E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. In developed countries, currently, it equals 1% of total solid waste generation and is expected to grow to 2% by 2010. In USA, it accounts 1% to 3% of the total municipal waste generation. In EU, historically, E-waste is growing three times faster than average annual municipal solid waste generation. A recent source estimates that total amount of E-waste generation in EU ranges from 5 to 7 million tonnes per annum or about 14 to 15 kg per capita and is expected to grow at a rate of 3% to 5% per year. In developing countries, it ranges 0.01% to 1% of the total municipal solid waste generation.

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It is vital to understand India’s energy requirements. With about 14% growth in 2007 in the manufacturing sector, 14% in 2006 in service sector and a change driven agriculture sector; Indian economy depends immensely on energy to sustain this progressive growth.

Current Energy Usage:

Current Energy Usage of India

This shows India is mainly coal dependent economy. Our heavy reliance on coal is also increasing environmental damage. Our crude oil situation too is not so optimistic as well. The international crude petroleum prices are rising and the current rates are in the range of $50-70. With India importing approximately 70% of its annual crude oil requirement (about 110 million tons), the annual expenditure goes up to a whopping amount of Rs.1600 billion! India’s domestic production is only about 32 million tons. This has huge impact on our foreign exchange reserves. Thus, any alternatives to deal with the current expensive and environmentally damaging energy situation can be an inspiring becoming. Many believe that the recommendations by some ministers of 10% ethanol blend becoming compulsory throughout the country can make a huge difference to India’s economy.

Brazil is already reaching the point where it may become energy independent due to the success of its ethanol program started three decades ago. They already have developed fuel flexible cars and have cars running on E85 and even 100%. It is believed that with India’s fuel bills rising, this step comes forward at a very appropriate time. Considering that India is one of the world’s top 10 oil-consuming countries. This step would actually save 80 million litres of petrol a year! Ethanol has 35% Oxygen which helps in complete fuel combustion, reducing all harmful emissions and is thus, the best tool to fight pollution. Apart from being an additive to petrol, Ethanol finds its use in the industrial sector, pharmaceutical sector as well as liquor sector.

In fact, Indian sugar output has been increasing; this is where India can bank on the opportunity to induce sugar producers towards diverting molasses for production of Ethanol and also generate rural employment. Government can provide tax based incentives to the producers of Ethanol to boost its production. It could also allocate amounts towards production of renewable energy sources from the huge oil budgets. Such incentives could encourage the producers to divert molasses for Ethanol production rather than selling them to breweries and distilleries. Though, sugar industry has its own risks due to its cyclical nature and might go through ups and downs. Hence, it is important that the Government should encourage research in Ethanol production. Ethanol can be made from fermentation of sugar, sugarcane as well as sorghum, corn, potatoes, wheat, beet etc. Mostly in India, sugarcane is used but since it is water intensive, other alternatives for the same should be promoted.

Switching over to renewable resources could definitely reduce are dependence on oil imports.

Concerns

No doubt that Ethanol offers other advantage of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But there are many concerns associated with mass production of crops for extracting biofuels. Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) was first launched in 2001 in India. But, this programme calls for some areas of attention as mentioned in a UN report on Sustainable Bio-Energy. These concerns are pertaining to the impact ethanol production can have on food, water and land security in our country. Considering the fact that sugarcane is what is mainly being used for ethanol production in India and that its water intensive, it might not be possible to divert water resources to be diverted from food to cash crops. India’s agriculture is dependent on the monsoon and failure of monsoons between 2003-2005 affected sugarcane crop and as a result the EBP programme. It is important to keep all these aspects in mind in our policy making. India’s liquor industry has majority control over molasses based ethanol production which would be inadequate to cover our energy needs. Also, since 2002 we have been importing ethanol, mainly from Brazil (2005). This raises questions about how we plan to meet the requisite levels without taking this into account and what are the alternatives that we would take up in case of shortage in supply. Because as per the UN report on Sustainability of Bio- Energy as well as National Sugar Institute & USAID there are definite possibilities of such a situation to arise.

It is being advised that these questions be taken into account by policy makers in order to prepare for shortfalls through perhaps diversifying the sources of ethanol production. Any drastic move can affect prices of land, sugar etc. too apart from the before mentioned concerns.

India is only at the nascent stage of its bio-fuels industry and can benefit through the experience of countries like Brazil and United States in formulating its policies. India needs a well structure policy that can take into account all climatic, demographic, agricultural and local factors in order to take care of the energy dependence of our country as well as generate rural employment without comprising on our water, food and land security.

Sources:

Times of India

Ethanol India

Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis

Yale Global Online

Environment is a term with wide scope and encompasses all conditions that surround any organism or a group of organisms. It includes the external circumstances, physical conditions, influences, conditions, resources which interact with an organism and influence its growth and development. Hence, our Natural environment includes all living and non-living things that occur naturally on the planet. Built environment, as the name suggests include the constructed surroundings that create the support system for human activity to form personal spaces as well as large civic surroundings.

Natural environment:

1. It includes all landscape area that functions as a natural system on its own without any interference of human beings. This includes animals, rocks, plants, and wilderness (most of it like unmanaged forests, wildlife and so on) etc.
2. It also includes universally existing natural resources and other physical processes that exist on their own and do not originate from any sort of human activity. These include climate, air, water, radiation, energy etc.
3. Natural aspects occurring within areas that are largely influenced by man. For example, birds in urban gardens etc. are considered a part of the natural environment.
4. A geographical area can also be considered as natural environment, if human impact on it is under a limited level.

Built Environment:

1. All the buildings, architecture, artificial surroundings that are heavily influenced by man, and do not exist naturally.
2. They are now so extensive that they act as organisms in terms of resources that they consume, waste disposal, facilitating productive enterprises etc.

