india - solid waste, disasters and informal recyclers - chintan
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COOLING AGENTSClimate : Justice and
Victims
April 7th 2010
Solid Waste and Disasters
• Slow accumulating :
Surat
• Seem like freak
incidents : Payatas
• Exacerbate : Mumbai
• Slow toxics : Dioxins
• Unreported : Hastsal
Climate Change, India, and
Waste Concurrent growth in population, urbanization, and GDP
Third largest emitter of GHGs in the world
5% of global total
Low per-capita emissions
Rising emissions from waste sector
Over 30% rise in GHGs from waste since 1995
Proportion of overall emissions from waste: 6.7%
Emissions from waste are twice the regional average
Delhi/India
• 8000 tons of waste
per day
• 3 landfills
• 150,000 informal
sector recyclers
• 2000 tons recycled
everyday
• 2500 tons of plastic
recycled everyday
• 100,000 tons per day
• 20,000% increase in
landfill space 1947-
1997
• 10% per annum
increase in plastics
since 1996 (50% in
packaging)
• Appx. 1 million
informal recyclers
Case Study : Delhi’s Recyclers • Many have been around for decades
(average is 14 years)
• Most are poor, but most touch minimum
wages during peak season
•Save appx. Rs. 1,20,00,000 daily to
government
•Almost all live in sub-standard housing with
poor access to clean water/energy
•Illness prevelant : 82% of the women
acutely anemic in New Delhi.
•Save appx. 3.6 times more GHG than any
other CDM waste project in India
How Recycling Works
• Reprocessors
• Large Scrap Dealers
• Small Scrap Dealers
• Itinerant Buyers
• Wastepickers/Doorste
p Collectors
Who Are These Recyclers? • Rural, marginal,
dislocated, often due
to landlessness and
agricultural crisis.
• Mostly adults, mostly
Dalits and Muslims.
• Continue to be
marginalized on
account of their work,
seen as polluted.
• Ironic in a climate
justice framework
Solid Waste and GHGs
Three key GHGs from MSW: CO2, CH4, & N20
Emissions from MSW must be viewed on a life cycle basis
Waste management affects both upstream and downstream emissions
Informal Recycling Sector in Delhi accounts for
estimated net GHG reductions of 962,133 TCO2e
each year
What We Found
What We Really Found
Conservative Estimates? Based on MSW generation rate of 8,500 tones per day
Doesn’t account for recyclables in the waste stream that
are removed and recycled before the level of the dhalao
Doesn’t account for informal sector direct composting,
animal feed or segregation for later composting at dhalaos
Only uses published recycling rates or national averages
for each stream recycled by informal sector
Material-specific emissions factors tailored to US national
average conditions, which are certainly different than India
No landfill gas recovery systems in Delhi, so diversion to
landfill has greater impact.
India’s Northern Grid is more carbon-intensive than US
average (60% in Northern India to 40% in the US)
They Said It
“While the informal sector is
the backbone of India’s
highly successful recycling
system, unfortunately a
number of municipal
regulations impede the
operation of the recyclers,
owing to which they remain
at a tiny scale without
access to finance or
improved recycling
technologies” - NAPCC
Climate Justice
Ap
pro
ve recyclin
g m
eth
od
olo
gies
CDM Executive Board
India’s CDM Designated
National Authority
Central Pollution
Control Board
Civic Authorities
In-kind compensation (space for
livelihoods, door-to-door contracts,
licenses for small junk dealers);
incentives for composting
Develop material-specific emissions
factors; improve data transparency
and specificity; undertake study on
informal sector recycling rates
No WTE projects that compete with
informal sector for waste; press
CDM for methodologies; expand
portfolio for recycling and
composting
Conclusions
• In India, informal sector waste recyclers
are an important factor in mitigating
disasters
• Unfortunately, they are also victims of
ecological crises
• Their marginal urban conditions makes
them vulnerable to disasters
• Climate justice must include them
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