Workshop on waste management held

BANGALORE: With Bangalore alone generating over 3,500 tonnes of solid waste, waste management has become an issue of concern for the authorities.Working towards this end, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), in association with GIZ, a Germany-based company, had organised a workshop on ‘Co-processing of waste in cement kilns, power plants and integrated iron and steel industry’ on Thursday.Speaking on the occasion A S Sadashivaiah, Chairman, KSPCB, said, “We have about 11 cement industries, 10 coalbased power industries and one integrated steel industry.Four cement industries have already been given authorisation to co-process hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste like old tyres and plastic waste.” However, the state is still lagging behind other states like Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in coprocessing, even though the system was initiated in 2003, asserted Sadashiviah. He said, “Transportation is a major setback. All the cement industries are located in the northern part of the state and generators of waste are mostly concentrated in the south.” He added that they are in discussion with the BBMP to explore the possibility of solving municipal solid waste management issues using coprocessing.Dr Dieter Mutz, Director, GIZ, also spoke about the severe deficiency in waste management across the country. Representatives of major cement, coal-based power and steel industries were present for the day-long workshop.