Wednesday 13 June, 2007

Reusing waste plastics as fuel

Plastics are so adaptable in use that their impacts on the ecosystem are far-reaching. Irresponsible dumping of plastic bags block drains, obstructs the permeability of the soil and causes problems for groundwater recharge. Plastic upsets the soil microbe activity, and once eaten, can kill animals. The estimated quantity of municipal sold waste generated in India every day is 131,000 tonnes or 48 million tonnes annually (2003). Plastics constitute at least seven per cent of this waste or 9,200 tonnes daily. Unlike other wastes, plastics do not degrade easily and is usually advised not to burn them as it emanates poisonous gases during its burning in open air at temperatures less than 400 degree Celsius. It is generally estimated that our households contribute major share of plastic wastes in urban areas in the form of used carry bags, bottles, packets of milk, etc. Packaging constitutes 52% of plastics consumption. The tendency of people in urban areas is to throw these plastics along the roads, as they cannot process them or recycle them in their compounds and it becomes a ‘burning’ problem for Municipalities & Corporations.

Recycling plastics
Most people think that all of their waste plastics can be recycled, but that's not true. Plastics in category 1 (Polyethylene Terephthalate) and category 2 (High Density Polyethylene) are mainly recycled. It is usually called down-cycling because the waste plastics are converted into low-grade plastics. The cost of conversion is also high making the down cycling less attractive and also the conversion process cannot be repeated forever. Plastic categories 4 through 7 -- such as lids, sheets of plastic and wrappers -- traditionally are discarded at recycling centres. But they are of value because they generate heat when burned. Plastics, being derived from petroleum, have the energy content similar to petroleum fuels. The main concern about burning plastics is when type 3 plastics (mainly PVC) are incinerated, because of the chlorinated compounds they contain. There have been attempts in India to use waste plastics in developing road surfaces with it. This does not dispose of the toxins but simply spreads it around, much like in the case of landfills.

Plastics as fuel
James W. Garthe of the Pennsylvania State University has developed a process in 1995 to convert all types of dirty plastics into fuel nuggets. The intent of the nugget process was to direct used plastics into a new raw material stream for energy recovery, either co-fired with coal in community and agricultural boilers or burned directly. The process was developed for waste agricultural plastics, yet it works with plastics found in all sectors of society. Both film and rigid thermoplastics can be accommodated.

The 'plastofuel', as Garthe calls it, overcomes most major impediments in plastic waste management. The Garthe machine is a hydraulic compactor with a heated die. Roughly shred and cleaned waste is fed into the hopper, from where a ram pushes it into the heated die. At exit of the die, the extrudate is sliced by a hot-knife into nuggets. The nuggets may then be stored forever and transported economically. These nuggets can be used as a high-energy fuel supplement for coal-fired applications. In such applications, it is found that plastics will not adversely affect emissions levels as the plastics are burned at very high temperatures. At more than 1,200 degree Celsius, plastics burn completely without leaving out toxic solids and without black, toxic smoke usually associated with burning plastics at the backyards.

A blessing in disguise
In the Garthe machine, the die is heated just enough to fuse the outer skin of the nugget. The energy required for this is minimal. It is in fact a compaction process, readying the waste for storage and transportation. The calorific value in the plastic waste remains trapped. Thus, the energy gained from nuggets is more than what was put in to create them. Cottage level entrepreneurs (similar to Kudumbashree units in Kerala) can generate income by using such a machine, after collecting the waste plastics directly from the source (like the households).

Commercial utilisation of waste plastics
1. GR Technology Company, Ltd. of Seoul, Korea
A new technology, developed by GR Technology Company, Ltd. of Seoul, Korea, burns plastic pellets made from waste plastics of all sorts, initially from agricultural sources. William Bang of GRT arranged to ship one of these burner units to Penn State for testing. It was installed to heat a high tunnel and a greenhouse at the Penn State Horticulture Research Farm. Eventually the burner/boiler system was modified to burn plastofuel nuggets, which were significantly larger than the pea-sized pellets. Testing of the 120,000 kcal/hr heater unit in Korea showed the system meets US EPA emissions standards.

