Environment & Ecology: Land/Soil Pollution & Waste Management Techniques

[00:00:05]So hello a very warm good evening to all of you and welcome to Baiju's exam prep welcome to the session of environment.

[00:00:13]Now yesterday we have been discussing about the issue of land and soil pollution and we have been discussing about the issues that how this land and soil pollution is caused. what are the impacts of it and then we had moved into the areas of prevention and control measures that if that pollution is happening what are the ways what are the methodologies by which we can control we can prevent the amount of pollution from happening. So that is something that we have been looking into. Now we looked at the various different ways in which the waste is disposed and before that we understood the concept of integrated waste management where we observed that waste management is not only about collection and then disposal of the waste. But there are a slew of intermediary steps and intermediary measures which need to be taken care of when we talk about the comprehensive waste management and that includes waste logistics, waste minimization, research and development about how to utilize and recycle that waste. We have also seen that legal compliance about whether the emission standards are being met or not that is an important parameter. Then other than that for example the uh recycling reuse and whether there is a commodity trading and commodity exchange which is available for that or not. So all these various parameters they are included in the portion of the integrated waste management. Now we looked at the concept of open dumps.

[00:01:44]What do we understand by open dumps?

[00:01:47]Then we looked at landfills where we observed that land is basically dug out and there you have the waste which is thrown and then it is covered up. Now these landfills have a problem of leeching where all the various different liquefied chemicals etc the toxins they start leeching into the lower portions of the soil. So they suffer from the problem of leeching. Now in order to prevent or take care or get rid of that problem of leeching, you have the concept of a sanitary landfill. In the case of a sanitary landfill, what you do is basically you cover that landfill with a kind of an impermeable membrane or a kind of a non-penetrable layer of rocks, clay, etc. So as to ensure that whatever waste is there, it doesn't leech and basically toxicate the lower regions of the ground also. and even in certain cases the groundwater.

[00:02:43]So that is something that we looked at.

[00:02:45]Then after that we looked at the process of incineration. Now incineration is also one of the methodologies of waste minimization. When we talk about disposal of the waste, now you have significantly larger amount and larger quantity of bulk waste. If it is burnt under controlled circumstances, it will produce enough amount of heat. It will produce gases also. But that those gases you need to filter it out. But nonetheless, when you basically burn out all that large amount of waste, the energy produced will be so huge that that energy can be utilized for turning water into steam and that steam can be used to operate the turbine generator sets and thereby produce electricity. So burning of the waste, incineration of the waste is and can be used in order to produce energy as well reduce the amount of waste that you are eventually going to dispose of and that is why it can be beneficial. Now in the case of incineration you carry out the process of combustion that is you burn the waste. That process of combustion is very predominant. Now combustion is what? Combustion is when you burn anything in a constant supply of oxygen only then combustion will happen. When you carry out a complete burning of anything in the supply of oxygen that is when combustion happens or that is what we refer to as combustion. When we talk about then pyrolysis. What is pyrolysis?

[00:04:20]Pyrolysis is also a process of burning the materials but in a limited supply of oxygen or maybe even absence of oxygen.

[00:04:30]Now what will be the outcome of it or why do we do that? And here can we treat all and every kind of waste materials in the same manner? The answer is no. for pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is basically a technique in which you burn the materials with a limited or an absent oxygen condition where you don't allow the oxygen to pass on and you don't allow complete combustion to happen. So here you do not carry out complete combustion in this case.

[00:05:07]Complete combustion is not carried out. Right?

[00:05:27]Basically you have the partial burning.

[00:05:29]So process of burning material in the absence of oxygen or in a controlled atmosphere for oxygen controlled supply of oxygen. So you have a kind of a partial burning. Now what kind of materials do you treat in this way? So basically the carbonacious materials which are carbonenriched. For example, when you talk about firewood waste, coconut, palm trash, corn combs, cashew shell, patty straw, sawdust. So all of these kind of carbon carbonatious waste which have significant amount of carbon compounds in them. Now they are treated in this way. Now what happens is that partially burnt or the partial unburnt portion of these materials of this waste that is reduced to charcoal. Okay. So these carbonatious waste when they are partially burnt so basically that produces charcoal. Okay. Now that charcoal it can then be utilized in order to carry out let's suppose uh uh if you have energy requirement in any kind of industry. So these charcoal pellets are then burned to produce energy. Okay. So this charcoal is a result of partial burning of the waste. Okay. Partial burning of the waste. The residue is rich in carbon.

[00:07:39]compounds and forms charcoal. Okay. Now this is converted the charcoal is converted into small pellets and is used as a source of energy.

[00:08:31]for industrial processes for industrial processes. Now while you do that while you are partially burning it out you will also have certain types of gases which are produced such as for example methane.

[00:08:58]Now if you manage to let's suppose single out methane or isolate that methane you can use that for energy source as well. Methane can be used as a source of energy. When you burn methane you get energy from there also. Right?

[00:09:11]So the output gases from this. All right. So here the output gases of gases can be used like methane can be used as a source of energy. Okay. So that is what is pyrolysis. So again what is the difference between incineration and pyrolysis? Incineration is when you carry out a complete combustion, a complete burning, right? For example, if in case you are unable to distinguish or if you are getting confused in complete and partial combustion, think about it.

