Waste or Wealth?
A Profitable Business Opportunity

To a common person the term ‘waste’ means only ‘municipal solid waste’, i.e., the various types of wastes that we generate each and every day from our consumption patterns. However, the major sources of wastes are from the mining and mineral processing industry, agriculture, and construction, household and commercial activities. Increasing urbanisation and rising standards of living have traditionally contributed to the creation of wastes. These are not only from domestic consumption patterns but also the result of industrial, mining and agricultural activities. Apart from air and water pollution, the accumulated solid wastes are a source of land pollution, often contaminating the ground water source due to leaching. It is generally believed that the heterogeneous characteristics of a huge quantity of waste generated from different sources lead to complexity in recycling and utilisation. However, a close scrutiny of the various types of wastes generated shows that a majority of the same can be segregated even at source.

Globally the estimated quantity1 of waste generated annually is around 20 billion tonnes (as per 2010 estimate). Out of this, 12 billion tonnes are industrial waste and 4 billion tonnes is Municipal Solid Waste or MSW. The rest is a mix of organic, inorganic, hazardous and e-waste. The highest producer of waste is the United States of America, with a staggering 8 billion tonnes per annum alone. Russia is close to 7 billion tonnes primarily due to industrial and mining activity. Compared to the above statistics, the European Union generates only about 2 billion tonnes of waste every year. As compared to developed economies, the developing economies of Asia alone generate around 4.4 billion tonnes of solid waste annually, out of which China and India release around 1.2 and 1 billion tones, respectively. Currently, out of the 1 billion tonne of waste produced annually in India, about 350 million tonnes constitutes organic wastes arising from agricultural sources; about 390 million tonnes is inorganic waste from the industrial and mining sector. The rest are from different sources such as municipal, medical, electric and electronic waste.

It is a common belief that wastes are to be either dumped or used as landfills. However, there are enough instances from small initiatives to show that these can also be turned into useful products. There are quite a number of initiatives through the CSR activities of premier companies or by research institutions in creating useful products. However, there are very few organisations carrying out applied technological research on utilising the same in a profitable manner, i.e., to create profitable and sustainable businesses out of the same, transforming the waste to wealth. Technologies are either available in-house (within the country) or can be sourced from other countries. The table below shows the various types of waste generated - their quantity, examples of profitable use and the availability of the technology.

Thus, it can be seen that barring the red mud and hazardous waste, all other wastes have a potential for profitable use in various sectors. The most important fact is that the technologies for manufacturing the same are available in-house, i.e., within India, amongst various research institutions and laboratories.

With growing concern on the sustainable management of wastes, Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), a social enterprise arm of the Development Alternatives Group has been working on developing technological solutions for the same. Unlike the growing global tradition of implementing the R3 concept of reduce, reuse and recycle for sustainable waste management, TARA over the last few decades has been looking at wastes as ‘resources’ and creating wealth out of the same. Most of the technologies create a source of additional income-generating opportunities for individuals as well as communities.

Some of the pioneering technologies of TARA are utilising industrial wastes into production of affordable building materials, thereby reducing energy consumption and environmental emissions. Most of the building material technologies use wastes generated from stone crusher industries, sponge iron industries, foundry industries, textile, and sugar processing industries. Of particular relevance is the utilisation of thermal power plant wastes in producing quality bricks at affordable costs.

TARA Handmade Paper Technology is a unique technology to recycle waste like cotton rags, denim materials, fibres, and paper into high quality handmade paper. TARA produces an infinite range of colour, texture and thickness for handmade paper which can be used in innumerable ways and applications. Community groups are able to successfully use the technology to manufacture handmade paper and handcrafted products which are marketed commercially.

TARA recycle technology also converts tetra packs used for packaged food products into usable products. The technology developed segregates the metal from tetra packs and converts the paper into durable handmade paper. Technologies are also available for turning plastic paper and bottles into usable plastic pellets.

Thus, it a question of changing our mindset and start looking not at the ‘waste’ but as a raw materials to create ‘wealth’ out of the same. q

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