India’s solid waste heap is growing. It can contain anything from tonnes of broken concrete blocks from demolished structures to acres of used electronic parts. As old buildings and equipment give way to newer and shinier ones, what happens to everything we discard?
A look at various sectors shows that waste is not cheap. Discarding solid by-products or used material in the municipal waste system is not an option for many industries, healthcare being a prime example. You have to meet the norms laid down for handling and disposing waste by the pollution control boards. This ‘pay-as-you-throw’ system costs money, not just for corporate houses, but also for the municipalities.
The amount of waste generated per capita is low in India, compared to countries such as US and China. According to a 2012 report from the World Bank, waste generated each day in urban India is around 1.1 lakh tonnes, while the US and China – the world’s highest and second highest waste generators – throw away 6.2 and 5.2 lakh tonnes.
But India’s rapid urbanisation will lead to more and more city waste. Obviously, industry and start-ups aren’t ignoring this mountain of opportunity in waste management. Both are, sometimes independently and sometimes together, forging a chain that can turn an ageing product back into a resource.