[00:10:15]Let's suppose you have a lot of p pieces of paper. You put fire on those pieces of paper. Now those bundles of paper as they start burning suppose you cover them all up right you will find that you will have blackened and the brown portions of paper which are remain. It is no longer white anymore but it will be blackened and brown in their significant portions. Now that basically is a partially burnt paper right but for example if you take the piece of paper you put it outside you light fire on it very soon you will have very tiny and small ash black ash materials which will accumulate. So that is complete combustion almost complete combustion.

[00:10:57]So that is the difference in between the complete and the partial combustion.

[00:11:01]Okay. And even for example, I don't know how many of you have done that. I sincerely do not recommend you do that now at this point of time in your lives.

[00:11:08]But if ever you have been so mischievous enough that you had an old uh uh copy or something like that and an old book or something which you did not like, if you ever have put a fire to a bundle of pages, you'll find that the first the top page, the bottom page that burns completely. But the middle pages there you will find the coloration is different. they get hardened and they don't burn completely. That is because there is a impartial supply or a rather limited supply of oxygen there. That is why complete combustion is not happening. So similarly, when we talk about sawdust, what is sawdust? So for example, let's suppose you are uh in a lumber shop or in a kind of a carpentry shop. Now there as they cut that wood, you have lot of that sawdust which is accumulated, isn't it? lot of that portions of wood dust which gets accumulated. Now what do you do with that? So there if you carry out the partial combustion they will be converted into a kind of a blackish substrate. That blackish substrate you break it into the form of small pellets and then you can use that for ignition purposes in the industrial processes wherever the small scale medium scale or the cottage industries wherever they require the process of heat they can use that pellets. So here basically this is the case of pyrolysis. It is different from combustion.

[00:12:35]Okay. Right. I have done that which is used for cooking.

[00:12:40]Yes. And uh bhag in places now also people are using charcoal as tooth cleaner. Is it good? Well, I'm not going to attach to those particular things.

[00:12:51]But then obviously the aspect of charcoal for the utility of combustion is that we are going to talk about. But the health parameters of it is also something which many of us are not well aware of. For example, the presence of fluoride in our toothpaste. We are not very well aware of. You have many brands of toothpaste across the globe which are not allowed in India because of the limitations and the regulations of fluoride that we have. So that is where all the products that we end up using many of the times we are not aware of their side effects and the harm impact that they can create and uh right so I have answer how absence of oxygen. So you take the materials in a kind of a controlled cham chamber in a closed chamber and you provide a limited supply of oxygen and then you uh stop the supply of oxygen. You keep that region uh or that chamber free of air and it is that chamber controlled. Charcoal is used for cooking food also.

[00:13:53]Okay. Right.

[00:13:56]Arsenic is a mineral. Arsenic chit is a kind of a mineral. Look at the periodic table of I'm sure in school days you would have seen at least seen a periodic table. So basically that is arsenic.

[00:14:16]Right? Yes. It is used for face mask also. How all of these gases are transferred with the help of the pipelines. Then we come across the process of composting. This is also a methodology of waste management. But in this process of composting, you only take the organic waste. And that organic waste basically it is allowed to degrade. It is allowed to decompose.

[00:14:41]That organic waste when it carries out the process of degradation and decomposition naturally it will get converted into a kind of a humus-like substance and that can be used as manurses to be to be basically distributed into the various different farmlands and for agricultural production. So composting is a biological process in which degradable organic waste is decomposed into a kind of a humus-like substance. Remember the stages of decomposition you had humification as one of the penultimate stages. So here with the help of the natural processes so for example let's suppose you have kitchen waste right the peels of vegetables rem residues of foods etc. What is the kitchen waste?

[00:15:28]Now that kitchen waste along with let's suppose the dried leaves, branches, twigs, all of them if you dump it into a kind of a open area which is done in many of the rural areas still it is the practice which is carried out and it is increasingly becoming more predominant and much more popular. So all of that is basically accumulated over an area. It is slightly covered so that it doesn't become very dry and it is allowed to decompose over a period of time. That different co-mingled waste all the organic matter they immediately they will start giving some kind of a smell which tells you that decomposition has been initiated and after some time they will be reduced to a kind of a dark brownish soil like sub substance very dark brown soil like substance after some time. Now that is your manure that can be utilized in order to increase the fertility of the farmland and it is an organic method to increase the fertility of the farmland. So you are carrying out the process of agriculture which is sustainable and a process of agriculture where you don't carry out the process of applying chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. So that is your composting. It is done in the presence of uh oxygen by microbes primarily fungi and bacteria. The final product is high in the amount of carbon and nitrogen. It aids the retention of more plant nutrient in the soil and augments the soil fertility. Now sometimes what is done is that these organic materials you know they are sprayed over an area and certain worms are into earth worms for example. Earthworms are introduced into that organic waste. Why is that done?

[00:17:17]Because earthworms they are very good in carrying out fragmentation. They basically will break down the organic matter in so many smaller parts where basically let's suppose you had a leaf uh a kind of a leaf litter which was this big. It will be reduced into small tiny fragments by the time few of the earthworms are done going through it. So they will consume it. they will excrete it. So you will have smaller substrate which is remaining. So many of the time these worms are introduced in certain areas in order to significantly accelerate the process of decomposition. So that is what is also the process which is referred to as vermy composting that is process of compost formation.