Challenges

Built environment, is considered to be as opposed to the natural environment as there is considerable impact of built environment on natural environment due its existence in contrast with the same.

Concern for environment has often been viewed as a luxury and has more often than not been limited to few perceptions. It is here, that understanding various aspects of environment and the need for us to take responsible steps further comes in. Natural as well as human made environmental resources form our support systems for sustenance and are a key towards social and economic development. This includes forest cover, fresh water, air, agro- ecosystems, marine resources, grasslands etc. Environmentalism largely deals with not only the preservation of natural environment but also restoration and improvement. But, some include improvement of quality of life, quality of growth and protection of regional commons as an essential objective of environmentalism in order to reduce affects of the built environment. Environmentalism is largely associated with greening, resource management, environmental responsibility, waste minimization and overall environmental management.

Environmental Concerns:

Some of the common environment issues that environmentalism deals with:

1. Climate change
   • Global warming
   • Fossil fuels
   • Sea level rise
   • Effects of the automobile on societies
   • Natural Disasters
2. Conservation (Flora and fauna)
   • Invasive species
   • Species extinction
   • Pollinator decline
   • Coral bleaching
   • Bio Diversity
3. Dams
   • Environmental impacts of dams
4. Energy
   • Energy conservation
5. Genetic engineering
6. Intensive farming
   • Overgrazing
   • Irrigation
7. Land degradation
   • Land pollution
   • Desertification
8. Soil
   • Soil conservation
   • Soil erosion
   • Soil contamination
   • Soil salination
9. Nanotechnology
   • Nanotoxicology
   • Nanopollution
10. Nuclear issues
    • Nuclear fallout
    • Nuclear meltdown
    • Nuclear power
11. Ozone depletion
    • Overpopulation
12. Pollution
    • Air pollution
    • Light pollution
    • Noisepollution
    • Thermal pollution
    • Water pollution
    • Drinking water
    • Eutrophication
    • Water crisis
    • Oil spills
13. Resource depletion
    • Fishing
    • Environmental effects of fishing
    • Overfishing
    • Bottom trawling
    • Logging
    • Illegal logging
    • Deforestation
    • Mining
    • Acid mine drainage
14. Toxic waste
    • Dioxin
    • Chlorofluorocarbons
    • Heavy metals
    • Herbicides
    • Pesticides
15. Urban sprawl
16. Waste
    • Waste types
    • Waste management
    • The waste hierarchy
    • Waste legislation
    • Waste collection
    • Waste treatment technologies

The principle of conservation and the belief that nature too has a right has become the basis of modern environmentalism. Commonly, it is a broad social, scientific, political as well philosophical movement that enumerates various actions and policies in protecting our natural environment like reduction and control of man-made pollution, conservation and sustainable use of resources etc. The movement is focused at ecology, human rights, health and has been incorporated in religion as well.

Due to the versatility of plastics, they can be put to diverse range of applications. Packaging is one of them. The essential function of packaging is to safeguard the quality of goods- all kinds of products like, fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, prepared food, electronic equipment, industrial equipment etc. It proves essential especially during shipping, handling and marketing. Plastic packaging can prove to be cost effective, offers better protection, conserves resources as well as creates less wastage.

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Benefits:

With the diverse properties that plastics have, they are used in a wide range of areas. Plastics can have the properties of rigidity, flexibility, retention, insulation, conduction, strength, abrasion, scratch resistance etc. They can very easily be processed into variety of articles of use like:

i) Plastics could be used in agriculture for making irrigation pipes, films for green houses, plastic film for seed germination, plastic nets etc. PVC sheets are more permeation resistant than clay and are thus used in canals, lake liners and dams. Polymers are used in arid and semi- arid areas to conserve water. Plastic packaging offers food safety solution.
ii) Plastics increase the life span of fishing nets, ropes as well as boats, thus, contributing to the fishing industry as well.
iii) Plastics and polymers have been increasingly used in the desalination of sea water and hence enabling provision of potable drinking water to the public.
iv) Polymeric Membrane module can b used to save energy in boilers, furnaces, cryogenic operations and even for supplying oxygen.
v) Plastics are used for packaging drugs, in making medical devices like hearing aids, implants like knee caps, tooth caps as well as medical disposables like PVC blood bags, PP syringes etc.
vi) Plastics have been classified as Food Contact Substances (Source: FDA Consumer, November- December 2002)
vii) Plastics have increasingly replaced many wood made products and hence contributed in saving our forests.
viii) Plastics do not require frequent painting and can safely and profitably replace aluminium and steel at lower cost, thus reducing the overall capital investment.
ix) Plastic usage results in energy saving throughout the time when its manufactured as well as its usage.

Energy Requirements for Production of Materials Used in Packaging:

Energy Requirements for Production of Materials Used in Packaging:

Source: I. Boustead and G.F. Hancock- Energy and Packaging
J.E. Juliet-Plast. Engg.

x) Plastics help in making packaging more convenient and also conserve resources.

Issues Concerning Plastics: Reality & Solutions

Hence, the real issue pertaining to plastics is that:

We need to manage plastic disposal more responsibly and organize it, to do away the various problems because, plastics as such are an extremely good resource for many industries as mentioned before. Once policies are in place, people need to be educated about waste management, know what kind of things they can throw, where they can do so, how they can manage it at their places and what to do with the collected plastic waste. Thus, segregation of waste and waste management especially in the form of recycling management is an essential task for our cities and streets to become free of the plastic menace.

It seems as if India is bent to make mistakes that the developed world made years back and is repenting now. Instead of learning from their mistakes we are following their footsteps to destruction. I am taking about the water and bottled water issue in India. Let’s see if we are really moving forward or going backwards?

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