Waste Management should get Industry Status: Key takeaways from Clean & Green India 2016 Summit

Waste Management should get Industry Status
Decentralise the efforts towards a Clean India
This is the only planet we have, let’s take care of it
Call for the day is PPP model
Army of waste managers required to achieve ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyan’ mission
Solution lying at micro level where each one has to do one’s bit

New Delhi: The inaugural edition of Clean and Green India 2016 (#CGI 2016) summit an initiative by Franchise India and SingEx Exhibitions culminated with key takeaways and needs to be meticulously followed which will help accomplish the dream of a Swach Bharat.

The two day summit witnessed discussions on Waste Management with its challenges, opportunities and how best everyone can come together to make the ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyan’, a huge success and meet the 2nd October deadline set by Honorable PM Shri Narendra Modi.

The Summit, created with the sole intention for creating Sustainable Future, saw eminent speakers come together to share concerns and the opportunities in offering. The Summit clearly got to the forefront the need of Industry Status for Waste Management which further will attract talent, give rag pickers a blue collared job and a safe environment to operate in, get each stakeholder to work as a unit going on to achieve the Clean India cause. Presently the industry is fragmented and an Industry Status will help achieve positive results towards the ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyan’.

Another important takeaway was creating awareness amongst individuals, making them understand their role towards the ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyan’. Be it their ewaste or managing their own waste the work starts at micro level.

The talk during the summit revolved around the challenges including structural, technology, cost-efficiencies and others that each stakeholder faces each day in their quest for improving the cleaning and waste management in India. CGI India 2016 summit successfully got together business and industry leaders from Asia to share innovations and business solutions, exploring collaboration opportunities with the local companies in India. These collaborations will further enable the companies to come out with innovative and economical clean and waste management solutions to achieve the nation’s goal.

Speaking during the Summi, Ms. Ritu Marya, Editor in Chief Franchise India said “There is an adrenaline rush towards the Swach Bharat Abhigyan and this was something which we have always believed in and this initiative by our Honorable Prime Minister sees this finally taking shape. For creating the foundation of a clean movement the clean industry or the waste management industry now need to come forward with a force. Before we initiated this summit we did a thorough research and realised that the Waste Management Industry is all set to be a $13 billion by 2025 but it’s a fragmented industry and the need is to come together and achieve this target. If we see the figures of solid waste then urban India stands at 47 million tonnes a day and rurally the figure is 70 million tonnes per day and just 1/3 rd of this waste gets collected which means it is a gigantic mess that we create each day. So clearly showcases that we need a business plan leading for proper collection and managing thereafter.”

She further added “From the Government of India, Clean & Green India hopes that one day the Waste Management space gets the Industry status. Also the call for the day is a PPP model and while this is a social cause but should have a profitable model, which will keep the business sustainable for everyone. So the Government of India will have to help build this sustainable business. Also another important element is to regularise the system and which will help attract talent towards this industry. This will even uplift the life of a rag picker who today risks his life picking up the waste that we dispose. In a way rag pickers will get a blue collared job and a safe environment to work in”.

Mr. Aloysius Arlando, CEO, SingEx Holdings, Singapore said “this has been the need of the hour where we all understand proper ways of Waste Management. This forum has been created to cater to this by getting together each one o you on this platform”

Speaking during the summit, Dr. Mahesh Gupta, President, PHD Chamber and Chairman & MD, Kent RO Systems said “the need of the hour is to reduce contamination and purify for our future generation. The problem is even our attitude problem. Like for eg. In a party today so much of food is wasted, while some goes to the poor but majority get wasted. We do not even stop to think of the farmer who works hard to produce that food. We are contaminating earth, air and water without realising our responsibility towards the nature”.

Mr B K Soni, Chairman & MD, Eco Recycling India said “3.2 million tonnes per annum of e waste is generated in India today and if we have to achieve the Swach Bharat Abhiyan mission then we need an army of waste managers. We have to follow 3 T’s which is Training Transport and Technology and make the Clean India mission successful. Every individual had to understand that they have to responsibly dispose the e waste in their house. The challenge is even lack of awareness that each one of us is facing today”.

Mr. Sandeep Patel, Founder & CEO, Let’s Recycle said “We do not want to own up for our waste. There are solutions but we have a resistance to change. Our thought process is that it’s the Municipality’s problem to clean the waste, hence a strong need is the Government’s initiatives which will help create the data, inclusion leading to business sense”

Dr. Srikanta Panigrahi, Director General, Carbon Minus India said “this is a sector which is neglected where states are not serious, Municipalities do not have the monies and ofcourse the Government can’t take all the responsibility alone. Private sector needs to come forward and even individuals for that matter and we should be all aware of what we are walking into. Decentralise the efforts is the need of the hour where solution is lying at micro level. We need to work towards converting human waste to bio gas for cooking gas and electricity generation”

The inaugural Clean & Green India 2016 Summit culminated with its first Clean & Green India Awards. The awards recognised the efforts and significant contributions including smart innovations, successful green businesses and cutting-edge technologies. It will present a series of categories – Clean, Green, Waste Management, Special and Individual.