From Trash to Cash: The Business of Waste Management
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else”. This was a quote that was made by the famous personality, Fred Rogers in an interview. Today, we are in the generation of Flipkart and amazon, where any new product can be brought quickly with the click of a button. This has led to an overload and an accumulation of tonnes of waste which are disposed of every year, without being put to proper use and finally finding their way to being dumped among piles of garbage in the overloaded junkyards of various cities. However, there are a fistful of the population in the world, that manage to make fruitful use of these wastes that are generated by recycling them and crafting them into beautiful and sustainable masterpieces that are environment-friendly.
So behind the idea of creating “best out of waste”, there is a sequential process of treatment of wastes, which includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste. This method allows efficient and judicious use of wastes and is termed waste management. Waste management forms an effective way of treatment for different types of wastes which include biological, chemical, and other means of generated e-waste. The main objective of this method is to enable effective utilization of waste by following the Three R’s technique: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This method aims to enhance sustainable practices that combat harm and damage to the environment by reducing the number of hazardous wastes and harmful pollutants that cause a threat to the ecosystem. With population levels rising exponentially, environmental issues due to pollution are rapidly increasing at an alarming rate. This calls for sustainable development practices which include wastes and resource management.
Waste management has enormous potential to transform the growth and development of various developing economies by utilizing the tonnes of wastes that are generated every year by converting them into sources of renewable energy. For instance, buildings in Singapore are built in an energy-efficient and environment-friendly manner by effectively transforming industrial wastes as a source of renewable energy required for generating electricity in buildings and large scale industries. In this way the economy has expanded rapidly meeting the sustainable development criteria, contributing to the nation’s economic and environmental growth.
India approximately generates 150 thousand tonnes of waste every day, out of which only twenty per cent of them ended up getting treated. The lack of awareness and mismanagement of these resources has led to an enormous amount of pollution in the country, stagnating the development of the economy.
However, slowly with advancements in technology at a booming rate, India has become a home to several niche start-ups dedicated to waste and resource management. The major ones are namely SKRAP, SAAHAS ZERO WASTE, EXTRA CARBON, and many more. The main objective behind these start-ups is to teach individuals management and recycling of resources to foster the development of new products from utilized wastes. All these start-ups are contributing significantly to the “Make In India” movement by adding to the GDP of the country, By which India is significantly rising every day to achieve self-sufficiency within a span of few years.
Contributed By- sanjana prasad, Content Writer at Mitti Ke Rang
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