[00:18:27]with introduction of worms that is your vermy composting. So vermy compost is again a process of natural biodegradation but which is accelerated with the presence of worms.

[00:18:53]Now when you carry out this process of composting you do need certain inputs.

[00:18:58]For example oxygen is required right oxygen some amount of moisture that is necessarily required for the process of composting and the outcome is what you have heat which is produced and certain gases like methane etc. they are also produced in the process. Right? So that is the entire process of composting.

[00:19:19]Humuslike substance is humus. Uh in case you have not seen humus, basically the humus is a kind of a dark brownish to black uh the soil that you see outside.

[00:19:34]Now it is not exactly having a substrate like a soil not exactly having a property like a soil but it will be dark brownish resembling very much like soil moist a bit moist. So that is something which is applied as manure right. So humus is the organic organic material which is a uh kind of a outcome of the process of decomposition. Okay. Now this is the process of compost. So or any kind of decomposition where you observe that various different organic materials such as leaves, straw, woody materials etc. grass, food scraps, kitchen residues all of them manurs all of them in the presence of water in the availability of oxygen and in the presence of earthworms, insects, bacteria, fungi, microbes which you naturally find in the soil. In that process, composting happens and the byproduct is the release of heat plus gases like methane sometimes even CO2 is produced.

[00:20:57]So that is the process of compost.

[00:21:01]Okay. In vermic composting we human can introduce earthworm. Yes. In vermic composting you introduce that earthworm and earthworm decomposition or fragmentation is the main primary process which happens. Okay. So that is basically the aspect of compost. Now when we talk about vermy compost or vermy culture, it is what is also known as earthworm forming. In this method, earthworms are added into the compost and these worms they break the waste and the added excretita of the worms make the compost very rich in nutrients.

[00:21:36]Sulfate for example is added into the composted materials by the excretita of these ws. Right? So that is why agricultural waste, domestic waste and few of the categories of even industrial waste not the heavy contaminants or chemicals but few of the categories when you carry out the process of veric composting there in the presence of earthworms you basically end up getting a kind of a degraded or decomposed material. So this is how you can handle it. Now then we come to the process of biiodiation.

[00:22:12]What is the process of bioremediation and why it is used? Where it is used?

[00:22:17]What are the types of bio- remediation?

[00:22:20]Now this is going to be relevant for your examination for your prelims and for your mains examination. Prelims the basic concept of it has been asked. So what is the basic concept of bio remediation that has been asked previously and also for mains examination right that how this process or how this concept is helpful about the utility of concept So what is this process of bio remediation? Let's suppose in any particular area there has been lot of waste on the ground which has been created or there has been contamination which has been created. Now how do you clean that contamination?

[00:23:26]Let's suppose in the ground surface here you have substantial amount of waste. The soil in this region is significantly contaminated with various different toxins maybe industrial waste or something like that. How do you clean that? Do you start scraping off the soil? And we are talking about large areas. We are not talking about a small area in which you yourself can stand. If it is a small area, very easily you can pluck it out, throw away the soil, replace it, fair enough, the work is done. We are talking about a sub substantially large area. Now, in that case, how do you treat that? Ideally, whatever is the waste, natural degradation of it, if it happens, that is the best that is the best possible outcome. If the natural degradation, the decomposition of the waste happens, that is where you will have all that toxin and the waste naturally broken down into nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphate, etc., ammonia, etc. And it can be used up the in the soil in a long-term process. But sometimes what happens is that natural degradation of this toxin does not happen. Natural degradation and natural consumption of this waste does not happen. this waste stays and remains as it is. So in that case what do you do in that case you carry out a kind of an accelerated with artificial method you introduce maybe the availability of microbes or oxygen or even moisture because you want to promote the degradation to happen. The end purpose is degradation of this toxin. Right?

[00:25:14]Whatever this toxin is, whatever this contamination is, your end goal is that this should be taken care of. This should be digested off. But it is not happen happening naturally. So what do you do? You end up introducing some amount of microbes maybe lab grown microbes which are particularly grown. For example, let's suppose if you have oil waste. Now natural microbes won't be able to take care of that oil waste. So you have certain lab grown microbes for example oil zapper, oilivorus etc which can consume that oil waste. They can break down the complex hydrocarbons of the oil. So you introduce these microorganisms in this area. Or let's suppose if you have the naturally found microbes which can degrade that waste then what do you do? You accelerate that process of decomposition by providing access to oxygen. Now in this in the lower levels here it might be acceptable that oxygen is available. But what about the depth? If the uh pollution has happened, contamination has happened to a particular depth at that particular depth oxygen won't be available. So what do you do? You might provide a supply.

[00:26:30]You might provide a passageway so that the oxygen can come through that. Right?

[00:26:36]So you can provide oxygen for example sometimes let's suppose oxygen is uh also not there moisture is also not there because remember for the decomposition and the degradation of the waste it is not only the presence of oxygen and microbes which will do the process moisture is also available uh required so what do you you can do in that so let's suppose here you have the groundwater supply so you provide provide a pipeline through which you provide let's suppose air at very high pressure so that this air along with the ground water starts hitting the contaminated area right so in a way you are carrying out the process of decomposition itself but it is not happening naturally so you are using various biotic methodologies utilities of plants microbes penetration of oxygen availability of moisture in order to accelerate the process of decomposition and degradation to happen.

