Presented at

Seminar and Site Visits

26-28 August, 2010

Solid Waste Management

Lucas Dengel
Eco-Pro

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 1 of 17
 Table of slides
• The present scenario
• Discard/dump, or burn
• Public health & hygiene concerns
• Moral issues – the management of the commons
• Technical issues – sanitary landfill & incineration
• Issues of management and financial discipline
• Promotional messages
• Our choices
• Possible actions

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 2 of 17

The Present Scenario

in towns…

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 3 of 17
 The Present Scenario
out of towns…

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 4 of 17

The Present Scenario

and this…

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 5 of 17
 The Present Scenario
and this too…

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 6 of 17

Discard/dump or burn

Soil, water and air

pollution of the
biosphere, our
habitat

In order to reduce
pollution:
sanitary landfill
and incineration

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 7 of 17
 Public Health & hygiene concerns
• Blocked open sewers > fly & mosquito breeding >
feces-borne & mosquito-borne diseases

• Groundwater becomes polluted microbiologically

(sewage, feces) and chemically (e.g. heavy metals) >
distant groundwater sourcing and depletion

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 8 of 17

Public Health & hygiene concerns

Air pollution by dioxins and furans caused by low-degree smoldering
fires burning PVC (halogen-containing plastics & plastics additives)

bio-accumulation in fat tissues: mother milk / nervous tissue, serious

damage to fetus and embryo – see agent orange damage in Vietnam war

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 9 of 17
 Moral Issues
The Management of the commons
The disparity between personal cleanliness and orderliness in one’s
own house & compound, and the messiness of the commons.

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 10 of 17

Technical Issues
No universal solution for all kinds of waste
Sanitary landfill Incineration
• Lining • High temperatures
• Covering • Fast cooling
• Collection & treatment of leachate • Air filters
• Methane retrieval & use • Adequate use of fly ash

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 11 of 17
 Issues of Management
• Adequate collection services missing
• Adequate processing services missing
• Capacity building at lower levels required
• Corruption in administrative & political offices

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 12 of 17

Promotional Messages

resource mgmt vs. waste mgmt

beautification vs. clean-up

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 13 of 17
 Our Choices

• Prosperity – for some – based

on short-term profits and
mirrored by mountains of trash;

• Prosperity – for many, for all? –

based on smart resource use
and reflected by long-term
benefits

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 14 of 17

Possible Actions
Reduce – Re-use – Recycle

• Avoid unnecessary packaging

(value addition, branding…)

• Implement waste separation

• Demand adequate collection services

• Compost bio-waste, channel it to

where there is a need, stay
decentralized as far as possible, keep
transport routes short

• Challenge manufacturers of
hazardous waste (e.g. batteries) and
complex waste (e.g. IT industry) to
recycle

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 15 of 17
 Nature is nothing but recycled goods…

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 16 of 17

Solid Waste Management

Lucas Dengel
Eco-Pro

Contact
Tel: : 0413 262 2469
eco_pro@auroville.org.in

Solid Waste Management | Dr. Lucas Dengel


Auroville Green Practices Seminar 2010 17 of 17
green.aurovilleportal.org