Author Archives: Alok Gogate

Digital world or a cradle for problems because of e-waste? In recent years, the technological boom has transformed the world into a global village, but this rapid advancement comes at a cost. One of the most pressing issues is the surge in electronic waste, commonly known as e-waste. Mid-Western India including major states like Maharashtra and Gujrat are experiencing a sharp increase in e-waste generation, leading to significant environmental and health concerns.

In this blog, we will delve into the alarming statistics and research surrounding the e-waste crisis in these regions.

The Rise of E-Waste

Electronic devices, such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other consumer electronics, have become an integral part of modern life. The demand for newer, faster, and more advanced gadgets has led to a rapid increase in e-waste generation. According to a recent report by the United Nations, India is the world’s third-largest producer of e-waste, and this trend is significantly affecting the Mid-Western region of the country.

Alarming Statistics

E-Waste Generation

In Mid-Western India, e-waste generation has reached an all-time high, with an estimated 300,000 metric tons produced annually.

The major contributing cities to this crisis include cities in Maharashtra like Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Nagpur.

Gujarat is one of the major contributors to e-waste in India. The state generates approximately 70,000 to 80,000 metric tons of e-waste annually. (Source: Ahmedabad Mirror). Of this, only about 20-30% of the total e-waste generated in the state is collected for proper disposal and recycling. (Source: Center for Science and Environment)

Informal E-Waste Sector

A significant proportion of e-waste in this region is managed by the informal sector, comprising small-scale workshops and recycling units. These operations often lack proper facilities and technologies to handle e-waste safely, leading to severe environmental pollution and health hazards for workers. In fact, around 90% of the e-waste generated in Gujrat is handled by the informal recycling sector.

Toxic Content

One cause for worry with electronic waste is that electronic devices contain hazardous materials like lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants. When improperly disposed of or processed, these toxins seep into soil and water, causing long-term damage to ecosystems and human health.

Health Implications

E-waste poses severe health risks to those directly or indirectly exposed to it. Studies have reported increased instances of respiratory issues, skin diseases, and neurological disorders among workers involved in informal e-waste recycling.

E-Waste Management Infrastructure

While India has made progress in establishing formal e-waste recycling facilities, the existing infrastructure remains inadequate to cope with the escalating e-waste quantities, leading to a considerable portion ending up in landfills or being processed unsafely.

Environmental Impact

The environmental repercussions of improper e-waste disposal are immense.

Soil Contamination

Toxins from e-waste seep into the soil, making it infertile and contaminating crops. This affects food safety and security, exacerbating existing challenges in agriculture-dependent regions of Mid-Western India. Maharashtra being primarily an agrarian state, stands to face the heat of this situation.

Water Pollution

Improperly disposed e-waste can contaminate groundwater and nearby water bodies, endangering aquatic life and rendering water unfit for consumption.

Air Pollution

Burning of electronic and electrical waste releases harmful chemicals and particulate matter into the air, leading to air pollution and contributing to climate change.

Biodiversity Loss

E-waste pollution disrupts local ecosystems, leading to the loss of biodiversity and threatening the survival of numerous species.

The Way Forward

Addressing the e-waste crisis in Mid-Western Indian states like Maharashtra and Gujrat requires a multi-pronged approach. Kushaagra Innovations Foundation, being skilled in the business of waste collection and handling, believes that the following steps will help combat the rising adverse effects of this type of waste.

Awareness and Education

Raising awareness about the harmful effects of improper e-waste disposal is crucial to drive behavioral changes among consumers and businesses alike. Equally important is the awareness of solutions available for channelizing the E-waste in the right way.

Strengthening Regulations

The state governments must enforce strict regulations and penalties for improper e-waste disposal, while also promoting responsible recycling practices. Advocacy groups driving the change for various cohorts of waste generators will act as catalyst to percolate the formal systems for recycling of E-Waste

Formal E-Waste Recycling

Ease of access to information – Ease of Business – Ownership to the waste generator by bringing in traceability of waste will increase potential towards formal recycling.

Producer Responsibility

Electronics manufacturers should take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products, promoting recycling and sustainable design. Emerging reward-systems like carbon credits

Support Informal Sector Workers

It is never about overpowering the informal sector to formalize the processes but to empower them to build formal business structures and thus sustainable income sources.

Conclusion

The surge in electronic waste poses a red alert for Mid-Western India, demanding immediate action to protect the environment and the health of its inhabitants. While we have discussed the statistics of e-waste in Maharashtra and Gujrat in this blog, other states are no exceptions to the negative impact of this type of waste, since technology has reached almost every nook and cranny of our nation.

