NEW DELHI: India generates 150 million tonne of waste in a day and most of it is left in the landfills at the city outskirts leaving a stinking smell and vultures hovering over heaps of hazardous material.
Only 10-20 per cent of the city waste is recyled in an environment-friendly way and the rest is allowed to lie in the landfills, Environment and Forests Secretary Vijai Sharma said on Friday.
Heaps of urban wastes hosting vultures is a common site in most of the big cities and the governments at the central and state levels must step in to avert the environmental hazard, felt participants at the workshop on technical textile, which has application in waste management.
The developed nations, on the other hand, have made advances in waste recycling and are way ahead of developing countries like India, Sharma said at the workshop ,organised here by the Minsitry of Textile and the FICCI.
The rich and industrialised nations are able to build capacities for sustainable development and recycle 60-70 per cent of the waste they generate, the Environment and Forests Secretary said.
He said different wings of the government should work in unison through an inter-ministerial group, and other stakeholders be part of the consultative process to deal with the task of reuse of waste.
The technical textile products used for environment protection are called 'Oekotech'. These have different uses for landfill waste management.
