RECYCLING FOR SUSTAINABLE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Almitra H PatelMember, Supreme Court Committee
for Solid Waste Management in
Class 1 Cities in India
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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