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China to spend heavily on waste treatment, recycling |
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China plans to invest up to US$37.5 billion in urban sewage
treatment and recycling during the 11th five-year plan
(2006-2010) period. According to Mr. Zhang Yue, deputy head of
the Ministry of Construction’s urban construction department,
China will raise the necessary funds by further opening its
water sector to foreign and private capital. Mr. Zhang said
that, togther with the National Development and Reform
Commission and the State Environmental Protection
Administration, the Ministry has drafted a plan for urban
sewage treatment and recycling between 2006 and 2010. The plan
is expected to be approved soon by the State Council. The plan
stipulates that all major cities must have 80 per cent of
their sewage treated by 2010. For medium and small cities, the
rate would be 60-70 per cent.
Over the past five years, sewage treatment facilities in China
have grown and the country’s sewage processing capacity has
tripled since 2001. However, only 60 per cent of the capacity
is currently used, owing to a sub-standard sewage collecting
network. Mr. Zhang stated that expansion of the sewage
collecting network would be a major task in the future. The
government will step up efforts to make sewage treatment and
recycling more profitable and sustainable and the policy of
charging polluters for sewage treatment will be adopted in
more cities. Veolia, a French giant in the water industry, has
already invested in 18 water projects in 16 Chinese cities.
Website:
www.english.gov.cn |
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E-waste disposal facility for end-users |
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Wipro,a leading IT company in India, will soon be offering
e-waste disposal services to its customers. Wipro will be
among the pioneers to offer such a service, which customers
can avail of free-of-cost by paying nominal freight charges.
On the issue of disposal of scrapped devices by owners and
users of computers and electronic goods, raised by Greenpeace,
Wipro stated that it has set up an environment management team
to lead its initiatives on this front. Over the last year,
Wipro has defined the process, identified suitable disposal
mechanisms, set up service points across the country,
identified technically competent disposal agencies and set up
a process for disposal of e-wastes. In addition, it is
voluntarily driving efforts to maximize the use of Reduction
of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant components. According
to Mr. Ashutosh Vaidya, VP of personal computing division of
Wipro, “The current outlook of supply-side dynamics makes us
believe that we can offer RoHS-compliant electronic components
in our PCs by the middle of next year.”
Website:
www.business-standard.com |
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Thailand puts onus on firms to handle rising
e-waste |
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In Thailand, a handful of socially responsible brands have
volunteered to adopt a “take-back” policy in an effort to find
a solution to the rapidly growing mounds of discarded
electronic gadgets such as computers and mobile phones in the
country. According to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia survey,
Nokia, Dell and Hewlett-Packard have subscribed to the
aforesaid policy, while other international brands like Acer,
IBM, Apple, Toshiba and Sony are yet to make any such
commitments. Over the past two decades, the volume of e-waste
has increased by leaps and bounds, from less than half a
million units annually in the mid-1980s to over five million
in the early 2000s. Authorities estimate that e-waste has
reached 58,000 t and is growing at the rate of 12 per cent a
year.
According to the Pollution Control Department (PCD), huge
amounts of e-waste are dumped improperly. Some go into
municipal garbages and get treated as non-toxic waste, leading
to water and soil pollution. Illegal dumping of toxic parts of
e-waste is yet another problem. In one decade from 1992-2002,
consumption of six major electronic and electrical equipment
units jumped from 2.41 million to 5.03 million, according to
the latest PCD survey. Apart from computers and mobile phones,
other e-waste comes from used appliances like refrigerators,
TVs and air-conditioners.
Website:
www.nationmultimedia.com |
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Viet Nam readies master plan on waste |
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The Natural Resources and Environment Department (NRED) of HCM
City, Viet Nam, will soon reveal the details of a master plan
on treating and managing waste in HCM city. According to NRED
vice-director Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, “We are trying to meet the
urgent demand for waste control and environmental protection
in HCM City.” The master plan will also address the need for
more international investment in the sector. It calls for
three waste treatment complexes with a total area of 2,832 ha.
