ToxicsWatch, Journal of Earth, Science, Economy and Justice

Basel Ban Amendment* vetoed by India, Japan & others
Considerations of Commerce Frustrate Remedial Measures for Imminent Environmental Collapse from hazardous waste dumping
Bali/New Delhi: The UN Conference on Hazardous Wastes Movement from Developed countries to Developing countries failed to prohibit trade in toxic wastes as countries like India and Japan refused to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment aimed at barring the transboundary trade in of toxic waste. It also invited the World Health Assembly to consider a resolution related to the improvement of health through safe and environmentally sound waste management.

Representatives from 170 countries deliberated on linkages human health and waste management for five-days on the Indonesian resort island of Bali to fight the illegal trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste and promote the safe and environmentally sound management of waste within each country.

A declaration issued at the end of the five-day conference said, 'We are fully aware that wastes, if not managed in a safe and environmentally sound manner, may have serious consequences for the environment, human health and sustainable livelihood'.
The declaration said, 'Therefore we reaffirm our commitment to prevent illegal trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes, to minimize the generation of, and to promote the safe and environmentally sound management of wastes within each country.' Most of the delegates from the developing world except some like India wanted the Basel Convention to put complete export ban on hazardous wastes.

Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Forest and Environment who came to the conference just to make a 3 minute intervention outraged all who have already ratified Basel Ban Amendment through his advocacy of the continuation of hazardous waste trade by saying that India supports “free movement of recyclable scrap metal” and agreed with Japan’s position on hazardous waste trade that has been severely criticized by environmental groups. Japanese Economic Partnership Agreements with India, the Philippines, and other Asian countries tantamount to “waste colonialism.” Meena’s statement highlights how India is taking backward and regressive steps with regard to environmental concerns since

It is noteworthy that the 7th round of negotiations on the Japan-India Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was held from May 12 to 15 May, 2008 in New Delhi. The next 8th round of negotiations will be held in Tokyo in July, 2008.

Last year, it was revealed that Japan had exported nearly 2000 tonnes of trash, excluding e-waste, to India in four years between 2003 and 2006. Japan exported at least 270 tons of toxic wastes, including prohibited items such as zinc ash, lead acid battery wastes and copper cables coated with the PVC. Commodities prohibited for trade under other international agreements too had been freely exported by Japan to India. Japan exported more than 500 tons of DDT and 20 tons of capacitor fluid containing polychlorinated biphenyl. The Commerce Ministry had refused to part with any meaningful information regarding the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and said that the Ministry had decided not to bring in the clauses of the agreement to public discussion. It now appears that the Ministry of Environment's proposed amendment to the Hazardous Wastes (Management & Handling Rules) also emerged from similar considerations.

Also last year, the Ministry of Commerce abandoned its decision to have a registration scheme for overseas suppliers of metal scrap. As per the EXIM Policy 2002-2007, import of second hand goods is restricted and can be imported only with the permission of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The DGFT had announced a plan in March 2006 to introduce a registration system covering imports of unshredded ferrous and non-ferrous scrap. But with the proposed amendment from Ministry of Environment, hazardous waste gets classified as hazardous material euphemistically referred to as recyclable metal scrap, and it would fall in the category of second hand materials. The DGFT will be able to allow even hazardous waste since as per the new notification a waste would be deemed as non-waste. In this way toxic waste will reincarnate itself as a reusable or recyclable product.
When the DGFT had proposed its registration scheme covering imports of scrap, the US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and the Indian scarp steel industry had objected to it by arguing for self-regulation to ensure no hazardous waste materials are shipped.

The DGFT appears to have caved in to their pressure and instead suggested self-regulation to the industry, according to information received from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) meeting in Warsaw, Poland during 22-23 October 2007. BIR is the international trade federation representing the world’s recycling industry, covering in particular ferrous and non-ferrous metals etc.

The position of the Ministry of Commerce (the DGFT) is, in effect, in complete contrast to the revised EU Waste Shipment Regulations introduced in July 2007, to which all EU member nations need to comply. The new EU rules now require an tracking document to accompany shipments of non-hazardous materials designated as “waste”, including recyclables. But the scrap industry feels that the complexity of information required by the new EU rules was “totally illogical”, complaining that it did not offer clear environment benefit.

In effect, the proposed rules are a formal announcement of globalisation of the toxic chemical crisis. Exporters in rich countries have been consistently seeking to export toxic scrap to India and likewise, there has been a similar trend amongst businesses in the India to import such waste. Self-regulation is no alternative to corporate accountability.

UN’s Basel Convention on the control of transboundary hazardous waste and its disposal, adopted in 1989, currently has 170 member parties. The Convention entered into force in 1992 that stopped short of banning toxic trade. Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention adopted in 1995 requires the export and import of all hazardous waste to be banned to protect human health and the environment against their adverse effects. The Basel Convention article requires three-fourths of members to ratify the convention in order to enforce the amendment. So far, only 63 countries have ratified the ban amendment

A paper issued at the conference by Indonesian environment minister in his capacity as the president of the UN conference of parties to the Basel Convention called on all parties to expedite the ratifications of the Basel Ban Amendment to help protect the environment and human health from toxic waste.

Environmental organizations like Basel Action Network, Ban Asbestos Network of India, Platform on Shipbreaking have repeatedly called on the Basel parties to enforce the Basel Ban Amendment immediately to prevent further environmental damage by the ongoing toxic waste trade.

For Details: Web: www.basel.int, www.ban.org

UN Conference on Hazardous Wastes concerned about emergence of new waste streams

Bali: The ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal commenced on Monday 23 June, 2008. The Convention was initiated in response to numerous international scandals regarding hazardous waste trafficking that began to occur in the late 1980s and continues till today.

Review of the implementation of decisions adopted at COP9 included discussions on a recommendation of the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) to establish a new Basel Convention Regional and Coordinating Centre (BCRC) in South Asia. This has been proposed by India at COP3 and COP6.

The Secretariat introduced the documents on ship dismantling: Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of ship dismantling (UNEP/CHW.9/34); report of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) (UNEP/CHW/INF/28); compilation of comments on the ESM of ship dismantling (UNEP/CHW/ INF/29); and a document submitted by the Basel Secretariat to the MEPC (UNEP/CHW/INF/30).

Delegates elected Rachmat Nadi Witoelar Kartaadipoetra, State Minister for the Environment (Indonesia), as COP9 President by acclamation. He underscored the theme of the conference "Waste Management for Human Health and Livelihood," noting the impacts of hazardous waste on people and nature. He said the illegal traffic of hazardous waste showed no sign of decreasing and the generation of such waste was increasing.

Environmental groups demanded that remediation of beaches of their toxic contamination in India and Bangladesh where ship-breaking activity takes place is a pressing need to retrieve and protect the fragile coastal environmental and public health of communities and their livelihoods.

Environmental groups sought establishment of level of control equivalent to that of the Basel Convention. The NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), Basel Action Network and the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association expressed concern that the proposed IMO convention would not have the same level of control. A contact group that was established to discuss the draft decision on ship dismantling did include equivalent level of control in its document.

