Gopal Krishnan writes about the Supreme Court order on the effect of subsidies to Waste to Energy units and their effect on waste management.

Misplaced Subsidies
Taking note of the news report about the closure of Rs 84 crore Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to electricity plant in Lucknow, on 6th May, 2005 Supreme Court gave an order that stayed the sanction of any further subsidy in respect of proposed and future Municipal Waste to Electricity (WTE) projects. It sought inspection of the functioning and record of the Lucknow plant and asked the central government to constitute a committee for the same. When the centre commissioned the plant, the projection was that it would generate 5 MW of electricity using bio-degradable waste but it generated mere 0.3 MW to 0.5 MW of electricity. The committee submitted its report by October 15, 2005 in the court. Sources have revealed that the report does seem fine-tuned to best waste management practices, which environmental groups like Alliance for Waste Management (AWM) has been advocating. AWM had given a presentation to the Committee on 9th August, 2005 in Hyderabad amidst heated exchanges.

Lucknow produces 1,200 metric tones of waste per day but its was stated that the plant was shut down due to lack of waste. No information on the project was made public and the concerned central authorities were secretive in their engagement with a Supreme Court Committee.

The court has taken note of the Andhra Pradesh based incinerator plant in Gangdumguda and Elikkta village. Waste incineration represents the most polluting solid waste management technology. But an agreement has been signed by the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD) to generate electricity from waste despite experience of failure in Timarpur with the same technology. The agreement between MCD & Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FSL) for an incineration plant was signed on 14th March 2005 despite massive protest from civil society groups. The technology is coming from Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), a department of Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

Glossing over the facts about the composition of Indian waste which has low calorific value and hence unsuitable for electricity generation, ministries in the central government continues to experiment in it at the cost of public money. A recent study estimates that recycling saves almost Rs17.6 crore per annum, almost 12 per cent of its annual budget. Other wastes like construction malba (which can be up to 40 per cent by weight) can be crushed and reused for reconstruction and roads. Hazardous wastes such as e-waste, healthcare waste, broken thermometers, fluorescent tubes etc must be separated and returned to the manufacturer. The remaining mostly organic can be processed in several ways like composting, conversion into biogas, etc.

Conflict of Interest & Contempt of Court
In view of the predictable failures, squandering of public money and lack of accountability, as per the court order the Central Government constituted a committee of experts to inspect the functioning of the waste to energy plants with focus on Lucknow based centrally sponsored waste to electricity plant. The main purpose of such an independent non-governmental committee's review was to investigate the propriety and need for ongoing massive subsidies for technically and economically unviable municipal waste to electricity projects in the country. The promotion of such projects entails waste of public money and it is beginning to resemble a potential national scam. Therefore, the court's order stated, "We hope that that till the position is clear, the Government would not sanction any further subsidies [for municipal waste to electricity (WTE) projects]."

Far from investigating and preventing such potential abuse, the Committee appointed has in fact been constituted and taken over by the Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Sources (MNES), which in July 2005, despite the May 2005 court orders, has widely publicized its grants and subsidies for WTE, including "burn technologies" that violate India's international commitments.

Interestingly, MNES, which is the very Ministry that is to be investigated, has constituted the Committee, made its official a member-secretary, and included many members who directly or indirectly benefit from WTE promotion and consequent subsidies. Therefore there is a fundamental conflict of interest where the subject of investigation has taken over up the responsibility of investigation and assessment, and continues to promote WTE subsidies notwithstanding the court order.

In such a scenario, there is a need to reconstitute the committee. Such a Committee should have and demonstrate an overall commitment to fairness in an administrative setting, is clearly against all principles of Natural Justice, which is regularly practiced by the judiciary itself in declining to hear cases of those whom they know well. Recently the Parliamentary Standing Committee deliberating amendment of the Contempt of Courts Act also expressed the hope that a person (or judge) against whom an allegation has been made will not himself or herself sit in judgment. So a subsidy provider cannot investigate it's own subsidy regime.

Caught in time warp
Unmindful of the fact that waste incinerator technologies are net energy losers when the embodied energy of the materials burned is accounted for, the Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Sources (MNES) is promoting it without any success. The new committee can examine as to why it is doing so. Now that after judiciary even parliament has expressed its opinion against such projects. Gurudas Kamat, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy has also written to the MNES seeking review of its WTE Committee. AWM has briefed him about the obsolete disposal technologies. In his letter, Kamat has supported ban on economic incentives for such WTE projects with specific reference to the Andhra Pradesh projects.

