Addressing the Concerns of C&D Wastes

What is the issue?

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling industry is at a nascent stage in India.

What is the status C&D waste in India?

• In India construction of roads, bridges, flyovers, factories, commercial complexes are happening at a rapid phase.
• There is no sufficient heed to the construction and demolition (C&D) waste generated during construction.
• The C&D waste include bricks, concrete, stones, hard-core subsoil, topsoil, timber, glass, gypsum, ceramics and also plastics.

What are the concerns with C&D waste?

• In India there is no agreement on the volume of C&D waste in India.
• This waste is dumped illegally on vacant sites, on the sides of highways, below flyovers, besides lakes and rivers, in other low-lying areas and open storm water drains.
• In metro cities, C&D waste is increasingly being used to encroach on lake-bed land for construction.
• Water logging, with all its adverse impact on public health and the environment, is another consequence, as the run-off from smooth surfaces is trapped in the debris.
• The presence of C&D waste in the mixed waste reduces the effectiveness of composting or biomethanation, and also reduces the calorific value and combustibility of the municipal solid waste.

What is C&D waste management rule in India?

• Until two years ago, C&D waste was not even looked at separately from the municipal solid waste (MSW).
• The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, merely stated that C&D waste be “separately collected and disposed of in accordance with State laws”.
• But in 2016, the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, were separately notified by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, and the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) superseded the 2000 Rules.
• This reflected the growing recognition of the need to manage C&D waste separately from the municipal solid waste.

What further measures needs to be taken?

• The government has to build awareness of the value of recycled products, at the same time, incentives have to be aligned for the private sector.
• Government need to ensure that the C&D waste comes to the recycling plants as segregated input, and recycled products are picked up for use in construction.
• Western countries similar problem by creating a mini-hillock outside the town, used for a recreational hang-gliding spot.
• There is a greater appreciation of the reuse and recycling possibilities of the waste into construction materialand its implication for conservation of natural resources.
• This can also create a vibrant recycling industry which promotes innovation and new products and their uses.
• While builders and renovators must keep C&D waste unmixed, urban local bodies must ensure that the Rules are enforced.

Source: Financial Express