In her statement to COP 9, Katharina Kummer Peiry, Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention too reiterated "to the IMO the importance of ensuring that the new ship recycling Convention provides an equivalent level of control as that established under Basel Convention. The final negotiations International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, under the auspices of IMO will take place in October 2008, prior to its adoption by the Diplomatic Conference in May 2009.
Peiry stressed better Coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions. She hoped that COP9 would place the Basel Convention firmly on the international agenda and reaffirm its implementation as a prerequisite to sustainable development.Other important issues being delibereted include Basel Ban Amendment that was adopted in 1995, the interpretation of Article 17(5) of the Basel Convention and the entry into force of the Ban Amendment, the final adoption of the guidelines of the Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative and Technical Guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management of Mercury Wastes and used tyres.

US is the only developed nation that has failed to ratify the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal that was adopted in Basel, Switzerland in 1989. The Convention entered into force on 5 May 1992.

India has ratified it but the ongoing illegal traffic of the hazardous ships underlines that it is not implementing the treaty. The Convention was at first condemned by environmentalists and developing countries as it failed to ban hazardous waste exports to any location other than Antarctica.

Till recently developing countries and environmentalists succeeded within the Convention in achieving a decision to ban hazardous waste exports from the wealthiest to less wealthy countries.

But with India and US not having ratified the Basel Ban Amendment, which forbids outright the export of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries, the Basel Convention is struggling to appear prtogressive. At a crucial meeting here Sri Lanka and Thailand in some ways saved the Basel Ban Amendment, which was sought to be made impotent by Japan, UK and India.

The conference would conclude on 27th June, 2008. The conference on Hazardous Wastes concerned about emergence of new waste streams in the wake of globalisation and complex technologies.

Hazard of old mobile phones under spotlight at UN meet

23 June, 2008

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) — The disposal of massive numbers of unwanted mobile phones will be a key focus of a five-day meeting on waste management which started Monday in Indonesia, organisers said.

The fate of the more than three billion of the gadgets in use today will be discussed by more than 1,000 delegates from 170 countries at the meeting on the Basel Convention in Bali, a statement said.

Delegates to the conference will discuss new guidelines for disposing of the phones, which have grown from technological obscurity into a household essential -- and a major waste challenge -- in a matter of years.

The conference would "consider adopting new sets of guidelines for the environmentally sound management of used and end-of-life mobile phones," a statement from the organisers said.

"The use of mobile phones has grown exponentially from the first few users in the 1970s to ... more than three billion in April, 2008. Sooner or later these phones will be discarded, whole or in parts."

While highlighting the phone issue, organisers said the effect of hazardous waste on human health and livelihoods would be a focus of the ninth "Council of Parties" meeting of the 1992 treaty.

Opening the conference, Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said Indonesia's long coastline made it particularly vulnerable to the illegal dumping of toxic waste.

"Due to its archipelagic nature, with the second longest coastline in the world, Indonesia is vulnerable to illegal traffic of transboundary hazardous waste," he said.

Speaking to reporters later, Witoelar said rich nations needed to do more to stop their toxic waste being dumped in poor countries.

"Countries that export their hazardous waste have to be held responsible. There are many cases, such as in Africa, where this waste has killed populations of wildlife like lions and elephants, and even children," he said.

"Developed countries that dump their waste tend to ignore the problem."

The Basel Convention is an international treaty which regulates the international trade in hazardous waste and aims to minimise its generation and movement across borders.

Participants are expected to adopt a "Bali Declaration" aimed at highlighting the importance of health and waste management for global development strategies such as reducing poverty.

Convention Executive Secretary Katharina Kummer Peiry said countries on the receiving end of the trafficking of waste should be able to legally challenge dumping nations.

"There needs to be a joint commitment to help the suffering country using the Basel Convention. A mediating body could be formed and problems could be brought to an international court," she said.

"As we are all too often reminded, hazardous wastes continue to pose serious risks for human health and the environment," Peiry said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

Energy from waste, toxic & non-renewable

BURNING GARBAGE, NOT ELLIGIBLE FOR CARBON CREDITS

Indian garbage: should energy be the driving concern?

Environmental groups are deeply concerned over the attempts by the industry bodies to pervert waste management by arguing for waste maximization in order to generate more and more electricity unmindful of public health consequences. Urban wastes a growing urban problem, and the industry is eyeing it as a potential money spinner.

Even though every stakeholder does have a role in mitigating the problem, it must be
realised that waste is wasted natural resources and it is unsustainable to generate more and more waste. Hence instead of treating it merely as an economic good, any intervention must be examined in the context of waste minimisation, making waste less toxic and reducing its environmental impact. In the Indian context, it is a fact that the livelihood of millions of people depends on waste recycling.

ASSOCHAM study on `Mitigating Climate Change: The Indian Perspective? released on 12 June fails to note that the composition of Indian municipal solid waste (MSW) is quite different from that of US and Europe; its distinctive features are the following:
1. Low calorific value,
2. High moisture content,
3. High proportion of organic matter,
4. Earth, sand and grit.

The problem of waste concerns not only its quantity but also its nature. There are two main components of Indian urban waste; the biodegradable component consisting mainly of food items, kitchen waste, etc; and the nonbiodegradable component consisting of plastics, metals, etc. Intervention in the waste stream, that is, manufacturing, usage, disposal and post disposal, needs careful planning in a holistic way.

The multibillion-dollar worldwide waste industry sells the promise that waste as a mixed
commodity is fine and there is no need for segregation or segmental approaches.
Components like paper, plastics, metal and food become .waste. only after they are mixed, but remain recyclable materials if they are not.

Treating energy as the sole focus for waste treatment is not only unsustainable from the
point of energy economics, but also distorts waste management, since it does not automatically lead to waste minimisation and sustainable waste behaviour. The issue becomes more complex if high-heat thermal technologies, such as incineration, pyrolysis or gasification are used for waste treatment.

These processes have an adverse environmental impact, necessitating a high cost to
even attempt any acceptable levels of regulation.
But the Resource Incineration Projects (referred to as Waste To Energy by financers) is being pushed as a Renewable Energy Technology (RET) under the CDM. RETs like Incineration technologies are being pushed through. If that happens, it will be a setback to the anti-incineration campaign worldwide that is aimed at eliminating Persistent Organic Pollutants like Dioxins, heavy metals like Mercury and combating climate change. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is mentioned in the Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol which deal with the climate change.
ASSOCHAM study claims that about 1500 megawatt of power could be generated from urban and municipal wastes by setting up waste energy projects from 40,000 million tonnes of solid wastes is generated every year in the urban areas of the country by 2010.
The fact is that as per Annexure A waste incineration is a green house emitter and therefore it does not qualify for carbon credits as is being claimed by the study.

Are they viable?

Burn techniques such as gasification, pyrolysis and incineration are technically inappropriate for Indian garbage which has a calorific value of about 800 cal/kg. Burning the waste would require at least 1,500 cal/kg, else auxiliary fuel is needed. This raises the probability of undesirable materials being used as fuel supplement, such as plastics and other waste oils. The use of backup fuel not only demolishes the rationale for the project, that is garbage disposal, but also makes the process more uneconomical and unprofitable than it already is.

