Recycling

Biography

Biography: Shyamala K. Mani

Abstract

Statement of problem: Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Building in urban areas to face up to climate change impacts mainly focus on mitigating threats, reducing vulnerabilities and increasing capacities to bounce back, thus exhibiting resilience and sustainability. However, what measures are there to counter the impacts of Climate Change which are also useful in providing health and environmental co-benefits and contribute to Climate Change mitigation? 

Researchers have shown that Climate change does not present new problems per se, but may worsen and shift the geographic distribution of existing problems.  Some sections of population may be more at risk:

·         Children, aged and disabled

·         Those living in flood plains and with poor quality housing.

Improper Solid Waste management in urban areas has been the cause of clogging of drains during heavy rainfall sometimes causing floods and at others, exacerbating the effects of floods by increasing contamination of water, soil and spreading infectious diseases, heavy metal bearing toxic waste and covering every surface with degrading material. Similarly, during heat waves, the methane from accumulated garbage in medium and large scale dumps have lead to spontaneous fires, contaminating air and generating particulate matter and gaseous fumes exacerbating respiratory illnesses and spreading infectious diseases. During winters and cold waves too, improper solid waste management can contribute to increased particulate matter concentration due to open burning of garbage resulting in allergy, infection and respiratory distress among all sections of the population particularly among children, elderly and immune-compromised patients.  

Theoretical Orientation and Methodology: Integrated Waste Management is one of the sectors in urban development, which offers solutions to Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience, contributes significantly to environmental and health co-benefits while also contributing to Climate Change mitigation.  This paper examines how Indian cities can adopt an Integrated Waste Management approach and achieve compliance to the Solid Waste, Plastics Waste, E-waste, Biomedical waste and Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules all promulgated in 2016 by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India and earn environmental and health co-benefits too.

Findings: As a part of National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi, I undertook the exercise of integrating the above Rules and recommending source segregation of solid waste at household level, medium and bulk generators of different types of waste and arrived at processes of environmentally sound and productive recycling for each stream by which solid waste in a city becomes a resource and a source of income minus the  nuisance and pollution potential thus contributing to environmental and health co-benefits, increasing their adaptation and resilience potential. Since such processes of maximizing segregation of streams and recycling minimizes open burning or accumulation of methane, an integrated approach also contributes to climate change mitigation. Many of the processes recommended continue to operate under extreme weather events because they are decentralized and hence are ideal adaptation and resilience measures. Toxic and hazardous waste is also isolated and neutralized to prevent contamination.