Along with the master plan, the government’s new Environment
Law (which came into effect on this 1 July) is expected to
hasten the decision-making process on this issue.
About 1,600 tonnes of solid industrial wastes are produced
each day by 800 factories, 23,000 industrial enterprises and
small mills, and 459 hospitals and health clinics. Of this, 10
per cent is hazardous waste. In addition, only 20 per cent of
hazardous waste gets treated, and that too by 11 companies
that are not operating at 100 per cent capacity because many
generators of waste refuse to treat their waste!
Mr. Ngo Thanh Duc, vice manager of NRED’s solid waste
management bureau feels that the fees for waste treatment are
a major reason that companies avoid waste treatment. There are
other significant problems as well, including the collection
of waste by treatment companies that are not legally
registered to treat waste. Most of them do not treat the waste
properly and often just dump it elsewhere. Mr. Duc attributes
the waste disposal crisis to two major factors –
non-compliance with state environmental regulations and a
small NRED staff that lacks professional skills. NRED predicts
that by 2010, the amount of industrial solid waste would
increase from its current 580,000 t/y to 846,000 t/y, and by
2020 to 1,692,000 t/y.
Website:
www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn |
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Green management initiative in Korea |
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Since the early 1990s, Samsung, a well-known brand in
electronics, has been working together with its suppliers and
sub-contractors under a green management initiative. The
company has certified 3,931 firms in the Republic of Korea and
other parts of the world as Eco-Partners. According to Mr. Lee
Ki-hack, general manager of Samsung’s product environment
team, the company has provided manuals and trained employees
of all its major suppliers on environmental issues. There are
640 in-house auditors who regularly inspect the suppliers in
order to urge them to meet the global standard in
environmental regulations. Since most of Samsung’s production
facilities comply with global standards, the company is now
paying full at-tention to the directive on Restriction of
Hazardous Substances (RoHS). In order to facilitate the
production of environmentally friendly products, Samsung has
been screening not only the end products it produces, but also
the parts and raw materials it purchases from vendors.
According to Mr. Lee, the number of items tested at Samsung’s
lab exceeds 330,000 already. “The standard of our in-house
test is about 20 per cent stricter than that of the RoHS,” he
added.
Last year, the company announced that all of its products are
halogen-free. It also devised a voluntary plan to lower the
emission of greenhouse gases by 30 per cent between 2001 and
2010. In 2004, it achieved a reduction of 11 per cent.
Website:
www.times.hankooki.com |
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E-waste disposal programme in the Philippines |
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In the Philippines,the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) is looking into a possible e-waste management project
that hopes to minimize the improper disposal of electronic
waste materials, especially with the rise of highly
replaceable computer parts and equipment.
One possible method to discourage dumping of such equipment is
to have these collected and melted to recover trace amounts of
metals like gold, silver and copper. DOST is willing to
provide both technical and financial assistance in the form of
its Technology Incubation for Commercialization (TECHNICOM),
an incubation programme for commercially promising
technological ideas. There is no extensive e-waste study
conducted in the Philippines as yet. The only such study, done
by Prof. Genandrialine Peralta at the University of the
Philippines, pointed out that the Philippines might need 57 ha
of landfill for 60 million units of disposed electronic
devices in the next 25 years. However, the study only covered
home appliances and consumer electronics.
Website:
www.technology.inq7.net |
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Infotrek Syscom-RecycleNet joint venture in India |
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Introduction of the European Union Directives for Waste
Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) and Reduction of
Hazardous Substances (RoHS) has set in motion a new standard
that has had a ripple effect worldwide, creating a substantial
increase in the awareness and activity in international trade
of electronic scrap. Infotrek Syscom, India, has entered into
a joint venture with RecycleNet Corporation, the United
States, to provide its software for an Indian electronic
exchange. The joint venture, E-Exchange India, will focus on
the trade of e-waste. E-Exchange India will facilitate both
domestic and international trade in recycled electronics for a
booming Indian economy. E-Exchange India will become a
building block in RecycleNet’s BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India,
China) strategy.
