Thursday, October 09, 2008

Get on the Recycling Cycle

Summer sun down on my back and slurping away some vanilla ice cream, I found myself laying in a green meadow, engaged in a deep conversation on the subject of ‘recycling’ with Sorella, a close friend in Sweden. We were just back from an environmental discussion about consumerism and we were both upset about the continual increasing quantum of waste being produced by us humans world over. While I still think that we ought to first reduce our unnecessary consumption and reuse stuff as far as possible, the concept of recycling makes sustainable sense rather than disposing non organic waste in any other way.

“Here in Sweden, we try to recycle as much as we can.” explained my friend. She continued, “We put in our waste into different bins, and the municipality comes by and picks it away. Even bigger items like furniture and electronic appliances get recycled, but then we need to take it to a recycling center instead.” I’ve always tried to find out what happens to inorganic waste in every country that I visit and so, during my travels, I had seen many of these systems operate. In the city of Gothenburg in western Sweden, citizens pay a fixed fee to the municipality for recycling. Similarly, in Zurich, Switzerland, citizens pay as per the quantum of recyclable waste that they individually generate and the city authorities recycle waste for their citizens. In all cases, including in Portugal and Germany, the system worked only if people separated their waste into different categories. Countries similar to ours like Nepal and Egypt may seem years away from catching up, however this is where a lot of interesting developments by concerned individuals seem to take place in the field of recycling.

My friends there were surprised to know that here in India, it’s the other way around. Here, we don’t have any recycling system supported or set up by the government. And while we wait for that to happen, a few concerned citizens have already setup informal recycling systems that work better than the west. My friend however, was most interested to learn that we actually get paid to get rid of most of our recyclable waste!!

The difference is that recycling is not some new trend or some kind of activity that is imposed by law, as in the west. Here in India, it is a way of life. Recycling seems to be embedded in our Indian genes! Here everybody recycles our newspapers to the nearby grocer, and ensure that old clothes are reused by the less fortunate. In the villages, we sell our plastics, metals and glass to waste pickers.

But there have been problems. City dwellers have long disregarded these practices, and rather dispose everything in one big bag, citing lack of time. The recycling industry is blacklisted, and often blamed for causing local environmental pollution. Those interested in recycling usually do not know how to go about it. The fact is that there is a vast informal recycling industry in India that needs to be supported, improved and upgraded.

Provided you separate your waste into a minimum of two fractions, recyclers will pay citizens (per kg.) about Rs. 3-5 for Paper/Newspaper, Rs. 4-6 for Cardboard, Rs. 0.50-1.20 for Coloured/Uncoloured Glass, Rs. 8-10 for hard plastics & general metals, Rs. 8-10 for PET Bottles, and higher values for specific metals. Rs. 70-75 for Aluminum, Rs. 150-170 for Brass and Rs. 230-250 for Copper!! Recyclers in Goa are even willing to pick up these fractions from your doorstep provided you (or your community) have accumulated a cycle load or rickshaw load of waste before calling them.

While some might argue that the focus of recycling ought to be more on reducing waste rather than making money, demanding this minimum amount of monetary refund for your waste is a very important step in supporting this recycling industry. Firstly, recyclable fractions anyway have higher monetary values attached; therefore you are simply taking advantage of a small fraction of this value. Fixing values for each recyclable fraction also prevents unscrupulous recyclers from picking up mixed waste altogether and then dumping the non recyclable fractions in the open environment. This therefore, reduces environmental pollution by the recycling industry as waste is more streamlined. Source separated waste is more profitable and less hazardous for the rag picker as opposed to rummaging through mixed waste in communitiy bins that might contain sharps or disease. Finally, this additional money, obtained from recycling can also go towards your own households waste management infrastructure such as waste bins or a compost bin. Thus, in this way, everybody benefits, and recycling pays for itself to become a sustainable system.

Recycling also can happen with the assistance of Green Manufacturers & Producers. In Goa we have quite a few examples. Beer manufacturers in Goa take back empty bottles, providing a refund of Rs. 4-5 per bottle. The Goa Dairy offers to take back used milk bags in exchange for a pack of milk. 100 washed clean milk bags can be bundled and handed over to any Goa Dairy milk booth in Goa in exchange for a free milk packet. A joint collaboration by a few NGOs, Pepsi, CocaCola and Bisleri offer to take back used PET Bottles and clean plastic bags in exchange for a monetary refund. PET Bottles over 1Lt. fetch Rs. 0.30 each. PET Bottles under 1Lt. fetch Rs. 0.15 each while a kg of clean plastic bags fetch Rs. 6 per kg at the collection centers established in Colva, Margao, Panjim and Calangute. While both these initiatives have started since 2001, most Goans remain unaware as publicity has been poor. Since 2006, TetraPak takes back their drink carton waste at a collection center in Panjim while Titan takes back its watch batteries at all their service centers in Goa since 2007.

Recycling centers exist all over Goa, with most of them located around bigger cities. Visit one such recycler and give him your recyclable waste. Please contact me if you need specific details or if you need any assistance while using any of the services mentioned above.

