last night i watching a series on natgeo,megacities.
there they were showcasing the problems of the modern megalopolises and how they have come to tackle it,or are on their way to a more systematic approach.
this time they were showing the megalopolis of SAO PAULO.
It is the largest city of south america,and hence faces major problems of waste disposal,pollution,over population and crumbling city planning dynamics. in the eighties it was a city with no proper waste disposal management system,where waste disposal landfill areas like the banderantes landfill was more an image of living hell,n where it was impossible live.people who tried to live near that area,were diagnosed with cancer or equally dangerous ailments. the nearby factories were not helping either. what was done to the waste? they used to just burn it,causing more pollution and adding to the greenhouse gases. then a revolution happened,it was seen that the landfills were generating a lot of methane,as result of waste products’s disintegration.this was because much of the waste generated from this city is of domestic nature,and is easily biodegradable.(NOTE-in india also,this case applies,as we are still using natural and mostly bio products instead of packaged products,which means the case of saulo paulo can be cut n pasted on the indian cities aswell.which is why i am bothered about this whole sao paulo story)
now methane is a very useful gas.it can be used to generate electricity also.BRAVO! this was the idea!
here is an excerpt from a paper written by Stela Goldenstein, Deputy Secretary of the Administration Secretariat of theMunicipal Government of the City of São Paulo-
Not many people are aware that the City of São Paulo already contributeseffectively and significantly to the reduction of global emissions of methanegas, whereas its largest sources are now under control.That environmental gain was achieved through intervention in a problem weonce believed had been solved a long time ago: the disposal of solid urbanwaste - domestic garbage. Such is the complex and conflictingenvironmental question, but in São Paulo domestic waste is collected andkept out of sight of most inhabitants. Thus the problem is only present if andwhen errors in domestic garbage collection occur.Beyond the visible face of the problem, a complex network of services andinvestments allows safe management of the waste, which is kept out of reachof human contact and disposed of at dumps. Such dumps, unlike the lixões(irregular and extremely large outdoor dumps), are environmentallyprotected areas, avoiding human contamination, as well as damage to thesoil and ground water tables. The city of São Paulo operates two goodgarbage dumps: Bandeirantes and São João, built and maintained withadequate safety. Like everything else in the city, the numbers are impressive:the Bandeirantes dump alone, in the Northern part of the city, receives seventhousand tons of garbage daily, besides the mud generated by sewagetreatment of Sabesp (the State Water Authority).The gas generated by the slow decomposition of the abundant organicmatter present in the garbage has gained new meaning in recent years. Thebiogas, a gaseous mixture of organic origin, rich in methane, crosses thelayers of material covering the dumps and releases itself to the atmosphere,thus contributing to the greenhouse effect and global weather changes. Thestrict control of such biogas takes place with its collection and burning,through a known and tested, albeit expensive, technology.The city has already implemented control of biogas at the Bandeirantesdump. A system for collecting and compacting prevents the gas from beingreleased into the atmosphere, besides allowing 80% of the biogas collectedto be used as a source for the generation of electric power at a thermal 22MW electric plant. The biogas surplus is burnt. Environmental gain is twofold:besides collecting the gas, the need for new sources of energy is minimized.The investment was made possible by the ingenious financial schemes of theKyoto Protocol: the earlier industrialized countries have their own targets forthe reduction of the emission of gases that cause the greenhouse effect, andmust meet them either within their territory or by financing investments inemerging countries.The Bandeirantes garbage dump has obtained the highest dump controlcertification in the world: for 1,150,144 tons of carbon.The project was checked and received the certification for the effectivereduction in emissions from the U.N.’s technical body. Therefore, carboncredits were issued, and should be purchased by companies and institutionsin countries having emission control targets to be met. By purchasing them,those countries are funding the environmental control already implementedhere.The Bandeirantes garbage dump already owns a dump control certificationfor the equivalent of 1,150,144 tons of carbon, a figure pretty close to thecarbon credits generated by all the other certified Brazilian projectscombined. It is the highest possible certification for a garbage dump in thewhole world. It is also the one project generating the highest benefitpercentage for the State, as half the credits belongs to the city and the otherhalf to Biogás Energia Ambiental S.A., the city’s licensee for investments in theexploitation of that gas.The credits belonging to the licensee company have meanwhile been soldon the company’s own initiative and pursuant to its private interest. The city’sshare will soon be sold at a public auction with international reach, a sureand transparent means for a public entity to obtain the highest selling price,with the necessary guarantees for all parties involved.It is the very first case of an inversion of a classic equation: usually investorsand brokers in countries with carbon control targets to be met offer financingin exchange for the sale in installments of the credits to be eventually issued.The city is in a comfortable position and, by having made possible theinvestments and procedures through licensees, now offer potential buyersenough safety to attain best prices for the delivery of certificates.The city will invest the amount collected from the auction in urban andenvironmental improvements of areas surrounding the Bandeirantes dump,whose impact is directly experienced there. The neighborhoods of Perus andPirituba will receive parks and squares and benefit from other actionsextensively discussed in public meetings. Since control of the methane gas willbe continuous, soon we will have more credits to sell, always through publicauctions, with social investments of the results. The dumps are city assets andshould be maintained, valued and exploited throughout their life span.