Perpetual subsidies

The various subsidies given to these WTE projects without levying any cost on the waste generator bypasses a key reason for waste reduction. Disposal costs, if borne by the waste generators, serve as a disincentive to create more. On the other hand, these WTE schemes imply that waste generation is good, since it means more energy.

Why are burn technologies dangerous?

In theory, a properly designed thermal process such as an incinerator should convert
simple hydrocarbons into nothing other than carbon dioxide and water. However, in practice, the garbage contains chemicals that escape pollution control devices through airborne emissions, or concentrate in the ash residue, which is typically disposed of in landfills or stockpiled above the ground.

Some of these pollutants are:

Particulate matter, heavy metals, acid gases, oxides of nitrogen and products of incomplete combustion, including chlorinated organic compounds and, as with all combustion devices, large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is considered to be one of the major contributors to global climatic changes.

Acid gases: These are formed during combustion when certain elements in garbage come in contact with oxygen or hydrogen. Sulphur dioxide and hydrogen chloride are two of the gases released into the atmosphere, contributing to the acidification of rain or fog and consequently metal corrosion, and the erosion of limestone and marble buildings.

Dioxins and furans: Dioxins are the most lethal carcinogens known to humans. These
are formed as unintended by-products when chlorinated substances are burned at a
temperature between 200-800 oC. Dioxins and related chlorinated compounds are extremely potent toxic substances that produce a variety of adverse effects in humans and animals even at extremely low doses. These compounds are persistent in the environment and accumulate in magnified concentrations as they move up the food chain, concentrating in fat and breast milk. Findings from the new USEPA report states that the risk of getting cancer from dioxin is 10 times higher than reported earlier.

Adopt alternative cleaner methods of disposal

The search for systems sensitive to ecology and health to manage waste in developing
countries is particularly challenging. ASSOCHAM must promote low-cost solutions. The ideal resource management strategy for municipal solid waste is to avoid its generation in the first place. This implies changing production and consumption patterns to eliminate the use of disposable, non-reusable, non-returnable products and packaging. The alternatives include:
i. Waste reduction
ii. Waste segregation
iii. Reuse and extended use
iv. Recycling
v. Biomethanation technology
vi. Composting
vii.Vermicomposting

“Technology is unsustainable and hazardous”
“It will destroy source of livelihood of people”


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NEW DELHI: Environmentalists have expressed concern over the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s move to set up incineration-based waste-to-energy plants at Sukhdev Vihar, Timarpur and Ghazipur in the Capital.

Terming the technology “unsustainable and hazardous” to mange the city’s waste, the environmentalists say no hazardous industry should be set up in residential areas.

“The proposed incineration technology for energy generation is quite hazardous. It emits dioxins, the poisonous cancer-causing toxins. Incineration transfers hazardous waste from solid form to air, water and ash. It also releases new toxins which were not present in the original waste stream, besides generating heavy metals like mercury,” said environmentalist Gopal Krishna. “In fact, a technology like this will kill the recycling sector and destroy the source of livelihood of people working in the waste sector. In order to get this project implemented, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will provide a subsidy. The waste will be provided by MCD. Also the civic body’s claim that these plants will eliminate the need for a dumping ground is false,” he added.

“This not only violates the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management Handling) Rules, 2000, which stipulates segregation and promotes recycling of `recoverable resources’, but also pre-empts segregation and recycling efforts being made by municipalities and communities around the country,” said a statement issued by environmentalists. It contends that the incinerator-based technology is a failed technology and that the ash and suspended particulate matter that emerge from the combustion technologies are a huge perpetual problem because although there is volume reduction of waste through this technique, the management of ever growing ash remains.


The Hindu

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/10/stories/2008061053360400.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Delhi

India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accepted a $2,500 donation from Dow Chemical, government documents have revealed.

Dow Chemical is the American firm which bought the controversial company Union Carbide in 2001.

A gas leak from the Union Carbide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal in 1984 killed nearly 3,000 people.

There have been at least 15,000 related deaths since. Survivors still suffer from chronic respiratory illnesses.

The leak of tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas from the plant in Bhopal owned by Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, is considered one of the world's worst environmental disasters.

The information was revealed by the Election Commission of India after a freedom of information request on the funding of political parties and donations received by them between 2005 and 2007.

Senior BJP leaders said they would check party records before commenting.

Dow Chemical said the donation had been a one-off and broke no rules.

"It is a common practice in several democratic countries to give donations to political parties which is legal," a company spokesman said.

"Dow Chemical International Private Ltd made one such legal donation to the BJP in India. We have made no other political contribution."

'No justification'

Senior BJP leaders have often accused the Congress party of not taking action against those responsible for the gas leak.

Campaigners want legal action pursued against Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals and are angry that the BJP accepted the donation.

"Dow Chemicals, one of the biggest chemical companies globally, acquired a controversial firm like Union Carbide. Accepting a donation from them cannot be justified," Gopal Krishna of the Delhi-based research group ToxicsWatch said.

"It is a serious matter. If a political party behaves in this fashion, then they should be exposed," he said.

Political parties in India accept donations from individuals as well as from companies and industries.

But it is rare for a mainstream party to accept money from a firm which is mired in controversy.

By Panini Anand

BBC Hindi service

Environmental health crisis on the horizon

Cancers of the liver, lung, stomach, soft & connective tissue associated with dioxin

Even as the Timarpur-Okhla Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd. (TOWMCPL), a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. (ILFS) has started constructions for the Dioxins* emitting incinerator based municipal waste to electricity plants in the residential areas of Delhi in the face of furious residents, there is more bad news emerging from Pune and Nagpur, Maharasthra where SMS Infrastructures Limited has begun construction of two 68 tonnes-per-day hazardous waste-to-electricity plants. These companies are claiming that there would be no heavy metal laden fly ash, “no stack” and “no emissions” that pose a risk to health and environment. These claims are manifestly incorrect and they pose a grave risk to human health due to toxic emissions from incineration and co-incineration processes. These companies are going ahead with their projects because Vilas Mutemmwar, Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) is fiscally supporting these claims, which are astoundingly misleading.

These companies and the Ministry are promoting incineration, plasma arc, gasification and pyrolysis. The fact is these processes involve incineration/combustion as an essential component. All of these technologies emit dioxins and other harmful pollutants, and are defined as incineration by the US Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Title 40: Protection of Environment, Hazardous Waste Management System: General, subpart B—definitions, 260.10, current as of February 5, 2008). Dioxin is the common name for 75 toxic chemicals that are unwanted by-products of manufacturing and combustion processes when chlorine and carbon-containing materials are combined.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that dioxin is a human carcinogen. Non-Hodgkin_ s lymphoma and cancers of the liver, lung, stomach, soft and connective tissue have been associated with dioxin.

Even at very low exposure, at levels of parts per trillion, dioxin causes immune system damage, hormone disruption, and reproductive and development effects. Some newer emission control devices have been effective in decreasing recorded dioxin air emissions from incinerators, but there is no safe level additional exposure to dioxins. This is because the average daily dioxin intake for is already 200 times higher than what the EPA defines as a safe dose for adults. Those most at risk of receiving the highest concentrations are babies. Studies also show elevated levels of dioxin in the blood of people living near municipal solid waste incinerators when compared to the general population. Residents in Indian cities are rightly alarmed at the prospect of these incinerator plants coming up in their city. According to USEPA, Dioxins travel long distances in the atmosphere and is found on plants, in water, soil, grazing animals and humans.

