he fate of plastics in our cities (Plastic pollution in Indian cities)

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he fate of plastics in our cities (Plastic pollution in Indian cities)

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• Bengaluru's waste collection centres: At the Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCCs), workers segregate items from the "dry waste" arriving. This is the non-biodegradable stuff, including bottles, packets, containers etc.
• 250 tonnes daily: Bengaluru generates 250 tonnes of plastic waste, and without the DWCCs, most of it would end up in a landfill - a bad idea. But separating the plastics makes recycling possible. Since 2012, it is mandatory at household level (dry from organic).
• Segregation: It is the separation of organic waste from non-organic waste (paper, plastic, metal), and is the first step in recycling. But a vast majority of India's 8000 cities and towns just don't do it yet! So, huge amount of plastic is ending up in landfills.
• The Law: Since 2016, segregation at source has been mandatorily required, when the MoEFCC notified the Solid Waste Management Rules. But, even by end-2018, the biggest solid waste segregators don't have any solid data on what's going on (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai).
• Leaders: Pune and Bengaluru lead segregation, with half at least. Smaller cities like Tirunelveli does nearly 100%, and Panaji around 90%.

• Why such a pan-India variation?

1. Bengaluru and Pune saw citizen initiatives, once their landfills started overflowing! The H.C. order arrived requiring the city to enforce segregation, and have DWCCs in every ward.
2. Pune movement : SNDT researchers saw the hazardous life of waste pickers, and got an elite neighourhood to segregate their trash, which led to creation of waste-pickers cooperative that collects 55% of trash today.
3. Administrators rising : Telangana cities like Suryapet saw administration taking it up.
4. What about Mumbai? It has very low segregation, but the waste-pickers and kabadi-walahs keep plastic out of landfills! This is almost the informal sector subsidising the municipalities in waste recycling.

• India a large recycler of PET: So despite poor Indian record at segregation, the informal sector has made India a huge global recycler of polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) which is used in soft drink bottles. We recycle 90% of it, while Japan does 72% and Europe only 48%. So thanks to our 40 lakh waste pickers (giving it to recycling companies, who make polyester and denim).
• Thick and thin of it: Waste pickers prefer picking thick baskets, rather than think carry bags, due to final value.
• Useless if soiled: Even the recyclable plastics like polypropylene are useless when soiled, as washing is too costly in recycling. Hence, segregation at source remains the key. That is a civic problem, not a technological issue.
• Technological challenges: Multilayered plastics is one of the toughest to recycle. Its used for wrapping chips to shampoos! Same for thermoset plastics, which burn upon heating (unlike thermoplastics that can be remoulded). These two are bad plastics!
• What to do with them? Most cities throw them in landfills. That which segregate use them as fuel in cement kilns - Bengaluru has 68 tonnes of these two daily and makes bricks of RDF (Refuse-Derived-Fuel). Then those are sent to cement kilns.
• Burning should be avoided: Truly speaking, it's a bad choice, as new plastics-making will again need fossil fuel extraction. Burning = Destruction = Need for new = Mining to make new.
• And the emissions! In cement kilns, RDF has to be incinerated at 1000 degree Celsius to prevent pollutant release (like dioxins and furans). So we are reliant on Pollution Control Boards, which are sloppy.
• Costly RDF making: It is costlier to make compared to simple coke, so cement makers dislike it.
• The road ahead: In 2017, India generated 72 million tonnes municipal solid waste daily, of which 6.5 m was plastics! If only we start segregating at source, the problem can be largely resolved. But States are apathetic. And the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) too hasn't taken off despite the 2016 Plastic Waste Management Rules saying so.
• Summary - Managing solid waste management is easy, provided segregation at source is done properly.

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