Energy efficiency, water recycling and carbon di-oxide emissions in the silk reeling sector around Bangalore

India is the second largest producer of silk, contributing to about 18 per cent of the world production. The silk reeling process is that of boiling silk worm cocoons to obtain silk filaments that are reeled on wheels. This reeled silk is then dyed and woven into fabric. Silk reeling is one of the most important small scale industries in the state of Karnataka; many households in the sub urban and rural regions of the state run on this business.

The main purpose of our investigation is to increase the performance of this sector by reducing consumption of firewood, emission of carbon di-oxide and to recycle waste water/channelize it to alternative uses so as to recharge the water bed in these regions. We aim to reduce firewood consumption and emissions by aiding in the installation of solar water heating devices coupled to high efficiency but low cost stoves. We are also investigating the economic and environmental viability of using agricultural waste pellets/briquettes in place of firewood.

Most of the water that is consumed in the silk reeling process is discarded into the common drainage in these towns. This waste water that is free from chemicals but rich in silk protein is mixed with sewage and eventually dumped in inland basins such as lakes and ponds. We propose to further investigate two options to ensure sustainable water management in this sector: (i) recycle water so as to reduce consumption of fresh water by the silk reeling sector or (ii) channel this waste water to fertilize agricultural lands around these silk reeling clusters and simultaneously recharge the water bed.

The availability of both resources (wood and water) is decreasing, causing a sharp rise in their prices, in these regions. Reduced consumption of these resources will increase profit margins of silk reeling units while ensuring environmental sustainability.

Previous attempts to impose environmental regulations in the small and informal sectors have relied on traditional command and control mechanisms that resulted in poor compliance to environmental norms. In contrast, the implementation of cleaner technologies such as solar water heaters and energy efficient stoves in the silk reeling process overcomes environmental hazards while simultaneously offering attractive economic benefits for industries that adopt such technologies.

This study was funded through a research grant from the Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University, USA.

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Safe recycling of Expanded Poly Styrene (EPS)

EPS also known as Thermocole™ in India is widely used as packaging material for a large number of electronic and consumer goods. A limited fraction of the EPS that is produced in India is recycled by the informal and small scale industries. There are no studies that examine the quantities of EPS recycled or the associated environmental impacts of recycling these materials in small scale industries that are not regulated by the pollution control board or similar regulating agencies in developing countries.

This collaborative investigation with the University of Lausanne, Switzerland is aimed at characterizing the environmental costs and benefits associated with recycling this material in and around Bangalore. The study has also qualitatively characterize the flow of EPS between different stakeholders (manufacturing industries, consumers, recyclers and landfill operators) in Bangalore. This collaborative effort at examining an previously un-investigated economic activity is designed to lead to a long term study that will quantify the flow of EPS in the city, so as to recommend economically viable solutions for recycling or recovering energy from this wasted resource in addition to thoroughly characterizing associated environmental benefits and costs.

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Optimizing material and energy flows at a large scale manufacturing industry in India

Large companies around the world are realizing that they need to be socially and environmentally responsible for the products and services they deliver, if they are to expect long term economic growth. Manufacturing companies are also realizing that cutting down on consumption of raw materials and incorporating innovative means to reduce, reuse and recycle wastes that they generate can provide simultaneous economic and environmental benefits.

Our expertise at ROI enables us to use systematic and detailed analyses to recommend opportunities for companies to (i) reduce resource consumption, (ii) improve process efficiencies, and (iii) promote local linkages for sourcing, reusing and recycling of materials associated with the manufacturing of products and services. In addition we recommend long term environmentally benign material and energy alternatives for companies, so as to enable them to transition to ones with higher positive environmental and social impacts. We have successfully completed an investigation focused at a large scale film manufacturing unit in West India. This investigation is in collaboration with the Center for Development Finance at the Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai. We have recommended ways to (i) reduce energy consumption by coupling hot and cold air generators, (ii) recycle plastic and ceramic waste in addition to providing contact details of verified recyclers, (iii) safely dispose hazardous sludge by providing contact information of a toxic disposal facility near the industry, and (iv) substitute currently used raw materials with environmentally benign ones so as to reduce the ecological footprint of the industry.