While ILFS uses Incineration of Refuse Derived Fuel technology, SMS Infrastructures Limited will use Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC) gasification technology, which is also a co-incineration process that has been rejected in the past. Each plant of SMS Infrastructures Limited claims to provide comprehensive disposal services for a wide variety of hazardous waste, and will produce up to 5 MW of electricity. The project in Pune will start operations in summer 2008 and Nagpur in the fall of 2008. ILFS proposes to 16 MW in Delhi.

It is claimed that the proposed plants can generate large amounts of “renewable” electricity. Both companies propose to use “Plasma Gasification Vitrification” (PGV) technology supplied by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter NRG. If built, these facilities would be the very first of their kind in India. A process flow diagram for their “PGV Process” (Plasma Gasification Vitrification) completely leaves the stack out. That diagram also refers to “clean gas” when in fact – without a doubt - the synthetic gas (“syngas”) would contain toxic chemicals.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Solid Waste Section prepared a White Paper on the use of plasma arc technology for the treatment of municipal solid waste. The Florida DEP comments include: “There is considerable uncertainty about the quality of the “syngas” to be produced by this technology when processing MSW. While the high temperatures can destroy organics, some undesirable compounds, like dioxins and furans, can reform at temperature ranges between 450 and 850 degrees F if chlorine is present…..High temperatures can also increase the concentrations of volatile metals in the syngas.” “There is considerable uncertainty about the quality of the “slag” to be produced by this technology when processing MSW. There is very little leaching data on this material for MSW….One leaching…test…suggests arsenic and cadmium may leach above the groundwater standards. This may adversely impact the beneficial use of this material.” “The economics of this technology are not well known.”

Interestingly, even the 'White Paper on Pollution in Delhi with an Action Plan' of the Ministry of Environment & Forests says, The experience of the incineration plant at Timarpur, Delhi and the briquette plant at Bombay support the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible, in situations where the waste has a low calorific value. A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option. Considering the large quantities of waste requiring to be processed, a mechanical composting plant will be needed." The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's own Feasibility Study and Master Plan for Optimal Waste Treatment and Disposal for the Entire State of Delhi, 2004 refers to incineration as highly polluting and how it is used in countries where environmental standards are lax. Clearly, MNRE, SMS Infrastructures Limited and ILFS have demonstrated criminal callousness towards public health by going ahead with these toxic projects.

The fact is that the emissions of all kind and their levels are yet to be determined since the final design of these plants is not yet completed. These companies have not been able to produce any test data from any facility in the world using plasma arc for large- scale commercial solid waste treatment. A review of Westinghouse Plasma's website (www.westinghouse-plasma.com) and that of their parent company Alter NRG (www.alternrg.com) reveals conflicting and troubling statements, and raises important questions about the effectiveness, reliability and safety of the proposed facilities.

Westinghouse's website (their section entitled “Environmental Benefits) admits dioxins and furans (and NOx and Sox) are emitted from their process. They directly contradict this admission of toxic emissions elsewhere on their website (in the section entitled “Projects Under Development”) where they write that in addition to energy, “the only other output from the facility will be an inert slag which can be used for aggregate in road construction.” They seem to have left out the dioxin and furan emissions, as well as NOx and SOx. Debunking the assurances that this technology is proven and reliable, one only needs to read the repeated disclaimers in Alter NRG's website and documents. These disclaimers would be funny if not so serious. Persistent claims that their technology is proven are followed by fine print disclaimers saying these are only “forward-looking statements.” Their disclaimer admits that actual results might differ from what is claimed: “The projections, estimates and beliefs contained in such forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Alter Nrg's actual results, performance or achievements in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could influence actual results, are described in other documents previously filed with regulatory authorities. Accordingly….Alter Nrg undertakes no obligation to publish revised forward looking information to reflect unanticipated events or circumstances” (Alter NRG website, Legal Disclaimer, http://www.alternrg.com/common/disclaimer.html).

Should the protection of the health and environment of residents of Delhi, Pune, Nagpur and elsewhere rely on companies and technologies that repeatedly disclaim responsibility for their information and performance of the technologies?

These proposed plants in Delhi, Pune & Nagpur are claiming that they would generate few megawatts of electricity, free from outside electricity. The public is entitled to see the proof of this claim, as we are unaware of any facility similar to that proposed that generates electricity free from outside electricity. Where is the data? Where is the proof? Where is a similar plant that has operated and generated this amount of electricity? Wouldn’t these plants use more electricity in the process than they hope to gain from the gas stream that they use to burn and generate electricity?

Unlike in India, in the US once challenged, the project proponents of such technologies testified truthfully under oath in the past that their claims that these facilities were “already successfully operating” and “pollution free” were not correct. Unfortunately, these projects and their have not received adequate scrutiny by government agencies. Instead, many government officials and agencies seem to have welcomed these companies despite serious problems with this technology in actual commercial operations, despite misleading claims and despite a lack of truly verifiable independent data from actual operating conditions to back up key claims. An industry that constantly misleads the public about the basic facts of their technologies should not be trusted with the health of our communities.

P.S: Vilas Mutemmwar, MNRE has informed the parliament recently that 31such projects are being set up in the country.

Meanwhile, Colin Drummond of Viridor Waste Management, UK's waste management company recently led a group of British experts to India and claimed that his company is making profits and recommended pyrolysis and gasification. Drummond and his group is not aware that Indian waste is not suitable for energy generation because of high silt, moisture and low calorific value and the fact that all waste to energy projects based on thermal technology has failed in India. Viridor’s website does not say anything about pyrolysis or gasification and do not have any such facility. It does not disclose what it is planning regarding pyrolysis or gasification, what technology and what manufacturer it would use, and what existing facility they see as a model for what they propose in India. Its website just claims that its waste management services include “Energy from waste incineration”.

*Garbage and medical incinerators have been identified as the largest sources of dioxins in the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)’s reassessment reports on dioxin in 1994/2004. Dioxin particles are stored in fatty tissue and will accumulate to create “buildup” when low-level exposure is continual. It was used as a chemical weapon in the US-Vietnam war.

Note:It is well-documented that waste incineration, including waste pelletisation, pyrolysis and gasification, produce dioxins, furans and other persistent organic pollutants. Yet, people like Colin Drummond, who recently led a group of British experts in this field to India, said that his company Viridor Waste is making profits and promoted such technologies.'' Drummond is not aware that Indian waste is not suitable for energy generation because of high silt, moisture and low calorific value.

In 2005-06, the well-known The Energy Research Institute (TERI) sought to promote incinerative refuse-derived fuel technology, but the organisation admitted that its techno-economic feasibility is not established.

Since 2001, local communities and NGOs have stopped municipal waste to energy projects using incineration technologies in Kanpur, Bhopal, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Jaipur.