Effective e-waste management, combined with responsible consumption and production, will pave the way for a more sustainable and greener future in the region. It is essential for individuals, industries, and policymakers to collaborate in combatting this growing crisis to safeguard India for generations to come. It is easy to take ownership for a sustainable neighborhood if we create a waste conscious community.

In our blog on concepts of circularity, we went over the 5 pillars of circularity to achieve better sustainability. In this blog, we will explore the importance of circularity in waste management. In circular waste management, we focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling waste to keep waste materials in circulation and prevent them from becoming waste in the first place.

Indian culture and traditional practices have always been based on circularity, and thus this is not a new concept to us. Old sarees were stitched into warm quilts, wornout chappals and shoes were renewed with a new sole at the mochi; preference was always given to repair our radios, TVs and watches instead of throwing them. We need to relearn these habits to

The circularity approach aims to close the loop by creating a regenerative system where waste is transformed into new products, energy, or other valuable resources.

How does circularity improve waste management?

Minimizing Waste Generation

Circularity encourages waste prevention at its very core. By prioritizing waste reduction strategies, such as product design for durability and recyclability, we can minimize the generation of waste. For e.g. for a party use steel, glass, or ceramic plates instead of paper plates; shop offline and prevent packaging waste, always carry a cloth bag while shopping. This not only conserves resources but also reduces the expense and energy consumed in transporting the waste, processing it, and the environmental impact if dumped in landfills.  The average Indian city pays about Rs 1500 per Metric Ton to collect and transport waste. Reducing the quantity to be collected and transported can bring down the public expenditure on waste.

Resource Conservation

One of the primary benefits of circularity in waste management is the conservation of valuable resources. By reusing and recycling waste materials, we reduce the need for extracting fresh resources for the production cycle. For e.g., construction debris, such as concrete chunks from old demolished buildings can be crushed and graded into aggregates that can be reused for a new slab. This leads to a significant reduction in energy consumption, water usage, and the environmental degradation associated with resource extraction.

Energy and Emission Reduction

Circular waste management practices, such as recycling and energy recovery, contribute to energy conservation and emission reduction. Recycling materials requires less energy compared to the extraction and production of new materials. Moreover, the use of waste-to-energy technologies can convert organic waste into renewable sources of energy, further reducing the dependency on fossil fuels and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Segregated wet waste is a good resource to generate Biogas and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which can be easily used directly for cooking, vehicles or to convert to electricity. .

Economic Opportunities

A large-scale informal market in India has thrived on recycling valuable waste, showcasing the potential for livelihood generation in waste. The unhygienic conditions, unsegregated waste, and issues in waste collection hamper the formal sector economic opportunities; however new waste processing technologies are creating several economic opportunities in waste.  By introducing the need for reusing, repairing, and recycling waste materials, we create growth opportunities for industries such as remanufacturing, recycling, and waste processing. These sectors further go on to generate jobs, stimulate local economies, and promote innovation in sustainable technologies and business models. The town of Ambikapur in Chattisgarh has created jobs for 471 women in waste collection and segregation. The women operate a Material Recovery Facility where they segregate and recycle the waste into more than 150 types.

Environmental Preservation

Plastic pollution is one of the greatest threats to Earth with far-reaching impacts on the environment. The total mass of plastics on the planet is now twice the mass of all living mammals.[1] Our oceans are becoming sinks of the waste plastic impacting marine life.  Circularity in waste prevents the waste from going into our oceans and landfills, and we prevent the pollution of soil, water, and air. Additionally, reducing the need for fresh resource extraction and manufacturing in turn decreases the ecological footprints of manufacturing industries, thus contributing to the safeguarding of natural habitats, biodiversity, and ecosystems.

Sustainable Consumption and Production

Circularity aligns with the principles of Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG12) of Responsible Consumption and Production. It encourages a shift towards more sustainable and responsible consumption patterns, where products are designed with longevity, repairability, and recyclability in mind. Moreover, circularity leverages Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to encourage producers to switch up their designs to something more sustainable. For e.g.  The sports shoe company Adidas provides opportunities for customers to recycle their old shoes. Adidas has set a goal to use recycled materials in all of its products by 2024. As of 2020, the company reported that 40% of its products contain recycled materials

In these ways, circular waste management enables us to transition back from a linear “throwaway” culture to our intrinsic traditional culture of being more conscious and resource-efficient society. The NITI Aayog’s program _ LiFE promotes the transitioning from throwaway culture to a circular economy.

The importance of circularity in waste management cannot be overstated. By embracing circular principles, we can transform waste from a burden into a valuable resource.

If you have ever thought of introducing the principles of circularity at an individual, community, or even organizational level, we give our kudos to you! Kushaagra Innovations Foundation will gladly stand behind you in case you face challenges actually implementing circular waste management. Get in touch with us if you need our support.

