Global day of action on POPs in India.
This report encapsulates activities by Toxics Link conducted in a month-long campaign surrounding the Global Day of Action on POPs, held on Earth Day 2005, highlighting the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) plans to install Waste to Energy "Refuse Derived Fuel" (RDF) plants, which would openly burn mixed waste (including plastics) under uncontrolled conditions for conversion to pellets to be used in household/industrial fuel, leading to dioxin, furan and other emissions. Awareness-raising activities were multi-fold and included a street play, a panel discussion entitled: "Delhi's waste future: Landfills in the Sky," formation of a civil society coalition (Delhi Campaign for Safe Environment), a civil society petition urging authorities to exclude waste incineration from the renewable energy platform, and extensive media coverage. Parallel activities included NGO (DISHA) organizing a meeting on POPs in Western India. Authorities have since announced a reevaluation of the Delhi "Waste to Energy" plant. As a positive multiplier effect, the Supreme Court has also asked the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources to form a Committee to examine waste to energy in Lucknow and Hyderabad.
Outputs:
Formation of Civil Society Coalition
Reevaluation by authorities of "Waste to Energy" initiatives in Delhi and elsewhere