-9% in some cities. In 2014, guesstimates are as high as 15-20%.

Plastic volumes now exceed the volume ofcompost produced in compost plants.

Plastics must be removed from compost toprevent damage to soil porosity and waterabsorption, and the poor germination of

seeds.4

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But plastic wastes are a major problem in composting and need very costly machinery to remove

That is why we must keep ‘Wet’ and ‘Dry’ wastes

unmixed at our homes and also during collection and

transport

MSW Rules 2000 direct Municipalities to “promote recycling or reuse ofsegregated materials” and “ensurecommunity participation in segregation”.

Then wet waste can be composted tomake our fields more fertile, save water

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City officials and Contractors are not serious about separate ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ collection because transport payment is by weight. So it is better to pay by household.Citizens keeping their wastes separate see itmixed in front of them, and quit in frustration.

So city by-laws must insist that only plastic-free kitchen waste will be collected daily.

Cities should have separate collection daysfor mixed recyclables, once or twice a week. 7

“Recyclable” is meaningless unless Recycling is actually

done!We must make dry waste collection viable.

If carrybags can fetch a street price of Rs 6per kg, they can be shredded and veryusefully used in asphalt roads, replacing 8%by weight of bitumen and giving 250% to300% better road life and less pot-holes.

Make ‘plastic roads’ mandatory like Himachal

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Indians can recycle almost everything except ‘kurkure’.These are also useful in Plastic

Roads

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Collection costs must be affordableVoluntary take-back by industry is the mosteffective solution worldwide, as for glassbottles for soda and soft-drinks since 1900s . Do the same for sachets and pouches.

A one-free-for-20-empties will bring in smallsachets and pouches. This collection cost canbe part of the EPR (Extended ProducerResponsibility) required in the Plastics Waste(Management & Handling) Rules, Amendment2011.

WE MUST USE THESE EPR RULES EFFECTIVELY

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Definition of Extended Producer Responsibility = EPR in the Rules:

3g: “EPR means the responsibility of a Producer or Manufacturer of plasticcarrybags and multilayered pouchesor packages for the environmentallysound management of the productuntil the end of its life. This responsibility also applies to all manufacturers using such packaging.”

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Duties of Cities and Producers / Users of Carrybags & Multilayers

6c (i) Cities must ensure safe collection, storage, segregation, transportation,processing and disposal of plastic waste

(iii) Set up collection centres for plastic waste involving manufacturers

(iv) Ensure its channelisation to recyclers

(v) to (vii) : Create awareness, involve waste-pickers, stop open burning

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Recyclers should demand EPR and help to make it successful6 (d) : cities may ask the

manufacturers, either collectively or individually, in line with EPR principles, to provide the finance to set up collection centres.

(g) Cities should include this in Bye-Laws

(h) Cities shall encourage the use of plastics in… road construction, co-incineration [in cement kilns] etc. 13

Upgrade Kabadi + Scrap shops to Ward-wise Collection Centres

Form an Association of Kabadi and Scrap Shops in each city and town

Put up a Website with their location on a map and their cell numbers

Update weekly prices for different wastes for citizen and industry information

Offer on-call pick-up of clean dry waste 14

Transport costs are a major problemfor recycling lightweight wastes

EPR is best utilised for bringing low-value plastics to recyclers.

We need mobile low-cost shredders , mobile low-cost balers or compaction,mobile P2F (Plastics To Fuel) units,Some heavy-duty balers to move non-recyclables to cement plants as AFR =Alternat Fuel Resources to replace coal

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Recyclers Associations should ask cities for Recycling Eco-Parks

A given area should be like an industrial estate only for recyclers

It should have UNINTERRUPTED POWER which is so important for plastics recycling

It should have a heavy-duty baler, weigh-bridge and P2F unit for recycling rejects.

All this can be funded through E P R

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Create solutions for what is not currently being easily recycled

Replace thermocole packaging with bubble-wrap or recyclable shapes like papier-mache, or bubble-wrap

Change the gum on BOPP film labels onPET bottles if it interferes with recycling.

Use PVC-free recyclable Polythene, banners, hoardings and eco-vinyl, toys and bottles

STOP use-and-throw use of PVC bottles, toys

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CREATE A NATIONAL MAP OF

ULTIMATE RECYCLING FACILITIES

WHY? An east UP recycler closed, so Dabur hair oil bottle collection in Puri stopped as Delhi was too far to ship this special waste.

Kabadiwalas in small towns need links to the nearest glass-factory, or kurkure buyer.

Recycling Assn can usefully prepare such a map for guidance and use of the waste trade, and recyclers who wish to set up new units in suitably economic locations.

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