Climate Change and Recycling in India

Climate is largely affected by human habits and livelihood globally. Several efforts have been made to promote the quick and extensive spread and application of climate friendly technologies to bring climate change to a stop especially in the highly populated subcontinent of India.

Simple solutions like recycling can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and conserve natural resources.

Role of human actions in climate change

Human activities that add to climate change comprise the burning of fossil fuels and waste, agricultural production as well as land-use changes like deforestation. These all cause the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main gas responsible for climate change, and other 'greenhouse' gases. Recycling can surely be promoted more in India but there are some challenges still to be faced.

Lakshmi Narayan, General Secretary of Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), a union of women rag pickers, whose work involves the separation of domestic garbage into various recyclable items and checking to see if recycling takes place, talks of the problems involved:

"Recycling has never been formally recognized by the state -- all the way from the waste picker to the small scrap dealers to whom they sell scrap to in the recycling and reprocessing industry. In small cities there are organisations giving formal identity cards to waste pickers, otherwise they do not enjoy any privilege."

Recycling benefits all

Global greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced significantly by recycling glass, metals and plastics. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto protocol have also constantly made efforts to promote recycling for better climate conditions. "Recycling reduces emissions 25 times," says Jyoti Mhapsekar, President of a women’s group Stree Mukti Sangathana in Mumbai. "It not only saves energy and trees but it saves money also. We are against burn technology and composting should be done from the bio degradable waste."

It requires 95 percent less energy to recycle aluminium than it does to make it from raw materials. Producing recycled steel saves 60 percent, recycled newspapers 40 percent, recycled plastics 70 percent and recycled glass 40 percent. The savings far outweigh the energy formed as by-products of burning and land filling. While Lakshmi from KKPKP confirms: "Environmentally we all know that recycling if a better option to handle waste than open dumping. It also ends up reducing the cost of solid waste management."

Climate a concern

While the climate has become a serious reason for concern, recycling is one option for betterment not only in India but globally. Change starts by educating the masses.

"The attitude of 'use and throw' should be re-examined," says Jyoti. "People should be encouraged to recycle. Film and documentaries can be shown to uneducated people in villages. Sometimes it seems that the uneducated understand but educated people do not want to understand."

With the UN Copenhagen climate change conference COP15 coming up at the end of this year, one can only hope that climate change can be countered with newer solutions being offered worldwide.

Author: Nikki Rattan
Editor: Grahame Lucas