The Waste Management and Sound Technologies

The National Waste Management Council, set up in January 1990,
focused its attention on the disposal & utilization of urban municipal
wastes, industrial wastes & rural wastes.
The subgroup of Industrial Waste Management identified that Thermal
power plant s generated maximum industrial solid wastes per year.
1) Thermal Power Plant Industrial Solid Waste - Ash 30 million tones
2) Integrated iron & steel mills Blast furnace slag & steel
milling slag
35 million tones
3) Non ferrous industries like,
aluminum, zinc & copper
Red mud 3 million tones
4) Sugar industries Press mud 3 million tones
5) Fertilizers & allied industries Gypsum 4.5 million tones

Use of Environmentally Sound Technologies
Cleaner Production: This has been defined by the United Nations
Environment Programmed as the conceptual & procedural approach.
The goal of cleaner production is essentially that of the sustainable
development, which involves production processes; product cycles &
consumption patterns which allow for Human development; and the
provision of basic needs without degrading or disrupting the ecosystems
in which the human development production philosophy is that the
measure should be preventive & integrative.
Cleaner technology is the practical application of knowledge, methods &
means in order to provide the most rational use of natural resources &
energy, and to protect the environment within the means of man.
Clean technology is based on improved manufacturing methods that
require less raw materials, and energy to obtain equitable levels of output
of identical or better equity.
It utilizes wastes & recyclable material to a greater extent.
There are three broad elements of cleaner technologies.
1. Resource conservation technologies aiming at waste minimization at
source through production change, production process changes
involving raw material changes, technology changes & better
housekeeping.
2. End of pipe treatment technologies designed to recover raw materials,
energy, and water and by products.
3. Waste utilization technologies for reclamation and utilization of wastes
as secondary raw materials.
The concept of cleaner technologies is being advocated in different parts
of the world under various names such as…
1. Low and non waste technologies
2. Environmentally sound technologies
3. Waste Recycling,
4. Residue utilization
5. Resource recovery technologies

Impact on Productivity
The lack of affordable access to adequate infrastructure is a key factor in
determining the nature & persistence of poverty.
Inadequate access affects the time allocation of the poor.

Impact on Health
Inadequate infrastructure can have multiple effects on health & thereby on
labor productivity as well as quality of life.
Adequate sanitation is critical to reduction in incidence & severity of
diseases & thus planning for both water supply & sanitation needs to be
better integrated.
In addition to the obvious linkage between water & sanitation & health, the
quality of transport & communication infrastructure can affect access to
health care.
Air pollution & safety hazards connected to motor transport- accidents on
congested routes also affect morbidity, particularly in density populated
areas, where the poor are often concentrated.