[00:27:44]Okay, so this is a process that uses mainly microorganisms, plants or microbial or plant enzyme to detoxify contaminants in the soil and the other environment. So basically in brief let me concise it or summarize it for you.

[00:28:11]summary. So here you'll find basically the aspect like when we talk about biorediation contaminants need to be degraded or decomposed.

[00:28:47]If it doesn't happen naturally, If it doesn't happen naturally, the process of degradation is accelerated by providing the necessary inputs or the required inputs.

[00:29:43]And how do you do that? It is done by providing or by introducing natural microbes or lab grown specific microbes.

[00:30:22]providing availability of oxygen supply.

[00:30:47]providing availability of moisture. Either of these are done in order to carry out the decomposition or the degradation of this waste. So either of these activities that you see allows for Complete breakdown of contaminants and they treat the soil.

[00:31:44]as a result. So this is the process which is referred to as bio remediation. That is the process that we know as that we refer to as bio remediation. I hope this is understood.

[00:32:11]Now you have different types of biorediation depending upon whether you have to introduce specific microbes in an area, whether you have to introduce oxygen in an area, whether you have to introduce let's suppose the uh presence of moisture in an area. So depending upon that you have different types of biorediation which is there. In absence of oxygen is it calcination? No, it is not. So that is basically the ASP in some way you can say carbon enrichment but not exactly calcination. No. So that is the process of bio remediation. Then let us take a look at the different types of bioriation. One is bio venting.

[00:32:54]Now venting you provide a vent. So let's suppose the soil in this region has been contaminated. Now how do you treat that soil? It might be an industrial contamination. It might be a kind of a waste dumpyard where the waste has been leeching in the subs soil and has contaminated the subs soil. So how do you treat that? So you allow in this case you allow the natural microbes to take over but you accelerate the process of decomposition by providing the access of air and sometimes even the required amount of nutrients and minerals which can further the growth of specific kind of microbes because microbes also require certain amount of nutrients so that they can thrive and they can increase their population. So bio vventing is a process of stimulating the natural incitu biodegradation of contaminants in soil by providing air or oxygen to existing soil microorganisms. What is INC2 here? I hope we are aware about the difference between INC2 and XC2. When we talk about INC2, INC2 is when that process is taking place where the contamination. For example, if we are talking about contamination, we are handling that waste at the portion or at the place where the contamination has happened. That is INC2 at the own place in the own particular original place.

[00:34:29]But let's suppose these contaminants you transfer to somewhere else to treat them that will be XC2 treatment. Okay. So inc2 basically refers to at that place itself. Okay. XC2 you carry it somewhere else. So in bio vventing you provide a kind of the availability of oxygen and sometimes nutrients and allow the naturally found microorganisms in that area to carry out the process of decomposition by providing oxygen and nutrients. Suddenly the population of microbes in this region that increases tremendously. Okay. So the population of microbes naturally find micro found microbes in this region will almost explode. It will have a large population of microbes. Now all of them will start working on the waste and the waste soil or the contaminated soil will be treated very quickly. But then there's a side effect of that also. The side effect is let's suppose all that waste is treated.

[00:35:35]Now you still have a very large microbial population. Now will the microbial population behave like robots that now my work is done. My destiny is fulfilled. Now time to die and take a rebirth. No. Microbes won't operate that way. These microbes will search for food. These microbes will search for areas where they can carry out the consumption of nutrients. So they will start attacking the soil the surrounding soil whatever organic material the soils the surrounding soil will have the microbes will consume it all. So in a way the side effect of it can be that once the waste has been treated the entire population of microbes can then drain the soil in the surrounding out of all the organic nutrients which are there. Okay. So in this in this process because they are naturally found microbes these are not lab grown microbes for example oilivorous or oil zapper you remove that oil they won't be able to consume many other things right so you have a natural control there but when you talk about the soil near you and the microbes near uh in that soil they can thrive in that soil so even after the contaminants are removed they will continue their process of consumption So side effect or leads to a spurt or a significant increase in microbial population.

[00:37:28]microbial population.

[00:37:38]However, once the waste is treated treated, the microbial population starts attacking the surrounding soil.

[00:38:21]and drains. Not drains, consumes all organic materials, nutrients in the soil in soil making it infertile.

[00:38:56]Okay. So that is the case of bio vventing with its advantage and the disadvantage. Okay. And then you have bio augmentation.

[00:39:07]In the case of bio augmentation, you have to carry out the decomposition or the degradation of the contaminant and you have to carry it out in such a way that for example when we talk about the uh the contaminant which are not broken down naturally where the natural microbes are unable to do that then you introduce certain kinds of microbes specific kind of microbes which can solve the purpose. For example, let's suppose you have a lot of plastic waste in an area. Now, the natural microbes won't be able to degrade the plastic.

[00:39:41]Would they? Let's suppose the plastic liquefied and other forms of small microplastics are spread over. You cannot pick it out by hand. Now, you introduce a specific kind of micro which undergo the plastic of Fiji which consumes plastic. Now there you need to provide certain nutrients also which can sustain those microbes. So you augment the soil with the specific kind of microbes targeted introduction of microbes along with the nutrients which are required to sustain them in order to decompose those kind of materials which are not naturally degraded or decomposed. Okay. So here basically introduction of introduction of specific microbes targeted for the type of contamination.