Citations:
1: A Down to Earth annual – State of India’s Environment – A treaty for a start, Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, Kiran Pandey and Zumbish.

In recent years, the concepts of circularity have gained significant attention in the realm of sustainable waste management. Circular economy principles offer an alternative to the traditional linear model of “take, make, dispose of”, aiming to maximize resource efficiency and minimize waste generation.

The global economy is now only 7.2% circular; and it’s getting worse year on year—driven by rising material extraction and use.¹ We have to rethink the way we use our common resources to provide for our future generations. By closing the loop and reimagining waste as a valuable resource, circularity offers a regenerative system that benefits the environment, economy, and society at large.

In this blog, we will explore the key concepts of circularity in waste management and highlight its transformative potential in promoting sustainability.

Rethinking Waste

Circularity challenges the notion of waste as something to be discarded and instead prompts us to think of waste as a resource that can aid the production cycle. Nature is the best teacher of this, where all things are cyclic, such as the water cycle, nutrient cycle and all chemical cycles.  We thus need to rethink of the products we use in the same way. This shift in mindset sets the stage for innovative solutions that minimize waste generation and maximize resource recovery.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The three pillars of waste management—reduce, reuse, and recycle—are foundational to circularity. By reducing the amount of waste generated, reusing products and materials whenever possible, and recycling them through smart end-of-life options, we can conserve resources and minimize the environmental impact of waste. Our current economies run on increasing production of consumer goods, instead there is a need to make reuse and recycle drivers of the economies. With a circular economy, we can fulfil people’s needs* with just 70% of the materials we currently use—within the safe limits of the planet.²

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Circularity places an emphasis on holding producers accountable for the entire life cycle of their products, even in their waste form. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates that manufacturers take responsibility for the proper disposal or recycling of their products once they reach the end of their useful life. The Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 and its amendments are making it mandatory for producers (companies) to pay for recovery and recycling of the plastic that companies introduce in the environment. Coca Cola pays collection agencies to collect and recycle its plastic bottles.

This further incentivizes producers to design products that are more durable, repairable, and recyclable, thus promoting circularity. For e.g. Dell has reengineered their hardware to extract maximum components at the end of life of the hardware for recycling and reuse.

Resource Recovery and Valorization

Circularity aims to extract maximum value from waste by recovering and valorizing its resources. Valorization, which means recovering value from waste resources, can take different forms depending on the nature of the waste material. Valorization can convert waste into energy, usable materials, nutrients (from organic waste), and chemicals that can be reused. Waste of one process can become the raw material for another product, such as coconut shells make good coir products. These processes not only reduce waste going to landfills but can also contribute to the production of clean energy and soil fertility. However, we have to be conscious of the energy and cost required for conversion and quantity of the end product generated in the process of recovery.

Closed-Loop Systems

Closed loop systems, in the context of circularity, refer to systems where resources are continually circulated and reused even after reaching their waste form, to minimize the need for extracting new raw materials for the production cycle. A good example of a closed loop system is recycling of glass.

Circularity thrives on establishing closed-loop systems. Such systems can be optimized through practices like remanufacturing, where products are disassembled, repaired, and reintroduced into the market, or through the adoption of circular supply chains that prioritize the use of recycled materials. By closing the loop, we reduce the need for fresh resources and reduce the strain on ecosystems.

In Conclusion

The adoption of circularity in waste management offers a plethora of benefits for sustainability. Organizations that embark on circular transformations and create more adaptable operating and business models will be better positioned to prosper, even in times of disruption, while contributing to sustainable growth.³ By rethinking waste, reducing waste generation, promoting reuse and recycling, and implementing extended producer responsibility, we can transition from a linear model to a regenerative circular system that supports environmental preservation and resource conservation.

Circular practices not only minimize the ecological impact of waste but also create opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and job creation. By embracing circularity, we reconnect with nature and  shift the traditional though-process of seeing waste as a burden to  rather a valuable resource that can be transformed into new products, energy, and other useful materials.

It is through the power of circularity that we can build a sustainable and resilient future for generations to come. Kushaagra has been an ardent believer in the benefits of circularity. We have introduced this concept in all our sustainability solutions. We believe that we can reduce, recycle and reuse 80% of the waste we now generate.

Whether you are a civilian, a cooperative housing society, or a business looking to reduce its waste component, you can take advantage of circularity to create a deep impact on the environment. Write to us to learn how.

Citations:
1,2: The Circular Gap Report 2023 – CGR
3: Circular Transformation of Industries: Unlocking New Value in a Resource-Constrained World