India’s green court, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) said the Uttar Pradesh government’s report on the status of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and Sewage Waste Management (SWM) submitted to the tribunal has huge gaps. The court handed a prescribed format to the government to fill the gaps and ordered it to submit missing details by July 28, the date of next hearing, HT reported.
The court said the UP government has not clarified how against disclosure of 95% waste processing facilities (19,014 TDP or tons per day), the quantity of segregated waste is 74% (14,884 TPD). It continued to say: no clarification was given on the operation of waste processing plants without authorisation under the SWM Rules. The report discloses figures of waste generation in 762 local bodies, but does not reveal the actual waste processed by urban local bodies. The report says there has been 100% remediation of legacy waste at 60 sites but no material has been placed on record in support of this claim. Figures disclosed indicate 60 sites remediated and only 26 sites are left with legacy waste. Since, in other ULBs, waste processing facilities do not exist, specific disclosure of legacy waste in such ULBs should be pointed out. No disclosure has been made on the operational status of waste-to-energy plants, the newspaper pointed out.
India drafts solar waste rules as capacity crosses 100 GW, eyes 6 lakh tonne disposal by 2040
India is projected to generate over 34,600 tonnes of solar photovoltaic (PV) waste by 2030, according to draft guidelines released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which has proposed a detailed framework for handling end-of-life solar modules, panels, and cells, ET reported.
The draft guidelines outline roles and responsibilities of manufacturers, bulk consumers, dismantlers, and recyclers under the existing E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022.
India had installed over 73 GW of solar capacity as of March 2023, and the country’s cumulative PV waste generation is expected to increase significantly from approximately 100 tonnes in 2020 to 600,000 tonnes by 2040. The waste volume is estimated to reach 34,600 tonnes by 2030.
The guidelines stated, “Solar PV waste consists of various materials such as glass, aluminum, silicon, plastics and heavy metals like lead, cadmium and antimony. Improper handling or disposal can pose serious risks to human health and the environment.”
Under the proposed rules, producers and bulk consumers must ensure end-of-life management of solar equipment. They are required to channel waste only through registered dismantlers and recyclers. The CPCB has emphasized that Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) will apply to producers involved in manufacturing, importing, or selling solar PV modules or panels in India.
Trump’s EPA announces major rollbacks to power plant pollution limits
US President Donald Trump’s proposed rollbacks of regulatory laws are set to allow US power plants to pollute nearby communities and the wider world with more unhealthy air toxins and an unlimited amount of planet-heating gases, reported the Guardian.
The outlet said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a plan that would repeal a landmark climate rule that aims to mostly eliminate greenhouse gases from power plants by the 2030s and would, separately, weaken another regulation that restricts power plants’ release of hazardous air pollutants such as mercury.
Pfas detected in US beers in new study, raising safety concerns
Cancerous “forever chemicals” in beer? All but one of 23 beers in the US sampled for toxic Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) contained the compounds, new research found, raising safety questions about one of the world’s most popular beverages, the Guardian reported. The researchers checked craft beer from multiple states, major domestic brands, and several international labels.
The scientists compared the measurements to Pfas levels in the county water supply where each was bottled, revealing a “strong correlation” that suggests contaminated water is driving most of the problem. The levels were often above some drinking water limits for Pfas.
Pfas are a class of about 15,000 compounds most frequently used to make products water-, stain- and grease-resistant. They have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, kidney disease and a range of other serious health problems. They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down in the environment.
Scientists warn against attempts to change definition of ‘forever chemicals’
Internationally renowned scientists issued a warning against attempts to narrow the definition of “forever chemicals” in what they describe as a politically or economically motivated effort to weaken regulation of the potentially harmful chemicals, according to the Guardian. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) are a large group of synthetic chemicals used for their oil-, water- and stain-resistant properties in a range of consumer and industrial products from waterproof clothing and non-stick cookware to firefighting foams and electronics, the newspaper explained.
Their molecular structure makes them resistant to degradation, earning them the nickname “forever chemicals”. In the past few years there has been growing awareness of the problems associated with Pfas, resulting in the banning of certain forms.
A group of scientists are now raising the alarm about efforts by groups in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUpac), to narrow the current international definition of Pfas in ways that could exclude certain chemical subgroups. The report noted that last year IUpac launched a project aimed at providing “a rigorous definition. But in a paper published this week in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, the group of scientists defends the current definition, calling it “scientifically grounded, unambiguous, and well-suited to identify these chemicals”. The effort to change the definition is “politically and/or economically, rather than scientifically, motivated”, the authors write.The authors warn: “An IUpac-endorsed and potentially narrower Pfas definition could confer undue legitimacy … and influence regulatory bodies and others to adopt less protective policies.”
About The Author
You may also like
Delhi set to launch its first cloud seeding operation to fight air pollution
46% posts in pollution boards vacant, states and UTs miss NGT deadline to fill these
Green ministry releases draft emissions targets for industry
NGT notice to Uttarakhand, Jharkhand over untreated sewage polluting Ganga
Microplastics in air enter plant leaves, pass to animals & humans: Study
