Waste to Wealth mission

Why is in news? MoHUA signs MoU to develop Waste to Wealth plants in million plus cities

The Union Ministry for Finance and Corporate Affairs presented the Budget 2023-2024 listing the seven priorities or the ‘Saptarishi’ guiding us through the Amrit Kaal.

In the ‘Green Growth’ segment, 500 new Waste to Wealth plants will be established under the GOBARdhan scheme for promoting circular economy.

The thrust on sustainable solid waste management has been strengthened under the ambit of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, with the overall vision of creating garbage-free cities.

Focusing on this objective, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has decided to set up large-scale solid waste processing facilities in million plus cities.

There are 59 million plus cities in India like Lucknow, Kanpur, Bareilly, Nasik, Thane, Nagpur, Gwalior, Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore to name a few. For management of organic/wet fraction of municipal solid waste bio-methanation plants have been proposed in these million plus cities.

In February 2022, Prime Minister inaugurated Asia’s biggest municipal solid waste based GOBARdhan plant in Indore aiming to generate 19,000 kg bio-CNG gas. Under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, the bio-methanation plants linked to the GOBARdhan and SATAT schemes will produce Bio-CNG as a renewable energy.

Waste to Energy plants use dry waste fraction of municipal solid waste and produce renewable power with maximum reduction of waste volume utilizing least space in execution in compliance with Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 and fulfill all the statutory norms of environment protection.

Waste to Energy and bio-methanation projects will integrate the concept of circularity in waste management by producing green energy from dry and wet waste component of municipal solid waste.

The by-product such as electricity and Bio-CNG will also help in achieving sustainability of waste management operations.

Waste to Wealth Mission:

The Waste to Wealth Mission is one of the nine scientific missions of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PMSTIAC).

The mission is spearheaded by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA), Government of India.

The mission aims to identify, develop, and deploy technologies to treat waste to generate energy, recycle materials, and extract resources of value.

The mission will also work to identify and support the development of modern technologies that promise to create a clean and green environment.

The mission will assist and augment the Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities projects by leveraging science, technology, and innovation to create circular economic models that are financially viable for waste management to streamline waste handling in the country.

GOBAR-DHAN scheme:

Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation has launched the GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) - DHAN scheme. The scheme is being implemented as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).

The GOBAR-DHAN scheme, with its focus on keeping villages clean, increasing the income of rural households, and generation of energy from cattle waste, is an important element of this Open Defecation Free-plus strategy.

The scheme aims to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste.

The scheme also aims at creating new rural livelihood opportunities and enhancing income for farmers and other rural people.