Hazardous waste management project takes off

By Alladi Jayasri

BANGALORE, JULY 26. The State Government is finally getting its act together on managing the copious quantities of hazardous waste generated by various industries. The Hazardous Waste Management Project Karnataka, and the Indo-German Technical Co- operation with financial aid of 3 million DM from the German Government took off a few weeks ago.

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) which will implement the project, has identified 954 industries in the State, which generate an estimated 82,702 tonnes of hazardous waste every year. Bangalore (Urban and rural) accounts for 5,799 tonnes of waste from 350 units. Mysore, with 54,015 tonnes of waste from 90 units generates the largest quantity of waste.

It is, perhaps, for the first time that hazardous waste generators have been inventorised in the State, and according to KSPCB figures, of the 82,702 tonnes of waste generated, 60,189 tonnes are reprocessable, 3,089 tonnes can be incinerated, and 19,424 tonnes can be disposed of in landfills.

The first landfill site has been identified in Kolar, and is likely to be finalised soon. The KSPCB Chairman, Mr. Upendra Tripathy, said the board has identified 18 agencies for reprocessing waste oil and waste lube oil, while six others had been given permission for reprocessing solvents. Further, six industries would provide captive incineration facilities, according Mr. B.Ramaiah, Senior Environmental Officer, KSPCB.

Apart from the sum of 3 million DM, 15 million DM will be earmarked for developing the landfill sites, more of which will come up in other parts of the State.

EM-Lahmeyer International, Germany, is the agency which will help the KSPCB implement the project. According to Dr. Jorgen Porst, Project Manager, Germany's hazardous waste management rules are one of the most stringent in the world, and waste regulation has been in effect since the 1970s.

Over three decades, Germany has practised common industrial waste disposal, which uses cleaner production, avoids wastes and minimises it and recovers wastes economically. A combination of facilities serve treatment and disposal needs such as chemical, mechanical, or biological treatment, incineration, landfills and recycling.

Hazardous waste disposal and management are mostly accepted by the industries voluntarily, but the punishment for not managing the waste is stringent. Fines can go up to 10,000 DM, and imprisonment for a minimum of one year. A mechanism of ``waste exchange banks,'' between the industries, also exists, as the waste of one industry can be recovered as raw material for another, Dr. Porst says.

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