therefore, the what sao paulo has achieved is phenomenal,and India can follow suit.
not only this,they have also organised and trained the poor people,mostly from slum areas,who have no proper skill,to collect the waste n garbage and then bring it for disposal at various centres.in return they get food coupons or money.the incentive is high,as the more garbage they bring,the more money they get.
then in case of aluminium cans also,the same rule applies.the garbage pickers,known as catadores,pick up the cans,then they are collected n crushed together,n again sent to get recycled.the process is very fast.in 33 days(on an avg) a used can gets converted into a brand new can and comes on the counter for sale again.now that’s what i call efficiency!
they have even found a way to use the waste from tetra packs,which are made from joining paper,plastic and aluminium.they are hard to seperate,thus they used to be non recyclable.now in sao paulo,they are making roofs out of this waste,which resemble the tin roofs in shape n size,but are much lighter n are way more cheaper than them.so,a viable option for poor people.they can atleast have a roof overhead.
then again,a new technique to seperate plastic n aluminium has been improvised-plasma heating.
in this process,the waste is heating with a plasma ray,and as a result of this heat,the plastic n metal get seperated,the plastic becomes gas and is collected seperately,n the aluminium collected is 99% pure.this aluminium can be used again to make any other product.
et voila! we have a way to deal with waste generated by tetra packs also.
all in all,i was really impressed with the way sao paulo has dealt with its share of problems.there is still a long way to go,but hey! they are making the required efforts for it.
now methane is a very useful gas.it can be used to generate electricity also.BRAVO! this was the idea!
here is an excerpt from a paper written by Stela Goldenstein, Deputy Secretary of the Administration Secretariat of theMunicipal Government of the City of São Paulo-
Not many people are aware that the City of São Paulo already contributeseffectively and significantly to the reduction of global emissions of methanegas, whereas its largest sources are now under control.That environmental gain was achieved through intervention in a problem weonce believed had been solved a long time ago: the disposal of solid urbanwaste - domestic garbage. Such is the complex and conflictingenvironmental question, but in São Paulo domestic waste is collected andkept out of sight of most inhabitants. Thus the problem is only present if andwhen errors in domestic garbage collection occur.Beyond the visible face of the problem, a complex network of services andinvestments allows safe management of the waste, which is kept out of reachof human contact and disposed of at dumps. Such dumps, unlike the lixões(irregular and extremely large outdoor dumps), are environmentallyprotected areas, avoiding human contamination, as well as damage to thesoil and ground water tables. The city of São Paulo operates two goodgarbage dumps: Bandeirantes and São João, built and maintained withadequate safety. Like everything else in the city, the numbers are impressive:the Bandeirantes dump alone, in the Northern part of the city, receives seventhousand tons of garbage daily, besides the mud generated by sewagetreatment of Sabesp (the State Water Authority).The gas generated by the slow decomposition of the abundant organicmatter present in the garbage has gained new meaning in recent years. Thebiogas, a gaseous mixture of organic origin, rich in methane, crosses thelayers of material covering the dumps and releases itself to the atmosphere,thus contributing to the greenhouse effect and global weather changes. Thestrict control of such biogas takes place with its collection and burning,through a known and tested, albeit expensive, technology.The city has already implemented control of biogas at the Bandeirantesdump. A system for collecting and compacting prevents the gas from beingreleased into the atmosphere, besides allowing 80% of the biogas collectedto be used as a source for the generation of electric power at a thermal 22MW electric plant. The biogas surplus is burnt. Environmental gain is twofold:besides collecting the gas, the need for new sources of energy is minimized.The investment was made possible by the ingenious financial schemes of theKyoto Protocol: the earlier industrialized countries have their own targets forthe reduction of the emission of gases that cause the greenhouse effect, andmust meet them either within their territory or by financing investments inemerging countries.The Bandeirantes garbage dump