FOLLOW THE WEST : RE-CYCLE RE-USE WASTES

TOWARDS RECYLING OUR WASTES….

N.Nandhivarman, General Secretary Dravida Peravai

There is good news from Trichy District of Tamilnadu. India’s first zero waste toilet system was inaugurated by District Collector Jayashree Muralidharan on 11 th May 2012. The Zero Waste Toilet system contains a flush out toilet, a bathroom, a urine diversion bowl, a cultivated wetland for treating bathroom water and a biogas plant. At last somewhere in India recycling waste has started to catch people’s imagination. There were days when agriculture was prime occupation of villagers who nurtured cattle and governments of those days advised Gobar gas plants to generate power out of waste. With mechanization of replacing cattle the chances of  Gobar gas electrification took a back seat. Very close to Puducherry UT, in Kongampattu village of Villupuram District of Tamilnadu there lives a homegrown scientist who had marched ahead to generate power for every home from within that home, though he had not patented it, such novel schemes must catch government’s attention.

The focus now throughout the world is towards recycling of wastes and industries specializing in these sectors are emerging as global leaders. Indian Paper Manufacturers Association says that in India only 20% of waste paper is recycled whereas in West the ratio is 65%. Two giants in paper recycling Alba Group of Germany and Reciclajes Dolaf of Spain had merged together to be leader in waste paper recycling in the world.

Honda, a Japanese company collects used batteries from cars and motorbikes throughout their world wide net work and joined hands with Japan Metals and Chemical Company to segregate metals from waste batteries and reuse in nickel-metal hydride batteries.

PepsiCo before two years in USA started to place Plastic Recycling Machines which they referred as Dream Machines wherever people throng like malls, colleges, sports complexes etc. People can dump their plastic/ aluminum bottles into these dream machines, which like our ATM machines of Banks will give you, recycled plastic bottles and aluminum cans. If PepsiCo could recycle 95 million plastic bottles in a year in USA, why India lacks the political will to force same company to emulate its own American example in India?

Technology is available to convert plastic wastes into solid fuel for sale, but we in India are allowing plastic mountains to grow in each and every town and village.

The pathetic conditions of landfills in every major or minor town to smallest village in India are a serious health hazard, which needs addressed as long term solution.

Similarly concrete and other construction material waste accumulating day by day caught the attention of Japanese even in 1990, when they started 95%recycling of concrete waste. An international journal Recycling International which is appearing for last 14 years educates all Governments on currently available waste recycling techniques.

Vietnam Environment JSC has built a plastic recycling factory in its Port town of Da Nang. Out of 3 tons plastic wastes it extracts one ton oil. Every day 650 tons of plastic wastes were getting accumulated in Da Nang out of which 8 % is plastic waste. This company produces 17 ton of oil out of these wastes. Puducherry Government can tie up with these Vietnam Company and recycle its plastic waste into oil.

Gobargas plants in villages, Waste Recycling Factories in Town, Encouragement to Native Scientists like Sembian in their Power from Within a Home concept all should go a long way in keeping our cities and villages clean, cleaner and cleanest in near future.