Let's hear from you! Email klintvaz@gmail.com or arati05@gmail.com You can even post a letter to us at 'Goa Going Green' C/o Arati Das, Gomanatak Times, Gomantak Bhavan, St. Inez, Panjim, Goa

Photocredit: Clinton for 1, 2 & 3. This is the 5th article in the eco-talk series that appears on a weekly column on Gomantak Times. This article appeared on GT, 9th October, 2008 Pg. A10

Friday, October 03, 2008

Learn the Art of Separation

Slowly but surely we seem to be making a difference. In the past few weeks, we’ve had a few proactive citizens call us up and let us know that they are interested in putting a waste management system into place on their own. Proactive citizens such as a few residents of the Nagali Hills Colony at Taleigao have already started to recycle their dry waste generated from their households. All I had helped them do was link them to a recycler in that area that would take the recyclable fractions of their dry waste, and they took it forward from there. On the other side of the Zuari, I recently got 3 months of my stockpiled dry waste recycled by a recycler that actually came to my home in Benaulim, weighed each fraction and paid me Rs. 260 for it all.

When I was researching the aspect of financial recovery by recycling, I had come to the conclusion that an average Goan household of 4-5 persons would be able to generate roughly Rs. 100 per month by recycling their waste. Recycling your waste is simple, if you know how to do it, and know who takes it for reuse. Unfortunately, not all your recyclable waste is taken by the same recycler. Therefore it’s important to know recycling details about each type of waste fraction.

After Separation At Source (SAS) is done, you need to get rid of your dry waste by recycling. Classifying your recyclable waste into different categories such as plastic, metal and glass is known as separating by waste ‘fractions’. While the most simple methods of waste SAS would require one to separate one’s waste into just 2 waste fractions (such as dry & wet waste), most of Europe ask’s its citizens to separate their household waste into 6-10 different fractions, and in Japan, certain municipalities ask citizens to separate it into as much as 38 different fractions!

While it is true that having more waste fractions help in better financial recovery, having more fractions need not necessarily be better, as it can sometimes lead to confusion in the minds of the household members. Imagine a small middle class family in Goa with 38 different waste bins, all colour coded for each category!

In Goa, due to an absence in any official system, it’s possible to set your own number of fractions that you want to separate your dry waste into. However, it is usually better to work from the bottom-up approach. Speak to a recycler in your neighborhood and ask him about the fractions he accepts. Then, accordingly choose the number of fractions you would use in your own Waste Management System at home. You also need to consider the amount of space required for placing a number of bins at your home.

At my home, I find it best to separate my dry waste bin into the following categories:
Bin 1 – Newspapers
Bin 2 – Mixed Paper & Magazines
Bin 3 – Cardboard & Cartons
Bin 4 – TetraPak Cartons
Bin 5 – Soft Plastics (Plastic Carry Bags)
Bin 6 – P.E.T. Bottles
Bin 7 – Hard Plastics (All grades & varieties)
Bin 8 – Metal (All types & metals)
Bin 9 – White / Uncoloured Glass
Bin 10 – Coloured Glass
Bin 11 – Electronic Waste, Batteries & Inkjet Cartridges
Bin 12 – Non Recyclable Waste

Based on the above separations, its possible for my recycler to come by and take the waste from bins 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,&10. He pays me a fixed price per kilo per assigned category. I then take waste from bins 5 & 6 to the Pet Bottle collection centers (located at two locations in Goa at Colva and Below the Mandovi Bridge) where I get refunded for both fractions. Whenever I visit Panjim, I usually take waste from bin 4 to the TetraPak bailing center at St. Inez. This leaves me with waste from bin 11, that I hand over to consumer forums that are campaigning for roper management of hazardous waste and I dispose contents of bin 12 in the nearest municipal bin, as that’s the most responsible thing to do rather than throwing it into the environment.

At times, it can be difficult to know what waste ought to be put in what fraction bin. It could also be dangerous or hazardous to put items in the wrong fraction. This is when sorting lists become useful. Sorting lists can be made on your own by first doing a household waste inventory, and then simply classifying what waste goes into what fraction with the help of a recycler or a waste management expert. Many progressive municipalities around the world have now developed their own sorting lists for their citizens. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that certain municipalities in cities such as Stockholm, Toronto, Auckland have actually come out with picture and info filled booklets devoted to helping their citizens sort their own waste!! I’d be glad to share my own household waste sorting list next week, and perhaps my list will help you separate your own waste easily. Until next week, happy recycling!

Let's hear from you! Email klintvaz@gmail.com or arati05@gmail.com You can even post a letter to us at 'Goa Going Green' C/o Arati Das, Gomanatak Times, Gomantak Bhavan, St. Inez, Panjim, Goa

Photocredit: Clinton for 1 & 2. This is the 4th article in the eco-talk series that appears on a weekly column on Gomantak Times. This article appeared on GT, 3rd October, 2008 Pg. A10