The State Government pulled out of a possible agreement with Australlan company EDL over the latter’s demand to pay the maintenance cost in time of exigencies. At a high level meeting held in the State capital on 21 August, 2003 evening, to work out the points requiring immediate merit for the agreement, ended in a whimper when EDL promptly highlighted Kanpur’s vulnerability to riots and sought maintenance cost for the period its incinerations plants would remain closed Environmentalists felt the deadlock could be temporary and EDL could come to terms with the government, as it had found takers for this technology only in six cities. However, the electricity generated through incineration was discarded every where for its perilous traits. While its parent company has stopped funding, EDL was pushing the technology in India where it planned to set up plants I Kanpur, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur and Nagpur.

The KanpurNagar Nigam here showed keen interest and almost come to the verge of entering into an agreement. As per the proposal, EDL would generate 20 Mw of electricity from 1,800 tonne garbage with a cost of Rs 250 crore. The modalities for setting up the plant were to be flnalised at the meeting on 21 September, 2003. The incineration technology was opposed every where for generating toxics like dioxin and furan, which made people responsive to cancer skin ailments, neurological, genetic disorders and infertility.

“The situation would be horrific as the city has an alarming level of residue suspended particulate matter (SPM) ,”. The government mist reconsider the project if it still has it in mind.

By : Haidar Naqvi

Source : Hindustan Times, Lucknow, 22 Aug, 2003

Scrap Energy Pact with Australian Company : NGOs

Two non-governmental organizations have demanded the cancellation of kanpur Nagar Nigam’s agreement with Aostralla – based Energy Development Limited (EDL) for setting up a plant to produce power from municipal waste, saying the process involves was not environment-friendly. The NGOs ---Toxic Link and Eco- friends – said in a joint statement that FDL had signed the agreement with Kanpur Nagar Nigam to use 1,000 tonne of municipal solid waste to produce 20 MW power per day by burning the waste. “However, it is not the right solution for waste management,” they said.

The 30 –lakh population of the Kanpur city generates 1,800 tonne municipal solid waste per day but Kanpur Nagar Nigam collects only 50 percent of this. Toxics Link spokesman Gopal Krishna has suggested that the Nigam authorities adopt a better process with an eco-friendly system instead of hiring the services of a foreign agency to burn the waste which would disturb the eco-system

Source : Financial Express, New Delhi, 24 Aug, 2003

‘Australia discards tech, promotes it in India’
With the per capita generation of solid waste amounting to 600 gms per day the 40 lakh population of Kanpur generates24,000 tonnes of solid waste per day, while the Kanpur nagar Nigam is able to collect only half of it. When the practice of burning the toxic wastes has been discarded by the Energy Development Limited, Australia, it self yet it was trying to prove the project feasible in India and trying to gain ground to Kanpur for reasons not known. This was stated by Mr Rakesh Jaiswal of Eco Friends and Mr Gopal Krishna of Toxics Link while addressing a press conference jointly to apprise the masses about the disastrous burn technology plan being pursued by kanpur for reasons not known.

Mr Gopal Krishna said the EDL has failed to answer most of the environment feasibility questions. It has also decided to stop funding such project and thus all its pact in India would become redundant. This development has vindicated the stand of the environmental groups in India about the non-sustainability of burn technologies. Mr Gopal Krishna said the EDL’s proposal in Kanpur, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai and Bhopal turn meaningless because the proposals were made on the basis of its claims about Wollongong project which has now been shelved. He added that the Australian Federal Government has refused to allow the company to receive renewable energy credits because they were allowing plastics to be burnt in to the process and since plastics are energy thus produced can not be termed renewable . He said earlier EDL India’s project in Delhi was also shelved because of its heavily polluting nature but the government is still promoting it, unmindful of its disastrous consequences and despite the fact that it violates multilateral environment agreements.

He added that the core of technology called gasification is an incineration process that emits dioxins, amongst many other toxic pollutants, incineration transfers the hazardous characteristics of waste from to solid form to air, water and ash. It also releases new toxins which were not present in the original waste stream, besides generating heavy metals. He said dioxin is a proven cancer-causing toxin and has been classified as a persistent organic pollutant and this is now the incineration of waste is in violation of Stockholm convention. The residue amounts to 35 percent of waste input, 15 percent of which is carbon and several per cent were organic gases. They also failed to reply what will the EDL do with the by product and residues of the process as they are toxic. The various gasification and pyrolysis technologies has the potential for solid and liquid residues from several process stages. The government should drop the proposal in the interest of the masses.

Source : Time of India, 22 Aug, 2003

‘ban use of unproven toxic technology’

Toxics Link and Eco Friends have demanded that the proposal allowing the Australian company Energy Development Limited (EDL) to use unproven toxic technology for disposing of waste be immediately be dropped. On 20 Aug, 2003 Toxics Link and Eco Friends shared alarming information on the proposed ‘waste to electricity project’ at Maksudabad, Kanpur, at a seminar.Rakesh Jaiswal of Eco Friends said that 1,800 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) was generated daily in the city. However, the KNN was able to collect merely half of the waste generated by 30 lakh of population of the city. The collected waste is then dumped at 18 dumping sites. He said that health department was responsible for the primary collection of solid waste Director of Toxics Link Ravi Agarwal said the practise of burning the waste was not the right solution. This fact was proved after the company failed in its endeavour in Wollongong, Australian, and Delhi.

He claimed that the company has failed to make Solid Waste Energy Renewal Facility (SWERF) a commercially viable technology. They said that the core technology that was know as gasification was a process based on incineration. However, it results in emission of dioxins and other toxic pollutants. Besides, incineration transfers hazardous characteristics of waste from solid from to air, water and ash. Gopal Krishna , a researcher at ‘Toxics Link’ , said that new toxins were also released in the process. He said that dioxin was a proven cancer-causing toxin and was classified under Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) Hence, the incineration of waste was a violation of Stockholm Convention.

Source : Time of India, 22 Aug, 2003

Power from trash: Will city get discarded tech?
In Australian company plant to use technology , which has been discarded many place in the world, or generating electricity on waste in Kanpur. The Energy Development Limited (EDL) has singed an agreement to set up a resource incineration plant in Kanpur. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) based power project here entails setting up of a 20 MW capacity plant with a daily feed of 1000 MT of MSW. The project will cost Rs 250 crore.

The company had to abandon the incineration based technology in Australia as it released toxins. The core technology called gasification is an incineration process that emits dioxins amongst many other toxic pollutants Such emissions are in clear violation of the regulations laid down by the stockholm Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.

The firm has been unable to answer many environment feasibility questions. When the Delhi Government asked for a presentation, the officials of the company did not turn up. Ultimately, the government officials dropped the plan. Energy Development Limited has already ceased funding the SWERF (Solid Waste Energy Recycling Facility) plant at Wollongong.

Source : Hindustan Time, Lacknow 22, August, 2003