Mysuru: Japan is planning to ban one time use of materials including drinking water bottles to curb wastage, said former Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Chairman B. Shivalingaiah.

He was speaking at a conference on ‘Industrial Waste Management’ organised by Confederation of Indian Industry in association with Department of Industries and Commerce and KSPCB here recently and said, “People are using water as a vehicle to throw their unwanted materials. Due to this rivers including Narmada, Ganga, Krishna and Cauvery, are getting polluted and the life of river is  reducing.”

CII Chairman, Mysuru, Arjun Ranga said, “If we stick to our current waste management practices, by 2047 India will require land of 1400 km which is equivalent to size of the Delhi. India’s urban population is currently at 32.8 per cent that is 440 million and projected to go up to 590 million by 2030.”

An estimated 55 million tons of solid waste and approximately 6,000 million cubic meters of liquid waste are generated annually in urban areas of India, which is increasing at the rate 1-1.5 per cent per annum.”

He added, “the business potential for e-waste is estimated at about Rs. 700 Crore in the country.

B.M. Prakash, Environmental Officer, KSPCB, Mysuru said, “In 2009, CII along with KSPCB had undertaken some work on waste management in Nanjangud Industrial Area, during that time we have accessed how the waste generated is being utilised and how much is going to landfill. After that no study is undertaken.”

According to Prakash, the industries are not showcasing their efforts. Lot of industries have very good technology in the areas of recycling and also zero discharge.

They have these things in their respective website but not available for public.

They should make use of good platform including events like Dasara and industrial events to show the latest developments and initiatives taken in waste management”. He also called upon industrialists to give more importance to non hazardous waste.

There were participants from around 55 large-scale industries across the district who took part in the daylong conference.

A Ramesh, Senior Envronmental Officer, KSPCB and Dr. Sandeep Mudliar, Principal Scientist, CSIR /CFTRI also took part in the conference.

On the occasion over 100 environmental heads of industries from Mysuru and Nanjangud pledged their support on the ongoing Rally for Rivers initiative by ISHA Foundation, according to a press release from CII.