[00:40:55]ation contamination along with nutrients to sustain. Okay. Now here you don't come across the problem where they will continue to carry out the consumption process even after the contamination is removed. No, because in this case for example these are the microbes which will thrive on very specific kind of condition very specific kind of input need to be provided for these microbes to exist. So you withdraw those inputs these microbes their work will be done.

[00:41:44]So that is why in thisa case the control of the aftermath is much easier. So example example oil waste plastic contamination etc. Okay. So what is the difference between bioventing and bio augmentation? How many of you feel that bioventing and bio augmentation is one and the same? Gorov how we stop microbes from making soil infertile in bioventing. So basically gorov in that case you don't have much of an option but then eventually you will have to isolate that area and that isolate uh that region of contaminant needs to be isolated and then it needs to be treated.

[00:42:56]Okay. So everyone is uh convinced it is different other than one of you. So it is uh different basically in the case of bioventing observe here you have the naturally found microbes which are going to carry out the process of degradation in bio vventing do we introduce microbes? No. Do we introduce a specific kind of microbe there? No. So can they take care of let's suppose oil waste, oil spill etc. Can bio vventing take care of the oil waste which is on the ground? No. But in bio augmentation you have introduction of specific microbes.

[00:43:43]In bio vventing, what is a vent? Are we aware of the English meaning of the vent? Are we aware of the meaning of vent? Vent is a passageway for the movement of air. The supply of air that is a vent. Right? So bio venting you provide a kind of an access for air supply that is by providing a vent.

[00:44:07]Augmentation bio augmentation augmentation is what you add on some supplement. So in this case in the case of augmentation you introduce certain specific kind of microbes in particular which can carry out for example oil contamination which happens. Can natural microbes take care of the oil contaminant? No. If the natural microbes could have taken care of the oil contamination, the world would not have any problem at all. Any oil spill would have been consumed naturally by the microbes. Why is it that such a human and cry is made out of the oil spill?

[00:44:42]Because the natural process of degradation is unable to take care of them, isn't it? So that is why in bio augmentation you introduce the specific kind of microbes and they carry out the process of degradation. Is that understood? Now the difference is that understood puja vive right?

[00:45:09]Good. It means bio augmentation is better than bioventing. Yes. Obviously.

[00:45:16]And uh bio vventing is done by natural.

[00:45:19]But then please understand not everywhere can you deploy bio augmentation because lab grown microbes are not something that you go to the nearest store and then you say that okay get me 1 kilo of oil oily vorus or oil zapper I need to take care of the oil waste near me. It is also something which needs to be carried out in controlled condition etc. So that is why not everywhere can you deploy bio augmentation. It is like if let's suppose you have a a kind of a battle.

[00:45:49]Now I understand that fighter jets can be very handy but then let's suppose you are fighting with your neighbor over a parking space. You cannot deploy fighter jets to kill your neighbor regardless of how much you want them can you? But basically the natural conditions the natural microbes if they are able to take care of that that is venting.

[00:46:16]Okay. Additional microbes act as catalyst. What is a catalyst? Vive, I I think that your understanding of the entire process of bio remediation has gone significantly haywire. What happens when the work done in bio augmentation uh when work is done in bio augmentation about microbes? So in that case basically Chandra Shaker understand that these are specific kind of microbes. Now they are consuming these oil waste, plastic waste etc. But once that oil waste and plastic waste they are consumed then what will happen?

[00:46:56]They won't be able to survive quite significantly can they? Right? So it is not as if there will be a continued propagation of the microbial population and chitter um bioventing is done by but bio augmentation very good beautiful um articulation ana bio augmentation have any kind of disadvantage also yes Ana for example getting the availability of the specific kind of microbe is difficult and we don't always know the efficacy of how good the microbes can consume that particular kind of a waste.

[00:47:35]Maybe the microbes in the lab conditions they would have shown an affinity to consume let's suppose oil and carry out the breakdown of the oil. But then if it is let's suppose oil mixed with a certain kind of a phenol or any kind of a ketone then maybe they will have limited extent of impact. So that is why the exact impact of it is not very well known before you carry out the process.

[00:48:00]So Vive understand and listen to this very carefully. What is biodgradation? When you hear about the term biodegradation or the term or the fundamental of decomposition, do you think that any chemical or any leaf matter etc left outside without any microbial action they will themselves decompose into organic matter? No.

[00:48:29]When we talk about decomposition, it is carried out in various different stages where the microbes they are not a catalyst to to a reaction taking. There is no reaction like H2SO4 in the presence of sunlight in the substrate of KCN then they will react in order to form a kind of no it is natural processes of life where microorganisms they need to consume food. So when they consume food that food can be anything depending upon the type of microbes.

[00:49:00]Microbes they have different you have billions and trillions of the varieties of microbes they will consume different materials right you develop certain kind of microbes in the lab which let's suppose can consume oil. Now if there is an oil spill what will you do? You will introduce those microbes in that area so that they can consume oil. Let's suppose I have a kind of a plankton an algae which under nor or a kind of a bacteria which under normal conditions will consume the leaf matter vegetables etc. They cannot break down the oil. I have oily zapper or oil oily which will consume only oil. So if there is an oil spill that natural bacteria will not solve any purpose. So what do I do? I will need to augment the soil with the kind of a specific microbes, specific bacteria which can consume that oil.