2. Whitehall Cement Plant of Lafarge North America
Lafarge North America, which has begun fuelling the kilns at its Whitehall Township cement plant in part by burning the scraps of non-recyclable plastic. Lafarge says burning plastic could keep more than 10,000 tons of the substance out of landfills each year, while also cutting the amount of coal used by the Whitehall cement plant. The plant, which has burned used tires for several years, now can derive up to 45 percent of its power from tires and plastic. Plastic also costs less than coal, which means the new power source will cut Lafarge's fuel bills. The state Department of Environmental Protection approved the plastic plan after a five-year review, ruling it would not exceed standards for chemical release.

3. Unique Plastic Waste Management & Research Co Pvt Ltd, Nagpur, India
Prof. Mrs. Alka Umesh Zadgaonkar, Head of Department of Applied Chemistry at the Nagpur based G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering invented an Environment friendly catalytic process for disposal of waste plastic. The invented process involves degradation waste plastic using `catalytic-additive’ and is different from the generally existing pyrolytic processes. The laboratory scale set-up was developed in batch mode in which individual as well as mixed plastics were successfully converted in to fuels. The products obtained in the process are Liquid hydrocarbons, Gas and residual Coke. Prof Alka & Dr. Umesh Zadgaonkar started a company named Unique Plastic Waste Management & Research Co Pvt Ltd, which is converting plastic wastes into fuels equivalent to petrol and LPG on a commercial basis.

Summary
This commercial utilisation of waste plastics give great scope for people engaged in waste collection to earn more income, saves more fossil fuel, keeps our neighbourhoods clean and saves landfill space. Policy makers should take into consideration the failure of attempts to ban plastics of various thicknesses.

Read also:
PSU team turning waste plastic to fuel
Waste plastic technology
Burning plastic for fuel a win-win situation
Alka Zadgaonkar wrings plastic waste for profit
Plastic to Petrol: Conversion of waste plastic to energy

For an efficient public transport system in Kerala

Unhealthy competition
Private bus services are the strength of public transport system in Kerala but the state of its affairs is pitiable. Reckless driving of these bus services exists, because of the unhealthy competition among the individual bus services. Poorly trained and immature drivers are also the cause for the accidents involving private buses. Fierce arguments and quarrels between staff of rival bus services are the order of the day. Most buses carry goondas (some are called timekeepers! and at times bus owners themselves) to manhandle the staff of the competing bus service. In the long run, neither the passengers nor the bus operators are gaining anything out of this unhealthy competition. Increased use of fuel, wear & tear of spare parts, etc reduces the fitness of the buses quite early.

The authorities remain helpless in controlling their over-speed and the ill behaviour of bus staff towards the passengers. (Or the authorities may be happy by allotting new routes and time schedules to the preference of bus owners.) Bus operators often break the trips that give less collection, especially the night trips. Thanks to this situation, more and more passengers are tempted to own private vehicles for their easy transportation. Those passengers who can’t afford to buy private vehicles are left to hang on to these bus services even if they are physically ill. In other words, lack of an efficient public transport system is the reason for the proliferation of private vehicles (especially two-wheelers) on our roads.

Benefits of bus and cost of road accidents
Studies show that, the comparative fuel costs of a car and a two wheeler to meet the same travel demand as a bus is 11.8 times and 6.8 times respectively and occupies 38 times and 54 times more road space respectively. Replacement of a single bus by an equivalent number of two wheelers would add to air pollution by 27 per cent and cars would cause 17 per cent more pollution. Kerala State has nearly three percent of the country’s population, but it has recorded nearly 12 percent of the country’s road accidents. 32 % of the accidents involve two-wheelers, 19% car/jeep & 18% involve auto-rickshaws. Some studies put the social cost of road accidents each year in Kerala as high as Rs. 1,300 crores.

