Waste to Wealth: Innovation in E-waste Ecosystem

As the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan movement swept the nation, India uncovered its path to a cleaner, more sustainable future. In line with India's declaration in the Paris Accord, the following stride in this direction aims to overstep waste & pollution management, transforming these menaces into productive avenues of energy and growth. The Swachh Bharat Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, set up under the Prime Minister's Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council, is an initiative by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. That will leverage global technological capabilities to create socioeconomic benefits for 1.3 billion Indians by addressing the issues of waste disposal, deteriorating air quality, and increasing pollution of water bodies.

To achieve India's commitments to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Office of the PSA has established a 'Project Management Unit (PMU) in partnership with Invest India, India's National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency.

The PMU has identified 14 'Sentinel Sites' for its pilot projects across the country through the nodal regional Project Management Units. A recognized professional implementing agency will manage each pilot project with a demonstrated track record of expertise, operational success, and professional knowledge of various academics. And as the R&D institutions collocated near the sentinel sites. The pilot projects will seek to discover, demonstrate, test, and learn from various waste-to-wealth techniques & approaches in collaboration with multiple departments & ministries. The deployment data and the management lessons generated from each project will be at numerous sites across India.

Waste-to-Energy

The Waste Energy facilities accept our solid waste and combust it at very high temperatures, producing heat that converts water into steam. Steam is to run turbines that generate electricity: Ash and other residues from this process. Scrubbers, filters, and other pollution control equipment reduce pollutants released during incineration.

India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2027; by 2050, India’s urban population will nearly double to reach 814 million.

According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India currently generates 62 million tons of waste (both recyclable and non–recyclable) every year, with an average annual growth rate of 4%. Solid waste, plastic waste, and E-waste are the principal waste materials. Waste generation in urban areas of India will be 0.7 kg per person per day in 2025, approximately four to six times higher than in 1999. Air Pollution in India is also a severe health issue. As per a study based on 2016 data, at least 140 million people in India breathe air ten times or more over the WHO safe limit. The most polluted cities in the world, 22 out of 30, were in India in 2018.

Types of Waste

Solid Waste

In the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), 1.45 lakh tons/day of municipal solid waste in urban India. Only 23% of the total developed waste is processed/treated (33,215 tons/day), while 72% is land-filled (1.22 lakh tons/day). As many as 67% of the urban areas have a door-to-door collection of MSW. India produces approximately 0.025 million tons of plastic waste/day, which will rise to 34 MT per year by 2031. The per capita plastic consumption in India in 2017 was 11 kg, and the percentage of plastic and rubber in municipal solid waste has risen to 9.22% compared to 0.66% in 1996, as per the Central Pollution Control Board data. A United Nations report states that India is one of the biggest producers of e-waste in the world. It generates about 2 million tons of e-waste annually. India’s e-waste to grow to 5.2 million metric tons by 2020.

Today’s landfills are very different from the old ones, where people dump their garbage in an open area. They are constructed and operated to strict environmental standards, including liners to protect groundwater. Within this hierarchy, land filling waste is the lowest priority of the solid waste management options.

Organic Waste

Organic waste is another typical household: all food waste, garden waste, manure, and rotten meat as organic waste. Over time, organic waste is turned into manure by microorganisms. However, this does not mean that you can dispose of them anywhere. Organic waste in landfills causes methane production, so it must never be with available manure. Instead, look to get a green bin from the garden bag for proper waste disposal.

Air Pollution

Air pollution is a significant cause of disease and death worldwide, contributing to 3 million premature deaths yearly. In India, more than 80 % of people living in urban areas monitoring air pollution are air quality levels that exceed the permissible levels mandated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Primary sources of Air pollution include old vehicles, fuel adulteration, industries and power plants using solid fuels, and traffic congestion.

Water Pollution

Nearly 70% of India’s water is contaminated, impacting three in four Indians and contributing to 20% of the country’s disease burden. The health costs of water pollution are about INR 470-610 billion ($6.7-8.7 billion) per year. Only one-third of India’s wastewater is currently treated, resulting in raw sewage flowing into rivers, lakes, and ponds and eventually polluting the groundwater.

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste includes flammable, toxic, corrosive, and reactive rubbish. These items can harm you and the environment and must be disposed of correctly. Therefore, I recommend you use a waste removal company to dispose of all hazardous waste properly.

Way Forward

The prevention and minimization of waste, and the processes and practices intended to reduce the amount of waste produced, is a best practice for solid waste management systems. Reducing waste and reusing materials are not only environmentally beneficial, but can deliver public health benefits and save money.

Today we start to hear the benefits of waste management for both the environment and business modules even more. But what is the future of Waste Management?

The future of Waste management starts and proceeds with technological adjustments. Like every other industry, to proceed, the waste management industry needs to become digitized and data-driven to advance its work field. This is smart and competitive! Especially for businesses, they are required to be one step ahead of their competitors.

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