[00:49:54]Isn't it? So you augment it. So it is not a natural reaction which is taking place that now you have introduced the bacteria. So it will be a catalyst.

[00:50:03]Catalyst is what? Which accelerates a kind of a reaction which creates a condition for the reaction to take place. But here they are directly straightforward consuming it. I hope I'm able to make the difference uh clear in this case then uh yes Gorov they can be removed also in many of the cases. Where can we buy the specific microbes you cannot buy? No they are produced in labs. Can extra waste be brought to the bio vventing place after so XC2 degradation is different Kumari we'll come to the process of land farming which is the example of XC2 degradation and as you said there are different types of bio remediation based on which the agent is red introduced. So for bio vventing it is oxygen while microbes are already there. For bio augmentation it is microbes. Absolutely.

[00:51:05]Yes. Best articulation.

[00:51:11]Good. If they are produced in labs how mass production can be carried out? Why can't it be carried out? By labs. Don't think about the uh dingy chemistry or the physics lab that you had back in school. You have the lab culture and you don't need to provide them in truckloads that this truck is carrying the microbes right even for example if you have a small canister full that will be enough to take care of a large area of for degradation and it is not as if you introduce them like how it works in cartoon movies that immediately you see the soil turning uh good and immediately uh like Popeye the entire thing is taken care of. It takes some time it will take its own time. Okay. Now then we have bi-parging. Now bio sparging as I told you in the entire process of bio remediation either you will provide microbes or you provide oxygen supply or you provide moisture any of them you provide or you provide all of them in order to ensure degradation takes place naturally. Now here when we talk about biosparging so it involves the injection of air under pressure high pressure air injection below the water table to increase the groundwater oxygen concentration and enhance the rate of biological degradation of contaminants by again naturally occurring bacteria. So here for example the image is also self-escriptive here you are able to provide moisture moisture as well as dissolved oxygen. Okay moisture and dissolved oxygen all of them you are able to provide so as to enhance the rate of microbial degradation. Here also you use the naturally found microbes. So obviously it is not a choice that today I'm feeling like natural microbes should take the job so today natural micro today is Sunday so lab grown microbes.

[00:53:19]No, depending upon the type of waste, the type of contamination accordingly you basically either carry out bio vventing, bio sparging or bio augmentation depending upon what kind of contamination and at which region that contamination has taken place accordingly you frame a policy you formulate a plan to treat that. So all these are INC incitu methods. All these are incitu where you treat the contamination at the point where it has happened right. Bio venting bio augmentation bio sparging all of them basically are in C2 processes where you treat the contamination at the point where they have happened. So but what is bio vventing? In a region where there is contamination, you provide a passageway for air in order to carry out the process of decomposition. What is bio augmentation? Let's suppose you have a unique contaminant like certain kind of acid, certain kind of chemical, certain kind of oil which the natural microbes cannot take care of. In that case, you provide the microbes in that area to carry out degradation. What is then biosparging? Biosparging is a process where you enhance the moisture availability by providing high pressure air into the groundwater level because that air will then that oxygen will then start pushing the water and the water will have oxygen amount as well. Now when that reaches the site of contamination when that reaches the site of contamination it will increase the microbial action but here again naturally find found microbes are only used here also you don't introduce a specific kind of a micro for doing this particular job am I making myself clear now is the same side effect of bio venting will happen to bio augmentation. Not so much feminina because there is a kind of uh these lab grown microbes or the specifically the microbes which specifically will target chemicals etc. the Okay. So there is still doubt.

[00:56:08]Okay. Okay. So I understand what is required here.

[00:56:15]I will give you that what is required something that we have been used to from our childhood days.

[00:56:45]Sadly and then you guys want written definition also then you guys anyways fair enough. So here bio venting, bio augmentation, bio sparging natural microbes used artificial natural microbes might not be very clear to those who are having doubt. So let me write it down here also.

[00:58:13]Microbes found naturally in the region of contamination. Ideally guys, this is a work that you should do as a student, as a candidate. Please take this preparation period seriously.

[00:58:45]Please don't rely on spoon feeding because see my writing practice I I am good at writing practice. I'm good at writing. I will keep on writing. But then please understand it is you who need to take up this process of writing etc. I'm sure by this request that you are saying giving out that write it in your own words write the difference in another slide so that when we get the annotation PPT we can simply stare at it and everything will come into the mind.

[00:59:12]It is not going to help you significantly in the examination. You might not realize it today. Right now, whatever I'm saying might appear to be some kind of a total nonsense that why is he preaching like this? Trust me, the time that you appear for the mains examination, if you reach the mains examination, you will realize the importance of creating your own writing practice, writing things in your own words rather than relying on someone who has written it and simply wrote learning it. But that will hit you someday. I hope it doesn't hit you too bad. So specific microbes for certain kind of of contamination.

[01:00:12]is introduced. It is not found naturally in the region to be present naturally.

[01:00:40]in a region.

[01:00:48]Biosparging microbes found naturally in the area.

[01:01:14]is used.

[01:01:23]Then oxygen and nutrients for microbes are used or are injected into the soil areas.

[01:01:57]Soil which is contaminated.