Researchers of waste suggest that composting and recycling materials is a better alternative because it saves the amount of energy that incinerating these same materials would generate. Waste incineration encourages a one-way flow of materials on a finite planet, thus making the task of conserving resources and reducing waste more difficult, not easier. On one occasion Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the President rightly summed up the need for Integrated Zero Waste Management. He has illustrated it by referring to a village of 2,400 families, which generates garbage of over 48 tonnes per year. This garbage is converted into manure and recyclable waste generating over Rs 3 lakh in revenue. This scheme provides employment to people of the panchayat. Such measures promote sustainable development as against the current trend of introducing failed polluting technologies, which turn citizens into guinea pigs for experiments.

Waste incineration systems (including waste pelletisation, pyrolysis and gasification systems) produce pollutants, which are detrimental to health & environment. It is expensive and does not eliminate or adequately control the toxic emissions from today's chemically complex municipal discards. Even new incinerators release toxic metals, dioxins, and acid gases. Far from eliminating the need for a landfill, waste incinerator systems produce toxic ash and other residues. Such projects disperse incinerator ash throughout the environment and subsequently enter our food chain.

The waste to energy program of MNES to maximize energy recovery is technologically incompatible with reducing dioxins emissions. Dioxins are the most lethal Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which irreparable environmental health consequences.

Incinerator technological intervention in the waste stream distorts waste management. Such systems rely on minimum guaranteed waste flows. It indirectly promotes continued waste generation while hindering waste prevention, reuse, composting, recycling, and recycling-based community economic development. It costs cities and municipalities more and provides fewer jobs than comprehensive recycling and composting. It prohibits the development of local recycling-based businesses.

These waste to energy projects are being promoted in manifest violation of international environmental norms. Incineration of waste violates Kyoto Protocol because as per the Protocol waste incineration is a green house gas emitter. It violates Stockholm Convention on POPs because it calls for improvements in waste management with the aim of the cessation of open and other uncontrolled burning of wastes. It violates recommendations of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s Global Assessment on Mercury which includes measures such as reducing or eliminating the mercury emission from waste incineration because unlike other heavy metals, mercury has special properties that make it difficult to capture in many control devices. It violates Dhaka Declaration on Waste Management adopted by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in October 2004. As per this declaration, SAARC countries cannot opt for incineration and other unproven technologies.

It is contrary to national legislations and norms such as Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2000 because according to these Rules it is illegal to incinerate chlorinated plastics (like PVC) and wastes chemically treated with any chlorinated disinfectant and recommendations of the Supreme Court constituted committee on waste management.

Resource recovery gaining ground
The 'White Paper on Pollution in Delhi with an Action Plan' prepared by Union Ministry of Environment and Forests says, "The experience of the incineration plant at Timarpur, Delhi and the briquette plant at Bombay support the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible, in situations where the waste has a low calorific value. A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option. Considering the large quantities of waste requiring to be processed, a mechanical composting plant will be needed."

Therefore, it is incumbent upon the policy makers to exclude "waste," "waste resources," "waste pelletisation", "waste incineration," "pyrolysis," "gasification" technologies from qualifying as renewable energy or fuel and also exclude renewable energy subsidy/loan programs for burn technology based waste to energy programs and policies. The high cost routes must be avoided and instead only appropriate methods such as small-scale bio-methanation, composting and proper recycling be propagated.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Integrated Plant Nutrient Management has recommended setting up of 1000 compost plants all over the country and has allocated Rs. 800 crore for the same. It seems the fate of the present WTE policy is sealed.

The incentives and subsidies should be offered in areas of `cold' technologies alone, which are suited to our country economically, socially and also to our wastes. The ideal resource management strategy for MSW is to avoid its generation in the first place. This implies changing production and consumption patterns to eliminate the use of disposable, non-reusable, non-returnable products and packaging. The alternative waste disposal methods include waste reduction, waste segregation at source, extended use and refuse, recycling, biomethanation technology and composting.
Gopal Krishna may be contacted at krishnagreen@gmail.com

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