The Environment Management Group (EMG) of CEE focuses on significant aspects of waste management, wastewater treatment and reuse, environmental monitoring, training and capacity building of various stakeholders, performance evaluation of common facilities and research and development in the field of waste utilisation. The objective of the group is to improve environment management through conservation of natural resources, adopting the concept of 4R and continual compliance through technical and legal support and guidance to industrial and other sectors.
The group has signed Memoranda of Association (MoAs) with enforcing agencies, research institutes, technical institutes, common facility operators and industrial associations to achieve the desired targets. The following programmes were organised during the reporting year to achieve the anticipated results.
Waste Management Rules and Innovations in Waste Management: Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and Centre for Environment Education (CEE) have signed a MoU for the purpose of encouragement, facilitation, collaboration, technology transfer and partnership towards promotion and development of best practices in the field of environment. This includes adoption of the concept of 4R, building capacity and developing skills of the stakeholders through various programmes, sharing best EMPs (Environment Management Plan) and implementing the concept of circular economy for sustainable industrial development. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) Nagpur has signed an MoA with CEE in this respect.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India notified six waste management rules in 2016, viz. Hazardous, C & D (Construction & Demolition), Plastic, Biomedical, Solid Waste and E-waste. These rules place emphasis on important aspects like waste segregation, its utilisation, and broadening the accountability of stakeholders and others for effective waste management in the country.
A workshop on ‘Waste Management Rules and Innovations in Waste Management’ with the theme: ‘Increase your Hand Print (positive actions towards sustainability) and Reduce your Footprint’, was organized on April 11-12, 2017 at GPCB Gandhinagar, with a view to provide training and awareness on these new rules. More than 350 participants from industrial associations, individual industries, all common facility operators like CBWTF, CETPs, TSDFs, CHWIFs, MSW, Preprocessing; cement, iron and steel and power plant industries; regulators such as local bodies, Pollution Control Boards, offices of the Collectorates; policy makers such as representatives from the Department of Environment of State Governments; academia and research institutes; technical students; NGOs, auditors and consultants, attended this programme for improving awareness and effective compliance of all the above rules.
The programme covered subjects like: (i) HWM Rules, 2016, New Provisions and Responsibilities; (ii) Different aspects of landfill sites and remediation of contaminated land; (iii) Development of appropriate technology for environmental quality improvement encompassing the hazardous waste management; (iv) Use of CEPI as a tool for measurement of environmental pollution in industrial clusters; (v) Eco-friendly management of Plastic Waste through Pyrolysis and other methods; (vi) Schemes of central or state government for financial assistance to industries/common facility operators for improvement in their EMS; (vii) C&D Waste Management Rules-16; (viii) Advanced C&D Waste management practices and green building concept; (ix) EIA notification 2006 – major provisions and recent changes; (x) Waste management case studies; (xi) Plastic Waste Rules 2016; (xii) 360 degree approach to waste management; (xiii) Challenges and innovations in Solid Waste Management; (xiv) Bio Medical Waste Management Rules-16; (xv) National scenario and advanced Bio Medical Waste Management Practices Case Studies; (xvi) Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016; (xvii) Best Solid waste Management Practices; (xviii) Recent Innovations in E-waste management: (xix) E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016; (xx) Importance of Co-processing in Hazardous Waste Management; (xxi) CEE's Contribution towards effective Bio Medical and Municipal Solid Waste Management for a sustainable future; (xxii) Bio medical Waste Management: Case Studies.
The recommendations drawn from this workshop by the expert panel were sent to the Government through GPCB for improved compliance.
Innovations in Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and Reuse: CEE, NEERI and GPCB organised a one day workshop on ‘Innovations in Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and Reuse; Wastewater-the untapped resource’ on January 10, 2018 at GPCB Gandhinagar. About 300 participants attended this programme.
The programme covered subjects like: (i) Cutting edge technologies for treatment of CETP effluent and its reuse, (ii) Reuse and recycling of treated waste water in textile and pharma sectors - case studies, (iii) AOP based advanced wastewater treatment at CETP (NIA) - a case of first ever non-biological CETP, (iv) Waste is wealth: recovery of valuable products from industrial effluent - case studies, (v) Industrial symbiosis - sustainable reuse of treated sewage from local body for industrial purpose - case studies, (vi) Application of Hydrodynamic Cavitation process for treatment of wastewater from industrial sectors - case studies, (vii) Phytorid wastewater treatment - case study by NEERI, (viii) ZLD - concept, pros and cons and economical aspects and (ix) Marine disposal; present scenario and future prospects - case studies.
The recommendations drawn from this workshop by the expert panel too were sent to the Government through GPCB for improved compliance.
CETP Upgradation Project: Pandesara Industries Ltd (PIL), a CETP at Pandesara in Surat District, appointed EMG Ahmedabad to guide them on the upgradation of their CETP for achieving the prescribed norms of GPCB. After discussion, site visits and collection of samples from the inlet, pre-primary outlet, primary outlet and secondary outlet of CETP operations were conducted. Based on a study of the analysis and reports of the wastewater at each stage, a report has been submitted with suitable recommendations which are at the implementation stage.
Waste Utilization Centre: Pandesara Industries Ltd (PIL), a CETP at Pandesara, has a 100 MLD wastewater treatment capacity and generate approximately 900-1000 tonnes of primary sludge per month. The charges for the management of the sludge are high and storage of the hazardous waste in the TSDF site is not a concrete solution with reference to the sustainability of the environment.
EMG proposed a novel solution to them to manufacture bricks from such hazardous wastes. Several trials have been conducted with different permutations and combinations of raw materials. Efforts are on now to utilise maximum amount of sludge and bring the CS of the bricks to @ 7 N/mm2.
Sustainable Textile Production: Sustainable production is the need of the hour in the industrial sector and the textile sector is no exception to this. The SGTPA/PIL management has great concern for the betterment of the environment and are affirmative about actions for the implementation of sustainable textile production. They therefore approached EMG-CEE to guide them to adopt sustainable textile production in their textile industries. A series of visits were carried out for the audit of one selected textile unit to understand the textile processes for different types of fabrics, energy utilisation, wastewater generation, its characteristics and its probable reutilisation. After the compilation of all the data, EMG-CEE have drawn up recommendations in the form of a report and submitted to them, which are at the implementation stage. After successful implementation, the same will be replicated in all the other units of Pandesara GIDC.
Earth Care Awards 2018: The Earth Care Awards, started in the year 2007, entered its eighth chapter during FY 2017-18. The awards recognise excellence in climate change action and covers both mitigation and adaptation sectors. As part of the process, CEE evaluated around 267 applications from categories like industry, urban, community and innovations. EMG-CEE was responsible for the industrial category where twenty seven applications from diverse categories like Textile, Fertilizers, Mining, Hospitality Management, Food, Banking, Aviation, Chemicals, Diamond/Jewellery, Cement, etc. IFFCO, Kalol, received the ECA 2018 under the category of GHG Mitigation in Large Scale Enterprises.
The group has signed MoAs with Gujarat Chemical Association, NEER-Nagpur and E-Coli Waste Management Pvt. Ltd. for association in the field of environmental pollution prevention and improved waste management. It has also signed MoAs with common facility operators and GIZ to impart training to the operators and helpers of CETPs and ETPs.
Established as a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India.