[01:02:12]Oxygen need not be introduced injected depending upon The requirement of microbes.

[01:02:49]Oxygen is introduced.

[01:02:56]into groundwater that oxygenated water.

[01:03:17]Water under pressure rises up and provides the condition for decomposition.

[01:03:53]to take place in contaminated soil. In brief again I understand that you would require a further summarization of this because this might again turn out to be too complicated that how will we revise this much amount of text. So again let me do the short work for you also for this also oxygen or rather only air introduced into the soil.

[01:04:58]Microbes are introduced introduced in this oxy air at high pressure is put in groundwater.

[01:05:33]Is that understood?

[01:05:37]Now the mechanism is that understood. The guys who had told to write it in a separate slide. I want you guys to respond. The not the ones who had already understood.

[01:05:54]Vive, Chitari, Puja, all of you understood.

[01:06:01]Balv is that understood or do you want me to write something in a more simplified manner?

[01:06:09]Gorov, understood.

[01:06:17]Okay.

[01:06:25]Another method of bio remediation is also composting where which we have studied where the natural processes take place uh take care of the process of degradation and then there is an XC2 method of taking care of the waste and that is land farming where the contaminated soil is spread over a larger land area and to allow for the decomposition to take place. So in the case of the land farming I will write it down itself so that the work of explanation will also be done. Contaminated soil is carried away and spread a large area.

[01:07:26]where controlled decomposition takes place in the presence of moisture and oxygen.

[01:08:04]It is an XC2 process and by XC2 process what we mean is contamination is treated away from The place where the soil originally got contaminated. Is that understood now? Any doubts till now about any of the process of bio remediation? No. Okay.

[01:09:15]Now we move to Chandra Shakhar. Uh in uh generally see XC2 or NC2 basically depends upon u the type of contamination and where that contamination has taken place. Let's suppose in the fringes of an urban area let's suppose there is or let's suppose uh uh there is a kind of a highway network from where in between various different cities. Let's suppose there has been an accident of an oil tanker and the oil has spilled over a region.

[01:09:51]Now that region is away from habitation.

[01:09:53]Now in that case what do you do? You can carry out INC2 process of treatment because uh you can carry out the INC2 process, XC2 process whatever you want to do because there you don't impact lot of lights. But let's suppose there's a contamination happening in the middle of the urban region. Now what can you do?

[01:10:11]Will you stay start scrapping away the soil underneath? In certain cases, you might even do that. Let's suppose it is in the middle of a habitation, you might scrap away the soil and you replace it.

[01:10:23]So you can carry out the exit. So depending upon what kind of contamination has happened depending upon where that contamination has happened accordingly you take the policy and uh XY won't the area new area get contaminated. So accordingly uh basically you generally do the layering of the ground and then you uh spread over the contaminated soil and then eventually you carry out the process of decomposition because and understand that once you spread that let's say contaminated soil over a larger area the microbes will carry out the or will take care of the contaminant naturally and they can take care of the even the newer contamination which happens in the shallow region. the microbes will take care of that. Okay. So, no that uh problem won't happen. Composted bio bio remediation.

[01:11:19]Churi, have we understood the process of composting? Have we understood the process of composting which we have discussed earlier? Is this process understood or not? It is the same.

[01:11:30]Composting bio remediation is again the same. It is the same. Bringing together contaminated soil with non-hazardous organic material such as manure or agricultural waste when they are treated basically where you keep the waste accumulate the waste allow the microbes to take action in the presence of uh naturally available oxygen etc. So in this case what you do you bring all the waste together. That's it. Now then we come to the various different governmental initiatives which have been taken to treat the cases of pollution to cater to or to reduce the amount of pollution carried out in various different areas. Now amongst these government initiatives you have the various laws legislations which have been passed. Not all of them are relevant for your examination. The recent changes wherever they are happening please keep an eye out for them. The amendments to the ma major acts or the laws wherever they happen whenever they happen that is something that you should keep an eye out for. So in this particular portion recent changes and amendments. Amendments Two, the legislations. Need to be looked into. Now when we talk about the various different acts and measures out of this, the plastic waste amendment of 2022, the e-waste amendment of 2022, the solid waste management and its key important concepts and the key principles, right?

[01:13:52]These are important. So the amendments latest amendments amendment in this and this also and here key principles of this involved. These are the areas that you need to be aware of. Other than that you have various different for example biomedical waste management rules for example hazardous and other waste management rules, battery waste management rules. You have various different other uh legal measures or the various different legislations which have also been brought about in order to take care of the pro problem of pollution. But not all of them are very important. This is just to uh help you understand that you you have comprehensive legislative actions which have been taken in order to cater to the problem of pollution. Now here when we talk about the various different waste management there is an important principle involved and that is the concept of EPR or what we refer to as the extended producer responsibility. So this is what is referred to as EPR, extended producer responsibility. Now this is important.

[01:15:16]Now this was first of all introduced as per the e-waste management rules way back in 2011 when this was introduced in India. But what is this concept? Let's suppose you are an individual who is very concerned about the environment and who doesn't want to pollute the environment. Let's suppose you are very very concerned about that you are very eco-friendly in your approaches. You are very uh you live a very sustainable lifestyle etc. One day you are walking from one area to another and suddenly in the midst of it you feel very thirsty. Let's suppose you haven't carried water with you and suddenly you feel very thirsty.

