Construction waste in India, one of world’s largest solid waste streams: Union Minister Hardeep S Puri

New Delhi (India), February 19 (ANI): Pointing out the growing construction industry in India, Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday drew concern over challenges related to construction waste and emphasised the need for new technologies to ensure waste reduction.

Addressing an event at Vigyan Bhawan, Puri mentioned the growth in waste reprocessing under the Modi government, saying now 78 per cent of water is being reprocessed and the government plans to increase it to 100 per cent in the next two years.

“The amount of waste we used to reprocess was about 16-17 per cent. Now we are talking about 78 per cent. And I think in the next two years or so, we are planning to take it to 100 per cent. India is becoming an increasingly important destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) manufacturing and construction,” he said.

The minister was speaking at a Workshop on Recent development with recycling and use of Construction and Demolition Waste

Asserting that the construction and demolition waste in India is one of the largest solid waste streams in the world, Puri said, “It is estimated that the construction Indian industry in India generates about 150 to 500 million tonnes of C&D waste every year. This brings many challenges to the forefront, such as unauthorised dumping, a lack of space for disposal and improper mixing with biodegradable waste. Waste is rarely recycled on a large scale,” he said.

The minister noted that there is a huge demand for technologies that will support waste reduction and recycling of waste material.

“Recycling discourages illegal dumping and reduces the negative environmental effect on groundwater, surface water, air flora and fauna. But I think the most important point here is that once you create an ecosystem that places a premium on incentivization to use that waste for productive purposes, you produce an incentive for people to want to take advantage of this commercially,” he added.