This morning’s news item in the paper caught my attention. It read: “Sweden runs out of garbage, imports from other countries”! It has a state of art recycling plant which runs on garbage.Oh! Wow!!! I couldn’t believe what I read.!!!
The article went on to elaborate that:
- Sweden sources almost half of its electricity from renewables.
- Less than one percent of its household waste has been sent to landfill last year.
- The national cohesive recycling policy ensures that the energy generated from burning of waste goes into a national heating network to heat homes through the extreme cold winters.
In the present day due to reckless attitude of man in the name of development, we are playing havoc with the balance of the environment. Conferences around the world highlight the threat of global warming. The alarming trends of the polar ice caps melting at rapid pace, drastic changes in temperature, isolated rainfall during monsoon, indiscriminate felling of trees keep making it to the headlines.
Here the landfills are rising at dangerous proportions, giving out toxic fumes. This has an alarming effect on the health of the people living in its close vicinity. The many initiatives such as Swacchh Bharat, waste segregation, ban on plastic bags have all lost their fizz after the initial gusto with which they were launched.
With the amount of garbage generated in our country, I am sure we can have a perennial supply of recyclables to run such sophisticated plants. I am sure if India and many more countries adopt this novel and innovative approach, our environmental concerns can be tackled to a large extent.
radhikasreflection 