Website:
www.myiris.com |
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New strategy in China to eliminate POPs |
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China has plans to spend at least US$4.3 billion to phase out
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in 10 years. “This is
only a preliminary calculation and does not include the funds
needed to treat the places contaminated by POPs,” according to
Mr. Zhuang Guotai, Deputy Director of the Office for Stockholm
Con-vention Implementation under the State Environmental
Protection Administration.
A plan has been drafted to phase out the world’s most toxic
chemicals, as required by the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants. According to the plan, China
will stop production and use of chlordane, mirex and DDT used
in anti-dirt paint by 2010, and safely dispose of electric
appliances containing POPs by 2015. The country will end the
production and use of POPs in pesticides by 2015. Funding to
control POPs will come from the central government, local
governments and domestic companies as well as international
organizations and foreign governments. The fifth meeting to
discuss the country’s implementation of the Stockholm
Convention was held recently and was attended by more than 100
government officials and representatives from China, Japan,
European countries, Norway and Finland, and United Nations
organizations .
Website:
www.news.xinhuanet.com |
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Vietnamese get advice on clean forms of industry |
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Improving waste management in Vietnamese hospitals
ETLog Health EnviroTech and Logistics GmbH of Germany will
extend its existing waste management project in Viet Nam on
behalf of EPOS Health Consultants GmbH. The overall project is
financed by the KfW Bank group. Since mid-2005, ETLog has been
working successfully for EPOS Health Consultants GmbH in Viet
Nam. Together with Vietnamese clinical employees, ETLog has
developed and implemented decisive improvements to the
situation in select facilities of the health service.
Noticeable successes of these measures convinced EPOS to
extend the contract with ETLog and the project will now cover
five more hospitals. Synergy effects will arise from the use
of recently collected data and the experience gathered.
Contact: Mr. A. Schuster, ETLog Health EnviroTech and
Logistics GmbH, Linienstr. 72, Berlin 10119, Germany. Tel: +49
(30) 443 187-40
E-mail:
schuster@etlog-health.de
Website:
www.etlog-health.de
Website:
www.pressemitteilung.ws |
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Indian achievements in air pollution control |
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In India, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has
adopted a policy for the abatement of pollution, which
provides multi-pronged strategies in the form of regulations,
legislation, agreements, fiscal incentives and other such
measures to prevent and abate pollution. The Union Territory
of Delhi has seen a significant decrease in air pollution
levels. This change in scenario is the result of various
integrated approaches embraced by the Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB) of MoEF for air pollution control. These
include the use of clean fuel like CNG for transportation
vehicles, unleaded petrol, low sulphur fuel, low benzene
petrol and beneficiated coal in thermal power plants as well
as installation of air pollution control in the small-scale
industries sector.
Moef commissioned 313 air quality monitoring stations and
1,000 water quality monitoring stations throughout the
country. MoEF has started monitoring fine particulate matter
(PM10) in a large number of stations and also initiated
monitoring of sub-micron particles (PM2.5), which has a
significant impact on the health of inhabitants in Delhi,
Kolkata, Agra, etc. Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Stations
have been established in Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Agra,
Bangalore, Lucknow, etc. Another 12 continuous monitoring
stations are scheduled to be set up in the near future at
Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Lucknow.
Corporate Responsibility for Environment Protection
recommendations are being implemented in 17 categories of
highly polluting industries. Significant reduction of air and
water pollution has been achieved in the following industrial
sectors: cement, iron and steel, large pulp and paper, chlor
alkali, aluminium and non-ferrous metallurgical industries.
Bharat Stage II and Bharat State III norms (akin to EURO II
and EURO III norms) has also been enforced for new vehicles in
11 cities.
Website:
www.pib.nic.in |
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