Waste to Wealth

Waste handling in different industries


Wealth from Waste is not a new concept to the companies worldwide. Benefits from waste can be divided into two parts –

1) Waste Minimization program which improves the financial bottom line of the company i.e. reduces cost of operation.
2) Revenue generation models which help the organisation to generate Short Term / Long Term or Continuous income which improves the Financial top line of the organisation.
Challenges:
To convert Linear Flow (Generation – Collection – Transportation – Disposal) to Cyclic Flow
Lack of Attitude
Lack of Structured Approach
Lack of awareness
Drivers:
- Management Commitment
- Waste Management Policy and Objectives
- Building a Waste Management team within the organisation Awareness Encouragement & appreciation to all organisational members including vendors
-
Waste Minimization Programs


Prevention (Reduce)
Waste management starts with the concept of terminate the source of waste generation. The cornerstone of waste management is prevention which means using less material to do the same job, cutting waste before recycling.
Regardless of industry sector, everyone can take advantage of general waste prevention goals, such as double-sided copying, packaging reduction, or switching to reusable supplies.
Some companies go beyond the basics and implemented activities that target industry specific waste materials.
- Reduction in quantity of packaging materials

Buying or Manufacturing Recycled Products (Reuse)
Many companies commit to increasing the overall recycled content in the products they purchase. Manufacturers can either increase the percentage of post consumer content in the products they make or increase the recycled content in the products they purchase.
Buy-recycled activities of companies include:
- Use plastic shipping crates, trays, and bins with recycled content.
- Use recycled-content paperboard packaging.

Recycling Collection (Recycle)
Companies commit to initiating, expanding, or improving company programs to collect recyclables
Recycling Collection activities of companies include:
- Beverage Industry: Collection of pet bottles
- Automobile Industry: Use universal recycling code markings on plastic automobile parts for future dismantling and recycling.
- Compost agricultural byproducts.

Many people think of the concept of Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle as three equal options, but they are instead meant to be a hierarchy, in order of importance.
This distinction is lost on many people. They focus on recycling, but recycling is meant to be the last of those three options. Recycling only comes into the equation when you have something you must dispose of.
If you don’t generate the waste in the first place, then you don’t have to figure out how to deal with it. Many people forget that if you reduce the amount of waste you produce, or re-use it, then you will have also less material to throw out or recycle.

Revenue Framework:
There many revenue models available and being used by several industries successfully. Here, we are discussing two very successful and reasonably moderate technology models:

Biogas (High Methane Content) recovery from waste water systems and utilization for energy generation
Sources of Biogas: Distillery Waste, Municipal Solid Waste, Poultry Litter, Cow Dung, Vegetable Waste

Biomass (agricultural waste) Gasification of and utilization in Energy (Thermal / Electrical) generation
Sources of Biomass: wood chips, rice husk, Saw Dust

Technology:

1) Gas can be directly fired in engines (100% gas based or dual fuel)
2) May be fired directly for thermal application like drying, heat treatment etc.
3) Fired in boilers for steam generations and further used in process

Revenue Sources:
Changing of fossil fuel to renewable biomass – This gives a considerable ( 50 – 60%) reduction in the power cost.


Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for projects of different categories would be given in the form of Capital Subsidy to the promoters Ministry of New & Renewable Energy to the promoters as given below:
Sl. Waste / Processes / Technologies Capital Subsidy
1. Industrial waste to Bio Gas
i) Biomethanation of low energy density and difficult industrial wastes (i.e. dairy, Tannery, sugar(liquid), slaughterhouse, bagasse wash, textile(liquid), paper(liquid) and pharmaceutical industry)
Rs. 1.0 Crore / MWeq (12000 Cu.m biogas per day)
ii) Biomethanation of other industrial waste
Rs. 0.50 Crore / MWeq (12000 Cu.m biogas per day)
2. Power generation from Biogas
i) Boiler + Steam Turbine configuration
Rs. 0.20 Crore / MW
ii) Biogas engine / Turbine configuration
Rs. 1.00 Crore / MW
3. Power generation from solid industrial waste (Boiler + Steam Turbine Configuration)
Rs. 0.20 Crore / MW
CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) Benefit
All these projects when get qualified for Carbon Credit after approval of UNFCCC. That will bring in the opportunity to earn considerable revenue for a period of 10 or 21 years.
For example,
In case of power generation from renewable sources, 3.4 Crores / MW in a period of 10 years is the earning potential considering 10 Euro (Aug 2009 average rate) / Ton of CO2 emission equivalent reduction.