In 1985, the New Delhi municipality spent between 4.5m to 9.96 million US dollars employing Danish firm Volund Milijontecknik in the Timarpur area for a waste-to-energy plant which collapsed in 21 days due to the machinery's inability to handle the high content of sand and debris.

Timarpur has yet again become controversial with an Indian investment bank, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd., setting up the Timarpur Waste Management Company to generate 6 Mw of electricity through biomass gasification with a 20 percent grant, and two others in southern Andhra Pradesh state. Both plants have reportedly recently shut down.

These projects are now incorrectly trying to earn carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. ''As per the Kyoto Protocol itself, waste incineration is a greenhouse gas emitter.

In Lucknow, capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state, a 5-Mw waste-to-energy project designed to handle 200-300 tonnes of municipal waste per day, set up at a cost of 18 million dollars, besides a government subsidy of 3.3 million dollars ''has literally gone down the drain.

Source: with inputs from IPS

What rubbish, it's money down the drain!

New Delhi: Rubbish is not rubbish, it's just money being thrown away, says Colin Drummond, an entrepreneur from Britain who made his millions managing waste and generating electricity out of it.

Drummond, who recently led a group of British experts in this field to India, said here that his company Viridor Waste is now making a profit of 45 million pounds ($88 million) on a 350- million pound annual turnover, by managing 87 cubic metres of landfill and generating 75 MW of energy from it, among other projects.

More India business stories

"Profit has grown by over 20 percent each year since 2000 and the market value (of the firm) has grown from 200 million pounds to over a billion pounds," Drummond told a group of would-be entrepreneurs from around India.

If you ask the average Indian what the country's biggest environmental problem is, he/she is likely to point to a garbage dump. The edge of every human settlement in India is strewn with solid waste. While others hold their noses, Drummond and his colleagues can smell money there.

"Of course there are some pre-requisites," Drummond told IANS. "The waste has to be segregated. The landfill has to be lined."

Once the segregation is done, the amount of garbage sent to a landfill decreases automatically. Britain reduced it from around 16 million tonnes in 2001 to less than 12 million tonnes in 2007 and aims to reduce it to five million tonnes by 2020.

At the same time, household recycling and composting rate in Britain has grown from 10 percent in 2001 and 26 percent in 2006 and the plan is to increase it to 50 percent by 2020, Drummond said.

Once the landfill gets segregated waste, it can generate energy both by conventional methods and by new ones such as pyrolysis and gasification, he added.

Power generation from landfill gas has increased six-fold in Britain to 4,424 Gigawatt Hours, said Drummond. "It represents 24 percent of total UK renewables, with energy from waste combustion a further six percent and anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge another three percent. And there is a corresponding reduction in methane emissions to the atmosphere."

Methane is a greenhouse gas 21 times as potent as carbon dioxide. Methane's contribution to climate change is still relatively unstudied.

Other entrepreneurs in the British delegation were as enthusiastic about business in India as Drummond was.

Helen Fairfield would like to reiterate the benefits of compost with a little innovation. The firm she works for has developed a compact composting unit that can handle all the fruit and vegetable waste from Manchester's wholesale market on the spot, something that would be very handy in the major markets spread around India, she pointed out.

Shantanu Banerjee, who works in Britain-based firm Enviros, has designed landfills that can provide energy and clean water in Britain, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Africa. He would now like to do the same in the land of his birth and says he now knows the special problems of designing landfills in the tropics.

More India business stories

"Every sizeable landfill site in the UK generates power. There is no reason why a similar success story cannot happen in India," Banerjee said.

2 June , 2008,

IANS

Source:Sify.com

Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACH)

Note:Chemical companies will, for the first time, have to start providing basic health and environmental safety data on all chemicals produced or imported before 1981. (Currently, only 3% of all known chemicals require such data.)

The scope of REACH does not cover all 100,000 known existing chemicals. Those produced in the highest volumes and those known to have dangerous properties will be dealt with first. After 11 years (from 2016) REACH will be fully implemented and safety data on approximately 30,000 chemicals will be made available.

The REACH process will identify extremely hazardous chemicals and give them special classification as ‘substances of very high concern’. These newly identified chemicals, which will be few in number (estimated at below 5%), will require a special licence for each specific use. This licence will be called an ‘authorisation’. One of REACH’s goals is to ensure that chemicals of very high concern are phased out and replaced by suitable, safer alternatives.

A chemical is classified as being of ‘very high concern’ if it causes cancer, damages genetic material, interferes with the body’s hormone system or is a reproductive toxin. Any chemical that cannot be broken down by nature and builds up in the bodies of human beings or wildlife is also classified as being of very high concern.

A significant number of chemicals likely to be classified as ‘substances of very high concern’ are present in a variety of consumer products. Greenpeace-commissioned research found nonylphenol (which disrupts hormones by mimicking oestrogen) in children’s pyjamas, toys, household paints and cleaners. Brominated flame-retardants (which can interfere with thyroid hormones) are to be found in computers, televisions, carpets and upholstered furniture. Phthalates (which can damage the liver, kidneys and testicles) are in perfume, shampoos and PVC plastics.

The scope of the definition ‘very high concern’ should be welcomed as it includes:

* Chemicals that accumulate in our bodies and the environment and are known to be toxic (PBT -- persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic).
* Chemicals that accumulate in our bodies and the environment but are not yet known to be toxic (vPvB -- very persistent, very bio-accumulative).
* Chemicals that are of equivalent concern, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

REACH promises significant health benefits. A recent study estimated that it could lead to Europe-wide savings of upto 283 billion Euro, based on medical costs and lost productivity as a result of diseases thought to be linked to chemicals in the environment.

REACH is a new European Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. It deals with
the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. The
new law entered into force on June 1, 2007.

The objectives of REACH are:

To ensure a high level of protection from the risks that chemicals may pose to human health and the environment, through the generation and dissemination of information on chemicals, in particular safety information.

To support a sustainable and competitive EU chemicals industry that can innovate more easily and whose products meet high safety standards. This will increase consumer confidence, reduce liability risks and improve workers’ health. Downstream users will enjoy much of the same benefits and know more about the chemicals they use.

Compliance with the global commitment agreed at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg ‘to achieve, by 2020, that chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to a minimisation of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment’. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH.

The REACH Regulation gives greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. Manufacturers
and importers will be required to gather information on the properties of their
chemical substances, which will allow their safe handling, and to register the information in a central database run by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki, Finland.

The Agency will act as the central point in the REACH system. It will manage the databases necessary to operate the system, co-ordinate the in-depth evaluation of suspicious chemicals and run a public database in which consumers and professionals can find hazard information.

The Regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals when suitable alternatives have been identified. REACH has been developed in a climate of transparency and consultation. The Commission has held extensive dialogue
with stakeholders before and after the proposal was presented.

REACH introduces new obligations for industry, the most important one being “no data no market”. In practice, thismeans that chemical substances manufactured or imported in quantities of one or above one metric tone/year/manufacturer or importer need to be registered at ECHA.