Mode of investments and hardships
It might be ironical to note that at a time when NRIs and retired people could not find ample opportunities for investing safely the money they have saved, many bus owners depend on private banks (called 'blade companies’) for their finances through hire purchase schemes. (Some of the banks charge as large as 30% per annum towards interest and that too at a flat rate -double the rate if we compare it with diminishing loan amount rates. When the RBI stipulated a limit of 12% for loan interest, these 'blades' put the remaining 18% as service charges and under other heads. So a bus owner opting for a 3-year repayment period ends up paying almost double the loan amount to the bank. For defaulters, they charge heavy penal interest and that too under different heads. If there is defaulting for more instalments, their bus will be seized, irrespective of whether any passengers are travelling or not, by goondas contracted by the bank.) Thus, the passengers face hardships of goonda-raj along with that of the fierce competition to maximise the collection in each trip.

Can we ignore the industry
Now the question is, how long the Kerala Government can afford to ignore an industry which interacts directly with people across the length and breadth of the state and which is worth at least Rs.2,000 crore in investment with a daily collection of at least Rs. 10 crores? (Considering 25,000 private buses - as per 2003 statistics of Kerala Government web site and assuming a minimum collection of Rs.4,000 per bus on an average.)

Early birds want all the worms!
Kerala Private Bus Operators Coordination Committee has been demanding, among other things, freezing the issuance of new bus permits with a reference to 'Tamil Nadu model' nationalisation of routes. (It may be noted that the share of private bus services in TN is only one-fourth and various corporations own the remaining services, whereas in Kerala private operators own about 85% of the services. The presence of KSRTC, which owns the remaining 15%, is felt only in the southern districts and Thiruvananthapuram City. Travel pattern of passengers, density of railway route length, etc of TN are different from that of Kerala). Their demand gives the feeling that their buses are not getting sufficient passengers to fill up the seats, but in reality, most buses travel with more passengers than they are allowed to. The demand is only an indication of how fierce the competition is. It is only recently that private buses were allowed to operate in Thiruvananthapuram City through a court order, before which only KSRTC was allowed to operate and KSRTC could not meet the growing demands of the city.

The Solution: Combine all private bus services
The best way to avoid the unhealthy competition is to combine these bus services to form a single company (or two companies for a healthy competition). The bus owners shall hold shares in the company equivalent to the total value of the buses they were possessing at the time of the merger and receive their dividends without much trouble. The merger can bring down the operating expenses of these services by way of bulk purchase of diesel, quality spare parts, etc. The quality and safety of the services can be improved by utilising professional management techniques right from the bodybuilding of the buses to rationalisation of schedules. The bus operating staff will benefit more because they don’t have to quarrel with other staff and there will be increased job security for them (individual bus owners usually don’t own a bus for long periods). Constant training for the staff and incorporation of latest technologies can make travelling a pleasant experience. Such a company can be made to commit social obligations like providing bus services to non-represented areas, say 10% of total route length.

More benefits
Such a company can build bus stations, etc with modern facilities, without straining the resources of local bodies or government and can also take up building & maintenance of roads, parking facilities, etc. It can improve the public transport system further by investing in metro railways in all the major cities.

Public transport in Singapore
In Singapore, just two companies (TIBS and SBS Transit) operate the bus services and one of the companies now operates also the recently commissioned fully automatic underground Mass Rapid Transit ( MRT) train service of the North East Line. Besides having a good road network (the total length of three Expressways is about 150km whereas the length of the island is about 43km!), Singapore uses a very conscious approach in terms of public transport. The Govt discourages ownership of Private vehicles like cars by imposing huge duties. The roads with heavy traffic are regulated at peak hours through Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), so those who really don’t want to use a particular road will take alternate roads with less traffic to reach their destination. Bulk of the passengers depends now on the MRT trains, which was introduced a few years ago.

A two-tier representation can reduce election expenses and corruption


The elections to Parliament and State Legislatures are very expensive and it is a widely accepted fact that huge election expenditure is the root cause for corruption in India. A candidate has to spend lakhs of rupees to get elected and even if he gets elected, the total salary he gets during his tenure as an MP/MLA will be meagre compared to his election expenses. How can he bridge the gap between the income and expenses? - publicly through donations and secretly through corruption. Donations by Corporates and liquor barons to parties / candidates are often to get policies favourable for their business. 