Applying industrial ecology to the construct the water balance in Bangalore, India

Water balancing is a useful and increasingly popular streamlined tool for assessing stresses and opportunities in urban water systems. The chief contribution of the present study is a water balance, for the city of Bangalore, south India, generated using material and energy flow mapping and a bottom-up approach. Such tools are especially useful where end-use metering data are lacking and finances exclude expensive engineering analyses. An extensive end-use survey, to characterize residential use of water based on socioeconomic groups, combined with demand and supply-side data for commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors was used to create this water balance for the city. Our study revealed previously unexamined differential water usage by distinctive socio-economic groups. The demand for water in Bangalore is increasing due to rapid rise in the migrant population.

The municipal water utility aims to reduce unaccounted-for water, including water leakage through the system as well as siphoned off water, from its current level of 44% to 15% by 2025. As Bangalore sits at a considerable height (~ 500 m) above its main surface water source approximately 5% of the entire municipal electricity demand is used by the water utility company for pumping, treating, and distributing water. Therefore reductions in leakage would have a large impact both for water and energy demand for this highly populated urban landscape.

ROI and the Center for Industrial Ecology collaborated on this large scale challenging investigation and have submitted an article with the results to a peer reviewed International journal.

This study was supported by a research grant from the Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University, USA and core funding for ROI from the State of Geneva, through a Swiss foundation FIDEST and the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind.

Industrial Symbiosis and Residual Recovery in the Nanjangud Industrial Area

The recovery, reuse, and recycling of industrial residuals, often dismissed as wastes, are common in India and other industrializing countries. Some wastes are reused within the facility where they are generated; others are reused by nearby industrial facilities, or recycled via the largely informal recycling markets. Industrial symbiosis describes direct reuse of wastes by firms in relative geographic proximity. This study examines the material flows in a diverse industrial area – Nanjangud, a town near Mysore in the State of Karnataka in South India, and characterizes the recovery, reuse, and recycling of industrial residuals. It quantifies waste materials generated by 42 companies, accounting for materials that remain at generating facilities, materials that are directly traded across facilities and those that are either recycled via the informal market or disposed. The examined industries generate 897,210 metric tons of waste residuals annually, of which 99.5% is recovered for reuse or recycling, with 81% reused within the generating facilities. One company, a sugar refinery, processes most of this amount. Geographic analysis show that over 90% of residuals exiting facility gates wind up at destinations within 20km of the industrial area. Two-thirds of this goes directly to other economic actors (manufacturing facilities and farmers) for reuse. This study distinguishes how particular types of materials are reused in different ways, the geographic extent of symbiotic activities and the important role of the informal sector in industrial waste management in developing regions. It also highlights potential ways to expand the existing industrial symbiotic network to incorporate the recovery of two materials (non hazardous ash and plastic) that are currently underused.

ROI and the Center for Industrial Ecology collaborated on this innovative investigation. This work was supported in part by the Center for Industrial Ecology and Tropical Resources Institute at Yale University, USA. A scientific paper on this investigation is published in the international peer-reviewed journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling

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Multimedia presentation on Industrial Ecology – A New Planning Platform

ROI has prepared a multimedia presentation that introduces concepts and tools of Industrial Ecology to policy makers, entrepreneurs and academicians as the beginning of a process of preparing teaching material for Industrial Ecology programs. Industrial Ecology is based on an understanding of the flow of material and energy in a defined system and not just on the basis of monetary indicators. Strategies based on this understanding are particularly relevant in developing countries, where resources are often priced according to the ability of a citizen to pay rather than on the basis of their long term availability. The presentation, in the form of a CD, has been mailed to many several potential user groups. We plan to translate this video into regional Indian languages soon.

This endeavour was supported by core funding for ROI from the State of Geneva, through the Swiss foundation FIDEST and the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind.

Video on Industrial Ecology (coming soon)

Long term social and environmental impacts of using agricultural residues as fuel in rural homes

Of the 1.2 billion Indians, seventy percent live in rural areas and consume enormous quantities of biomass (firewood, agricultural residues and animal waste) for household and cottage scale industry energy needs. Supply side estimates of biomass consumptions are highly variable because biomass is not transacted in a regulated market. Academic reviews estimate that around 201 to 352 million tons of biomass is consumed annually in India (1995-97). Most of this biomass is burnt in traditional stoves whose overall efficiency may be as low as 10%. This enormous consumption of biomass in low efficiency stoves points to the significant potential to provide an innovative solution by drastically improving efficiencies of these stoves and providing a steady supply of biomass to this untapped market.