has obtained the highest dump controlcertification in the world: for 1,150,144 tons of carbon.The project was checked and received the certification for the effectivereduction in emissions from the U.N.’s technical body. Therefore, carboncredits were issued, and should be purchased by companies and institutionsin countries having emission control targets to be met. By purchasing them,those countries are funding the environmental control already implementedhere.The Bandeirantes garbage dump already owns a dump control certificationfor the equivalent of 1,150,144 tons of carbon, a figure pretty close to thecarbon credits generated by all the other certified Brazilian projectscombined. It is the highest possible certification for a garbage dump in thewhole world. It is also the one project generating the highest benefitpercentage for the State, as half the credits belongs to the city and the otherhalf to Biogás Energia Ambiental S.A., the city’s licensee for investments in theexploitation of that gas.The credits belonging to the licensee company have meanwhile been soldon the company’s own initiative and pursuant to its private interest. The city’sshare will soon be sold at a public auction with international reach, a sureand transparent means for a public entity to obtain the highest selling price,with the necessary guarantees for all parties involved.It is the very first case of an inversion of a classic equation: usually investorsand brokers in countries with carbon control targets to be met offer financingin exchange for the sale in installments of the credits to be eventually issued.The city is in a comfortable position and, by having made possible theinvestments and procedures through licensees, now offer potential buyersenough safety to attain best prices for the delivery of certificates.The city will invest the amount collected from the auction in urban andenvironmental improvements of areas surrounding the Bandeirantes dump,whose impact is directly experienced there. The neighborhoods of Perus andPirituba will receive parks and squares and benefit from other actionsextensively discussed in public meetings. Since control of the methane gas willbe continuous, soon we will have more credits to sell, always through publicauctions, with social investments of the results. The dumps are city assets andshould be maintained, valued and exploited throughout their life span.
therefore, the what sao paulo has achieved is phenomenal,and India can follow suit.
not only this,they have also organised and trained the poor people,mostly from slum areas,who have no proper skill,to collect the waste n garbage and then bring it for disposal at various centres.in return they get food coupons or money.the incentive is high,as the more garbage they bring,the more money they get.
then in case of aluminium cans also,the same rule applies.the garbage pickers,known as catadores,pick up the cans,then they are collected n crushed together,n again sent to get recycled.the process is very fast.in 33 days(on an avg) a used can gets converted into a brand new can and comes on the counter for sale again.now that’s what i call efficiency!
they have even found a way to use the waste from tetra packs,which are made from joining paper,plastic and aluminium.they are hard to seperate,thus they used to be non recyclable.now in sao paulo,they are making roofs out of this waste,which resemble the tin roofs in shape n size,but are much lighter n are way more cheaper than them.so,a viable option for poor people.they can atleast have a roof overhead.
then again,a new technique to seperate plastic n aluminium has been improvised-plasma heating.
in this process,the waste is heating with a plasma ray,and as a result of this heat,the plastic n metal get seperated,the plastic becomes gas and is collected seperately,n the aluminium collected is 99% pure.this aluminium can be used again to make any other product.
et voila! we have a way to deal with waste generated by tetra packs also.
all in all,i was really impressed with the way sao paulo has dealt with its share of problems.there is still a long way to go,but hey! they are making the required efforts for it.
sadly in India,the focus is still not shifting at the rate which is required.all the good that has happened is because of people like M.C.MEHTA,the guy who filed a pil to get the leaded petrol n diesel public vehicles removed from Delhi.were the govt was still sleeping over it,had it not been for his environmental activism,we would still be breathing the diesel n lead fumes.
India should follow in the steps of sao paulo.what an example it has set.i am still amazed.
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