Corruption occurs as a chain reaction here. Representatives and party men collect bribes from people for allotting govt. or semi govt. posts and for transfers in various departments. These officials will in turn collect bribes from the public to get their things done. The situation is not beyond imagination, if police and judicial officers get their posting through back door. We don’t have to find more reasons why criminals are not just supporting elected representatives and instead becoming ‘representatives’ themselves. 

The very essence of democracy is defeated when money power rules and the equation becomes – of the Deprived, by the Bigwigs, for the Privileged. Criminalisation of politics can be uprooted only if this situation is avoided. Various debates and seminars are being conducted at various forums (and even in feature films) on this topic (links to some of them are given below) but none of them seems to have found a proper solution. There is a move for state funding of candidates' election expenses. Though a partial funding will be beneficial (like arranging a common platform for meet-the-candidates), it is better to find ways to bring down the election expenses of candidates rather than increasing the spending in the extravaganza, through appropriate electoral reforms. 

The lion’s share of election expenses is for ‘educating’ the voters, who the candidate is and what his qualities are. If the candidate is one among the voters, there is lesser need for posters, banners, etc. Moreover the voters now have no say in the selection of party candidates nor does the public have a proper interface with their elected representatives, as the ratio of voters to reps is very huge in India (An MP represents more than 18 lakh people on an average). Ideologies and manifestos now get lesser importance once the election process completes. All the voters can do now is to cast their 'precious' votes and wait for another election to do the same. It may be the reason why lesser and lesser number of voters turnout in the elections. 

Candidates use many crooked ways to win elections like sponsoring of rebels for opposing candidate (again increase in expense) thereby splitting the opponent's vote. Some candidates intimidate the voters so that the voters stay away from voting for their opponents. In the end, candidates gets declared as being elected just by obtaining 15% or less of total votes in the constituency (The first-past-the-post system). It is very difficult to enforce a minimum percentage rule under current circumstances, as the re-elections will also be cumbersome and expensive. 

Can we reduce the election expenses for candidates? 

We can achieve a significant reduction in election expenses for candidates by adopting a two-tier approach. For the parliament or state legislatures, each constituency may be divided into around 500 to 1000 sub-constituencies depending on the size of the constituency. The voters of each sub-constituency may elect a rep (primary rep / people's rep or PR) for their sub-constituency. These PRs (who form an electoral college) shall elect from themselves (or otherwise) the rep for the constituency. Here a candidate will have to convince only the PRs what he can do for the constituency and the country. The PRs can consult their voters thereafter and elect a rep accordingly for their constituency. The duty of a PR doesn't end with this election, instead can double as Public Relations personnel for the elected rep.

Call back the representatives 

The PRs shall assemble periodically to decide the future course of action for the constituency and to assess the performance of their elected representative. If the performance of their rep is not found satisfactory, the PRs shall call back the rep and consequently elect a new rep in his place. So the reps will have to maintain a good relation or contact with the PRs and the constituency whereas the reps used to dance to the tunes of ‘sponsors’. 

Emergence of a new political culture 

PRs shall not have much powers and shall just act as an intermediary between voters and their rep. PRs shall be from all walks of life (not just full time politicians) and shall utilise their tenure to acquire training in democratic procedures and to prove their leadership qualities. Student politics, strikes/bandhs/hartals (destructive methods!) will not be required for the emergence of new political leaders. A minimum percentage rule can be enforced to make sure that the candidates who obtain a minimum percentage (say, 51%) of the total votes in the constituency shall only be declared as elected.

Advantages of the two-tier system of electioneering 

* Election expenses for each candidate will be reduced significantly, there by the chance of corruption gets reduced. 
* Sincere people will enter politics with less hesitation. 
* Voters will have more say on who should be their rep, not the party chiefs or sponsoring beneficiaries. 
* Elected reps will have more time to spend with the voters, as the reps will be less bounded to sponsors. 
* Better correlation between voters and their reps possible through an intermediate layer of PRs. 
* Voters will not have to wait for the next election to sack their reps, if required. 
* A new blend of leaders will emerge through PRs, so politics will have lesser influence from leaders emerged with bandh/hartal culture. 
* A minimum percentage rule for votes polled can be enforced. 
* Political parties will have to be people centred and so parties revolving around a few leaders (or parties without internal democracy) will become extinct. 

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