Circular Economy in Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste Report
Recently the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has released the report ‘Circular Economy in Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste’.
This report provides a comprehensive, implementable and visionary action plan for the management of municipal solid and liquid waste.
It aims to encourage India to move from a linear “take make-waste” mindset to a ‘multi life cycle circular’ approach.
The ‘take make-waste’ mentality refers to the collection of raw materials, then production of the goods and finally throwing them away after a few days.
Key findings of the report-
- India generates about 1.45 lakh tonnes of solid waste every day. It contains 35% dry waste. A large proportion of dry waste is plastic waste.
- Every day 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated. Of this, only 15,600 tonnes are recycled. The remaining plastic waste goes to landfills and water bodies.
- The treatment of municipal solid, wet and construction waste can generate revenue of about Rs 30,000 crore per annum. At the same time, it also creates employment opportunities.
Key recommendations:
- The government should reduce GST and other taxes from 18% to 5% on products made from recycled materials.
- Use of 25% recyclable material in non-food grade packaging should be made mandatory to ensure recyclability.
- Cement kilns should use 25% non-recyclable dry waste in place of coal.
- Circular economy (circular economy is a special model of production and consumption.
- This includes sharing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials/products for as long as possible.
Source – The Hindu