In order to benefit from transitional deadlines (November 30, 2010, May 31, 2013 or May 31, 2018, depending on the tonnage in which they are manufactured or imported), manufacturers or importers of substances that have long been on the market (“phase-in substances”) are stronglyrecommended to pre-register their substances between June 1, 2008 and December 1, 2008. Pre-registration also enables registrants to share data with other registrants and avoid unnecessary testing.

REACH does not affects companies outside the EU directly, but your exports may be concerned if you or your customers export to any of the EU Member States or to Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway, which are part of the European Economic Area and planning to transpose REACH into their national legislation. When this has taken
place, the same requirements apply to exports to these countries.

Exports falling under REACH are: chemical substances (e.g. base chemicals, specialty chemicals, metals, natural substances if they are chemically modified) or mixtures (“preparations”) of chemical substances (e.g. cleaningproducts, formulated process chemicals, paints, motor oils) or substances or preparations in containers (e.g. printer
cartridges) or articles which contain substances which are intentionally released during their use (e.g. fragrance in a scented candle) or contain substances which are on a candidate list of “substances of very high concern”.

This list may become available at the ECHA website from autumn 2008. If your EU importer or your only representative fails to meet the deadline for pre-registration (between June 1, 2008 and December 1, 2008), he can not benefit from the extended registration deadlines and will need to register the substance before importing it again into the EU market.

Substances which were not pre-registered but are imported for the first time into the EU after December 1, 2008 (end of pre-registration deadline) may benefit from the staggered registration timelines if the information requested for pre-registration is provided within six months of first import into the EU and no later than 12 months before the relevant registration deadline.

Registration obligations and how to fulfill them are explained in detail in the REACH guidance documents on the ECHA website. ■
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an extract from EU India Update Vol 8 No 3- May-June 2008
For more information visit: www.echa.europa.eu www.ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach

Although a step in the right direction, REACH is likely to fail to secure these aims because:
* Safety information requirements for only two-thirds of all chemicals would be insufficient.
* The loophole allows the continued use of chemicals of very high concern in consumer products despite the availability of safer alternatives.
* Excessive business secrecy prevails over the public’s right to know about chemical safety.
* The above shortcomings, and other get-out clauses, are unlikely to boost innovation or create regulatory predictability -- both pre-conditions to enhancing competitiveness.

Global Responses

A US study, Toxic Ignorance, prepared by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), raised a variety of concerns about the untested chemicals which are manufactured and imported into the U.S. It found that baseline data on health effects were not publicly available for many high production volume chemicals. EPA prepared its own study, titled the Chemical Hazard Data Availability Study, which found similar results and reinforced the need for government leadership on this issue. Echoes of these studies found reverberations throughout the world.

The OECD countries which includes the USA, EU, and Japan have undertaken programs to assess the impact of commercial chemicals in their High Production Volume(HPV) Chemicals Program. The US through their HPV Challenge Program has raced ahead and compiled robust literature data on nearly 1500 chemicals. The information database is now structured and peer reviewed, perhaps for the first time in history. Test programs have been devised to fill in the gaps in information. Similarly the EU has drawn robust summaries on high volume chemicals through the IUCLID programs. The UN GHS program, which is implementable by 2008 globally, calls for a certain minimal degree of chemical testing including environmental testing.

Indian Response
In response to global regulatory programs such as REACH the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers in conjunction with the Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association (ICMA) formed three sub-group task forces.
1) The first task force looked at the framework needed by India to respond to the global regulatory programs. This included setting official responses and views from India. It will also co-ordinate the activities of other task forces.
2) The second task force looked at the development of GLP laboratories throughout India.
3) The third task force sought to develop India as a hub for IT based Services under REACH.


Following reports are available online:

1. Consumer product tests: the results
2. The health impacts of man-made chemicals -- an overview
3. Chemicals within reach -- the principle of substitution
4. Consuming chemicals -- hazardous chemicals in house dust
See http://www.eu.greenpeace.org/issues/chem.html
5. European chemicals policy reform -- from paralysis to action
See http://www.eeb.org/activities/chemicals/
Publication-EEB-013_02.pdf
6. A new chemicals policy in Europe -- new opportunities for industry
See http://www.eeb.org/activities/chemicals/
Newchemicalspolicy-industry-29-01-03.pdf
7. Chemicals under the spotlight: From awareness to action
See http://www.eeb.org/activities/chemicals/
ChemicalsAwareness%20Final.p
8. International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) HPV working list, August 2003 http://www.cefic.be/activities/hse/mgt/hpv/hpvinit.htm
9. US HPV Challenge Program http://www.epa.gov/chemrtk/volchall.htm
10. Euopean Union IUCLID Program http://www.epa.gov/chemrtk/volchall.htm
11. UN GHS website: http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/ghs.html
12. The Complete REACH documentation. http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/reach/overview.htm
13. Timelines on REACH
14. Small Business Europe “Issue tracker: Chemicals (REACH)”. http://www.smallbusinesseurope.org
15. BASF 2004 REACH analysis
“The Interim Strategy” http://ecb.jrc.it/REACH/content1.php

Note: Unmindful of the public health disaster caused by waste incineration technologies like Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) are being promoted although they are emitters of green house gases according t o Kyoto Protocol and POPs like Dioxins. Notably, The Seventh Conference of Parties (COP-7) to the UNFCCC decided that Parties participating in CDM should designate a National Authority for the CDM and as per the CDM project cycle, a project proposal should include written approval of voluntary participation from the Designated National Authority of each country and confirmation that the project activity assists the host country in achieving sustainable development.

Accordingly the Indian Government constituted the National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol. The projects mentioned below are registered with it.

1. 6.6 MW Municipal Solid Waste to Electricity Generation Project in Gandhumguda village, Peeranchery panchayat, Ranga Reddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India by Selco International Limited.

The project activity involves two steps; separation of combustible & non-combustible from MSW; conversion of the combustible in to RDF. Plant receives 117,250 tons of unprocessed MSW on annual basis. Approximately 50% of combustible material can be recovered from 350 tons of unprocessed waste. RDF, which is derived from organic material, includes paper, textile, kitchen waste & wood. Power plant uses 75% of MSW organic waste (combustible material) with 25% of rice husk procured from the neighboring rice producers. The generated electricity is supplied to the grid through a grid sub station located @ a distance of 3.5 KM from the power plant.

It got host country approval status as a CDM project. Estimate of GHG abatement in tCO2 equivalent is 558000. The project started in June 2001 and completed in November 2003.

For Details: Selco International Limited,
1 -1 -191, G – 1, Siri ING Vysya bank , Chikkadpally,
Hyderabad – 500 020, Andhra Pradesh
Contact person: Mr. G. V. Rama Krishna
Telfax: +91 (040) 2765 0114

2. Power generation through MSW at Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh at Rebladevpally, district Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh by M/s Shalivahana (MSW) Green Energy Ltd

The project activity is 10 MW Power plant at Rebladevpally Village near Sultanabad in Karimnagar District, based on Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) obtained by processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) of several towns in Adilabad and Karimnagar Districts. The quality of garbage is not consistent hence overall the recovery will vary from 25% to 35%. The final moisture content in the RDF will be below 10%. Project is also involved in avoidance of methane by using the MSW in power generation, which otherwise would have been left on land for decay. Estimate of GHG abatement in tCO eq. 143940.

