All upcoming housing societies and commercial complexes in the country will soon have to mandatorily ensure net zero waste and have their liquid discharge treated, as part of the Union government’s push for reforming and modernising the sewage disposal system.
What is the concept of Net Zero Waste?
- According to ICBC, a Net Zero Waste for Buildings & Built Environment is one which eliminates the diversion of waste being sent to landfills, by a multi-pronged approach - nature-centric design, reducing debris during construction, responsibly handling waste during operation, reusing the waste as much as possible and recycling the remaining waste.
- A building or a built environment has to demonstrate that the total quantity of waste generated during construction and operation is equal to the quantity of waste reused within the premises and the quantity of waste recycled, so that the net quantity of waste sent to the landfill is ‘Zero’.
How can we achieve Net Zero?
Step 1. Reducing: Efforts should be made to reduce the waste generation to the maximum extent possible in all the three stages of construction of buildings.
Step 2. Reusing: Various options for reusing the waste as a resource within the building can be explored. Step 3: Recycling: The remaining waste need to be responsibly handled and handed over to authorized recyclers for recycling or disposed in an environment friendly manner
Key benefits of adopting Net Zero Waste Rating System are as below:
• Increased use of green products & materials, thereby improving resource efficiency and health benefits.
• Reduction in material consumption and thereby reduction in cost of construction.
• Increase in reuse of waste resulting in reduction in procurement of additional materials.
• Reduction in cost associated with waste handling and disposal.
• Opportunity to convert waste to energy or other value-added products.
• Brand image of being environmentally conscious
NAMASTE:
- National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem
- Namaste is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) as a joint initiative of the MoSJE and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
- NAMASTE envisages safety and dignity of sanitation workers in urban India by creating an enabling ecosystem that recognizes sanitation workers as one of the key contributors in operations and maintenance of sanitation infrastructure thereby providing sustainable livelihood and enhancing their occupational safety through capacity building and improved access to safety gear and machines.
- Five hundred cities (converging with AMRUT cities) will be taken up under this phase of NAMASTE. For providing a safety net to identified SSWs and their families they will be covered under the Ayushyaman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). The premium for AB-PMJAY for those identified SSWs families who are not covered earlier shall be borne under NAMASTE.
NAMASTE aims to achieve the following outcomes:
- Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India
- All sanitation work is performed by skilled workers
- No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter
- Sanitation workers are collectivized into SHGs and are empowered to run sanitation enterprises
- All Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers (SSWs) have access to alternative livelihoods
- Strengthened supervisory and monitoring systems at national, state and ULB levels to ensure enforcement and monitoring of safe sanitation work
- Increased awareness amongst sanitation services seekers (individuals and institutions) to seek services from registered and skilled sanitation workers
Note: In case the workers decide to adopt an alternate livelihood of their choice, skilling support will be provided to these workers. The workers may start a new livelihood project as an individual or as a group interested in same option. However it will not be free and rate of interest will be chargeable on self employment projects including sanitation related projects.