This enormous potential was identified by one of the largest energy companies in the world who developed an innovative low cost energy efficient stove and a supply of pellets made from agricultural residues. The stoves were coupled with small fans powered by rechargeable lead acid batteries to ensure complete combustion of fuel. The energy giant was keen incorporating strategies to minimize the long term social and environmental impacts of this innovative solution in their unique business model. ROI was approached to make this long term social and environmental impact assessment (LSEIA) and provide feasible recommendations. The LSEIA included a thorough understanding of (i) social and environmental impacts of current patterns of usage of biomass, (ii) environmental impacts associated with the generation of agricultural residues, (iii) differences in emissions resulting from different fuel usage, (iv) sociological acceptance of this new solutions in rural landscapes, (v) mathematical models to forecast environmental, health and social impacts of different fuel usage pattern. Key recommendations from the LSEIA to reduce long term impacts of this solution included (i) making pellets from agricultural residues that are usually burnt (sugar cane trash, paddy husk etc.), (ii) avoid cultivation of crops solely for the purpose of energy generation and (iii) setting up a comprehensive collection and recycling system to safely recycle discarded lead acid batteries from the stoves.

Industrial Ecology & Agro Industrial Policy

India is primarily an agricultural country; this sector accounts for around 24% of our national GDP, employs nearly 62 percent of the population and accounts for 43% of land use. It is imperative for a large scale assessment of this sector in order to focus on optimal utilization of India’s land, water and energy. In order to begin to examine this issue, ROI undertook an analysis of the flows of material & energy resources through three selected agro-industrial systems viz. rice, sugarcane and cotton, in Karnataka, India. Detailed material and energy flows through these three agro-industrial systems included a comprehensive analysis of resources consumed during (i) cultivation, (ii) harvest and on field processing, (iii) post harvest processing, and (iv) product manufacturing. The study highlighted the importance of (i) measuring productivity of land water and energy resources and using these productivity indices for formulating policy that incentivizes resource optimization, (ii) integrating value addition to wastes and residues from agriculture, (iii) implementing policies to reduce wastage of water and electricity by the agricultural sector through the introduction of wastage fees rather than incentivizing wastage through unrestrained subsidization, (iv) reducing the adverse impacts of surface runoffs (with chemical pesticides and fertilizers) by encouraging standardized schemes and processes for farmers to switch to organic cultivation. A CD based on the study has been widely distributed among policy makers in India.

This endeavour was supported by core funding for ROI from the State of Geneva, through a Swiss foundation FIDEST and the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind.

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Study on the Effluent and Hazardous Waste Management Practices in Doddaballapur Industrial Area Based on the Industrial Ecology Concept

ROI was asked by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee in India to make an assessment of the Doddaballapur Industrial Estate, near Bangalore. The Supreme Court was investigating a case of severe ground water pollution in the area and was seeking specific recommendations to rectify the problem. A system analysis was made based on the principles of Industrial Ecology and this formed the basis of the Committee’s report to the Court. The specific direct actions recommended by the study were to: (i) Include existing textile and cottage scale facilities in the planning for a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) that was originally intended to service the upcoming ‘apparel park’ in the area. This inclusion will bring in a significant cost advantage due to economies of scale. (iii) Set up a facility to recycle water from the CETP to replace at least some of the 2 million L of water that was currently being transported by tankers every day. This water recycling system can significantly bring down costs, emissions due to transportation and increase water security in the region. (iv) Implement a policy to concentrate the geographical distribution of textile facilities around the CETP so as to bring down costs of operation of the CETP and simultaneously avoid ground water contamination by facilities. (ii) Set up a ‘waste exchange’ program to facilitate exchange of solid industrial residues and waste water of different qualities. Industries in the area expressed a willingness to participate in such ‘symbiotic networks’ that bring mutual benefit to interacting parties.

The study was sponsored by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology.

Contributions to the book: Economic Actors, Participation in Social and Environmental Responsibility: A Guide to Promoting Ethics and Sustainable Development

Mr.Ramesh Ramaswamy founder of ROI contributed two sections: (i) Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia and (ii) Societal Responsibility in Asia to the book ‘Economic Actors. Participation in Social and Environmental Responsibility: A Guide to Promoting Ethics and Sustainable Development’ coordinated by Vincent Commenne, translated from French by Philippa Bowe and published by Éditions Charles Léopold Mayer in 2006. These contributions describe in detail the emergence and evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in major Asian countries. They highlight (i) ancient Indian practices associated with business and societal responsibility, (ii) trace the emergence of norms, standards and labels in Asian industries and their association with CSR, (iii) perceptions of CSR in Asia, and (iv) relationships between CSR and governance. These contributions thereby illustrate ROI’s position as an expert on important sustainability issues in the Asian context.

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