The project proponent is Killim Jogarao, General Manager (Finance) Shalivahana (MSW) Green Energy Ltd. 7th Floor, , S. D. Road,
Minerva Complex, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh-500 003

The project started on date 11 July 2008. The project is expected to be ompletede by 15th December 2009.

3. RDF Power Projects Ltd. Integrated Solid Waste Management Project in Nalgonda District Andhra Pradesh

The proposed project activity will utilize Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) delivered by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for generation of 11 MW electricity, with an exportable surplus to the grid of 9.845 MW and produce compost. The technology for MSW processing to
generate electricity requires several processes to be carried out before the MSW is combusted to generate electricity and compost is produced: Herbal disinfectant-cum-deodorant will
be sprayed on the received MSW to reduce mal-odour and repel insects and birds.

Estimate of GHG abatement in tCO eq. is 292307.

The project proponent is: RDF Power Projects Limited
401, Galada Towers, Adjacent lane to Pantaloons, Begumpet,
Hyderabad- 500 016, Andhra Pradesh
Contact Person: J. Phani Kumar, Executive Director

The project was expected to start construction work in December 2008 and complete it by January 2010.

4. SESL 6 MW Municipal Solid Waste based power Project at Vijayawada & Guntur, Andhra Pradesh by M/s Shriram Energy Systems Limited

This first-of-kind project uses TIFAC assisted technology for refinement of MSW to produce fuel grade pellets and fluff. The plant processes the waste to generated RDF fluff, which is combusted, in a 28 TPH capacity boiler with 65 ata and 485 C configuration, as main fuel in the steam generator, the steam passes through steam turbine to generate power. For processing MSW, specially designed shredders, air density separators, conveyors and rotary screens are used. The power is sold to APTRANSCO.

Estimate of GHG abatement in tCO2 eq. is 423368.

The project proponent is : M/s Shriram Energy Systems Limited.
Ameerpet, G-1, B Block, United Avenue (North End),
Hyderabad 500 016
Andhra Pradesh
Contact Person: Gopala Krishna Murthy,
Managing Director,
Fax: +91 (040) 2372 9551

Project start date- March 2002
Project completion date- December 2003

Conventional wisdom has it that waste management must be done in a sustainable manner. But the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has chosen an unsustainable and hazardous technology to manage its waste.

According to the agreement it has signed with Timarpur -OKhla Waste Management Company Pvt. Ltd. (TOWMCPL), a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. incineration based Waste-To- Energy plants will soon be set up in the residential areas of Sukhdev Vihar, Timarpur and Ghazipur to manage the capital city's waste.

These plants could be another Bhopal disaster in the making. In early December 1984, Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister visited Bhopal and promised that from now on no hazardous industry will be set up in residential areas. It turns out that no action has since been taken to fulfill his promise.

The proposed Incineration Technology for energy generation is quite hazardous. It emits dioxins, the most poisonous cancer-causing toxin known to mankind. Incineration transfers the hazardous characteristics of waste from solid form to air, water and ash-perhaps making a case for space crunch for landfills. It also releases new toxins, which were not present in the original waste stream, besides generating heavy metals like Mercury.

In fact, a technology like this will kill the recycling sector and destroy the source of livelihood of people working in the waste sector.

In order to get this project implemented, the Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will provide a subsidy. The waste will be provided by MCD.

In Timarpur, it plans to generate 6 MW of electricity from the project. It plans to process and treat 214,500 MT of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and produce 69,000 MT of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) in a year as per company's project design document. The project requires an investment of Rs.580 million. The promoters claim that the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance has agreed to provide 20% of the project's cost as a capital grant.

MCD's claim that these plants will eliminate the need for a dumping ground is false. Where will the plant dispose of the ash?

Contrary to what MNRE says, these incinerators cannot be classified as renewable energy, as the fossil-fuel based waste resources are destroyed instead of being recycled. They destroy all the paper, card and kitchen waste in domestic waste, instead of recycling and composting.

If the electricity companies and others have even an iota of concern for environment and public health, they should not buy electricity from this polluting and experimental incinerator.

The advocates of the project claim that no segregation of the plastics from the garbage is required. This not only violates the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management Handling) Rules 2000, which stipulates segregation, and promotes recycling of "recoverable resources" but also pre-empts segregation and recycling efforts being made by municipalities and communities around the country.

The incinerator based WTE technology is a failed technology. Ash and suspended particulate matter that emerge from the combustion technologies is a huge perpetual problem because although there is volume reduction of waste through this technique, the management of ever growing ash remains.

Trusting Delhi's waste to such an unproven technology is fraught with danger. It is even more disturbing that the company that is being awarded such projects does not have any previous experience in waste treatment.

India is top of the POPs

Delhi is only the tip of the iceberg. Even as India makes an international commitment to minimise the production and use of 12 of the most toxic chemicals in the world, known as the Dirty Dozen, by signing the United Nations Environment Program's, Stockholm Treaty on persistent organic pollutants, it subsidises and promotes the production of POP throughout the country.

Signing the POPs treaty is at odds with the current policy of the Union ministry of new and renewable energy to promote dioxin-emitting high heat waste-to-energy technologies.

The MNRE has issued an executive order to all the state chief secretaries and the administrators of Union Territories asking them to promote such WTE projects.

As a consequence, agreements for many such toxic projects have been signed and are being signed around the country.

Vilas Muttemwar, union minister of state for new & renewable energy (MNRE) informed the parliament recently that 31 waste to energy based power projects aggregating to 68.62 MW capacity in 8 states have been set up with central financial assistance from MNRE. The Supreme Court in its last order had approved subsidy for only 5 projects based on Biomethanation process while partially vacating the stay on all subsidy given to such projects.

Similar projects have been shelved in the recent past in Delhi, Chennai, Bhopal, Jaipur, Kanpur and Mumbai following pollution-related objections when Energy Developments Limited, an Australian company proposed it.

As a result of growing scientific evidence against incinerators and other "end-of-pipe" solutions, which generate POPs, developed countries have legislated severe environmental norms. What is more appalling is the fact that multinational corporations, international financial institutions such as CDM Executive Board, World Bank and aid agencies are pushing such technologies.

There are at least three studies on India that show high levels of dioxins and organo-chlorine pesticides in human milk samples, wildlife and dairy products.

According to the first study, breast milk samples collected from India showed the highest levels of dioxin-related compounds. Samples were collected from residents living around municipal dumpsites from Perengudi, Chennai, India.

In another study, the concentration of dioxins and other POPs were detected and measured in tissues of humans, fish, chicken, lamb, goat, predatory birds, and Ganges River dolphins collected from various locations in India. Dioxins were found in most of the samples analysed, with the highest in the liver of the spotted owlet.

It will be in the interest of our health and environment to desist from creating landfills in the sky by undertaking projects that create manifest conflict between Kyoto Protocol by making dubious claims about carbon credits even as they violate Stockholm Convention by condoning POPs emission. It will encourage indigenous and safer non-combustion technologies that can be implemented and operated at the community level. This could also help the informal sector improve its working conditions, encouraging composting and recycling rates.

Note: It astounding how some IAS Officers like Rakesh Mehta, Chief Secretary, Delhi govvernment can promote Dioxins-emitting technology and make dubious claims about earning Carbon credits with impunity.

It is ironic that the Dioxins that made Agent Orange, a chemical weapon used by US in the Vietnam war is being allowed in residential colonies of Delhi. Even as a health disaster due to the same technology in Gandhumguda, Yellkata panachayat, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh is yet to grab national attention, the dioxins emitting technology is proposed in Delhi.

Lest we forget, it is germane to remember that victims of an ill-fated war fought 37 years back. The war is over but its toxic backlash lingers. One weapon of the war is still wreaking havoc — Agent Orange, a herbicide containing Dioxins. From 1962 to 1971, the US military aerially sprayed 42 million litres of Agent Orange to deny the communist fighters forest cover. And the nine-year-exercise undertaken then is throwing up its ominous aftermath now. The war has left an ugly heritage for the future of the people of the southern cities of Vietnam, The dioxin in the herbicide has seeped into the soil and accumulated in the waterbodies finding its way into the bodies of the residents through their food.

This happened 37 years ago. A US Congressional report even found that the Agent Orange study was deliberately blocked by the then US President Ronald Reagan's regime. Some path-breaking studies prove that dioxin triggers acute myelogenous leukaemia in Vietnamese children. Public interest scientists say, “The scientists should screen the blood and food samples rather than merely screening soil and sediments.” “But they are not keen to do so because such a screening would affect both Vietnam and the US. Obviously any evidence of food contamination would hit the seafood and meat exports of Vietnam. For the US, such a proof would mean paying compensation to those who are proven exposed to dioxins and cleaning up the contaminated sites.” The war is still on.

In such a backdrop, Mehta's role in making Delhi residents vulnerable to Dioxins expsoure, acts of ommission by CDM Executive Board and its Chairman, Rajesh Kumar Sethi (a ministry of environment and forests employee), Ajit K Gupta, an official of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and D K Mittal, an IAS Officer who is the CEO of ILFS company that has signed the agreement with Municipal Corporation Delhi must be thoroughly investigated.

GK

Will this be your poison?

OPINION-HT EDIT PAGE

Today is World Environment Day. Tell that to SC Sarin, a resident of Delhi's Okhla area, and he will give you a wry smile. For him, June 5 is one of those days when everyone will walk and talk green but it will be business as usual. The reason for Mr Sarin's cynicism is not far to seek: he and his neighbours are fighting a battle against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) decision to set up a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant right inside their colony. The plant, the MCD claims, meets international norms and the corporation would earn -- buzzword alert -- 'carbon credits' through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. But lift the veil of jargon, and the very question of whether such a plant is eco-friendly looks contentious.

The plant, say residents of the colony, puts their health at risk. Nearly, 2,000 tonnes of municipal waste will be brought every day for incineration. Due to the lack of segregation techniques at the source, incineration of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-studded waste would release harmful dioxins. "And we will end up inhaling toxic fumes," says Sarin, who is also the head of the Sukhdev Vihar Residents' Welfare Association. The Cheshire Home for the elderly is also located in the area, something that was not taken into account while setting up the plant.

Dioxins are endocrine disruptors, carcinogenic chemicals and have inter-generational health impacts. And incineration of mixed waste is one of the key sources of this pollutant. Come to think of it, India does not even have a single dioxin-testing centre.

Interestingly, the MCD's claims that it will earn 'carbon credits' is also dubious because Annexure A of the Kyoto Protocol says that waste incineration is a green house gas emitter. The US's Environmental Protection Agency has also ruled that incinerators emit dioxin and are major sources of mercury, lead, arsenic and other pollutants. The ash that results from burning trash is even more toxic. Also from a climate change perspective, composting and bio-methanation technologies are far superior to incineration.

In Europe, too, there's not much support for WTE technologies. On May 29, CEE Bankwatch, a non-governmental financial watchdog partly funded by the European Union, slammed the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's long-term lending bank, for directing roughly two-thirds of its waste-management investment into incineration plants even though incineration is near the bottom of a list of the EU's preferred ways of handling waste. Under guidelines set out in the Waste Framework Directive, the EU's top priority should be waste reduction, followed by recycling and composting. 'Energy recovery', which largely means incineration, is near the bottom of the list. Landfill is viewed as the last option. Earlier, the European Parliament passed a resolution denouncing incineration technology. India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy has also expressed grave reservations against this technology.

Moreover, all recent waste policies of the Indian Government, which include the Supreme Court's committee report on waste, the Shukla Committee report of the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment, the Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2000, and the regulations issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) also don't recommend incineration of chlorinated products for the same reasons. In fact, the 'White Paper on Pollution in Delhi with an Action Plan' of the MoEF says that the thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible and recommends composting as the viable option. The MCD's Feasibility Study and Master Plan for Optimal Waste Treatment and Disposal for the Entire State of Delhi, 2004, also talks of the high costs of the incineration technique.

"The move by the incineration industry to term waste incinerators as 'renewable energy' projects is not only fraudulent but also dangerous," says Gopal Krishna, Convener, Delhi Campaign for Safe Environment (DCSE). "Municipal solid waste is not considered to be a renewable energy source since it tends to be a mixture of fuels that can be traced back to renewable and non-renewable sources."

And it is not only agencies like the MCD that are backing the wrong horse. According to Krishna, it's "top down" from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The Ministry's WTE policy, conceived in 1986, has failed to deliver anything. "They have now issued an executive order to state chief secretaries and administrators of Union Territories to follow this follow WTE policy," says Krishna. Indian garbage has an average calorific value of about 800 cal/kg. For combustion technologies to succeed, they would need about 2,000-3,000 cal/kg, otherwise auxiliary fuel has to be added. This makes the process more uneconomical and polluting than it already is.

India is party to the Stockholm Convention that deals with very toxic chemicals -- persistent organic pollutants (POPSs), which include dioxins and furans. These are largely the result of waste combustion or thermal treatment of municipal and medical wastes, especially involving chlorinated plastics such as PVC.

Environment is big business. But are we being taken for a ride?


KumKum Dasgupta

5 June, 2008
Hindustan Times, New Delhi

The Chennai Corporation contract with Onyx (Chennai Environmental Services) ended in August 2007. The Corporation paid about Rs. 4 crore a month by charging Rs 1,212 per tonne for garbage clearance. There were complaints against the company. In any case the company was simply collecting garbage and dumping it on the dumpsites. There is no enegineering miracle in collecting and dumping waste.

When Onyx's contract ended, Neel Metal Fanalca Environment Management Pvt. Ltd became the service provider since the former lost its bid for garbage collection.

In april, 2008 a bench of Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission noted, "Even today, we find many roads filled up with garbage and that too, in a haphazard manner and needless to say that such an accumulation is a health hazard and it could trigger serious ailments and there could be outbreak of cholera, leptospirosis and other communicable diseases."

Clearly, Neel Metal Fanalca Environment Management Pvt. Ltdm is no better than Onyx...the lesson from Suryapet is loud and clear there is no alternative to community based waste management that aims for Zero Waste.