[01:15:58]What will you do? You basically will go to the nearest shop, buy a bottle of water, isn't it? You will buy a bottle of water for you. Now that water is something which is there in a plastic bottle. Most of them the 20 rupees, 10 rupees bottle, it is in a plastic bottle. Now you quench your thirst. You drink that water. Now after that you throw away the bottle because even there it is said that crush the bottle after use in many of the cases. Now you throw away the bottle.

[01:16:31]Now you are carrying out plastic pollution but then you are basically carrying out a waste disposal or you are generating a plastic waste but then that plastic waste which is generated. Has this been on your account or is it basically because the producer has given that water in the plastic bottle. If the producer would have given that water in let's suppose a fabricated bottle, a kind of a fabric based bottle, you could have a kind of an eco-friendly condition. Then for example, suppose let's suppose the mobiles that we use now these mobiles these gadgets now most of them they turn obsolete within one year. The new updates come in or maybe your older phone simply stops working.

[01:17:21]So you will have let's suppose the newer phones come into place come into the market. Now what about the old phone? If your old phone consists of lithium, it consists of cadmium. If your old phone consists of various different PVCs etc. Where do you dispose it? Now you are a generator of waste. But who has given that waste in your hand? the producer maybe if you are using a phone the Apple uh the company such as Apple they are responsible for that or maybe the importers the producers importers refurbishers assemblers they are the ones who have given you that product.

[01:18:02]Now if you have used that product because that is available in the market and the waste that is generated how can you be accountable for the kind of waste that you are generating plastic bottles let's suppose you are thirsty you go out there buy a bottle of Coca-Cola now that bottle of Coca-Cola or Pepsi which comes in a plastic bottle they will tell you reuse it recycle but where will you reuse that small kind of a plastic bottle let's suppose Having said that, now we continue with the portion of the extended producer responsibility. As I told you that it is not always the consumer who is responsible for the kind of waste generated.

[01:18:53]You go to the market, you use that Coca-Cola bottle regardless of the fact that it is said that reuse it, recycle it, etc., etc. But then where will you reuse it? How many times will you reuse it? Eventually, you will dispose it off.

[01:19:07]If ever possible, take a look at the nearby garbage dump near your region.

[01:19:12]You will observe endless number of bottles, plastic bottles, etc. which are thrown. Now is it the case that the people are requesting the producers that please give me plastic bottles only? No, it is the producers who are producing them. So thereby in the process of waste management you make the producers accountable for the waste generated. You make the importers, refurbishers, the the assemblers. They are the ones who become accountable for the waste generated.

[01:19:49]This was first of all introduced in the case of e-waste management that is the electrical and the electronic waste that when you have the electrical or electronic waste there what do you do for example a common citizen and let's suppose at a village level that person doesn't know what is there in the mobile phone that person starts panicking when the mobile phone gets heated up that person doesn't know how to operate the various nuances of the mobile phone how can that person be responsible for the lithium, lead, cadmium and the other contamination that the phone will do if you throw it out in the open. How can you hold that person responsible and accountable? That is where the concept of extended producer responsibility comes into the picture where you make the producer responsible for that producer, assembler, importer, any one of them. So here the concept is very simple that in the entire value supply chain you have the producer or importer or assembler etc. Now they will provide the materials to the wholesalers.

[01:21:12]They will provide the material to the retailers. They will provide the material to the consumers. Consumers are the ones who will generate waste. But this waste which is generated will have to be taken care of by the producer.

[01:21:48]responsible for collection and treatment of waste.

[01:22:12]Okay. For example, Apple manufacturers mobile phone. Apple has got basically the mobile phones which basically is circulated in the market. the market you and I we buy it once it is used for once it is completely uh let's suppose out of order what do you do you eventually throw it off so Apple is also responsible to what happens to that waste that is what you'll find for the past few years you will find or you'll come across this collect back schemes which the various retailers they give you the option that uh you give us the old mobile phone will give you this much off and they will tell you as if this is the biggest obligation that they are doing in your entire life and and they are basically helping you out in such a way that nobody else can give you basically they are fulfilling their obligations of EPR right so for example tomorrow uh you come across a news story or a kind of an advertisement in the newspaper or in the TV that uh new year bonanza republic day bonanza get your old phones and get a discount of 10,000 or 15,000. It is nothing but the implementation of EPR by these producers right so that you give them the old phone they are able to fulfill their target because as per the new norms as per the new laws these producers have to fulfill their obligated target that if let's suppose I'm producing 500,000 of these phones every year I should also ensure that at least 50,000 of the phones the older phones I am taking care care of that I am processing that so thereby you can have a kind of a cleaner environment and take care the waste the different kind of waste to be taken care of. So that is basically the entire concept of extended producer responsibility. It has since that point of time been extended to biomedical waste. It has since that point of time been extended to plastic waste also. And now very innovatively the government has come up with something very unique in the year 2022 which is considered to be quite innovative for that matter. So basically that is what is known as the EPR certificates. This is EPR. So this is what is EPR certificate. So now the government has come up with what is known as EPR certificate.

[01:25:08]Uh B Rama here is my mail ID.

[01:25:14]Encapsulate the entire doubt that you are facing possibly with the name of the individual who is asking for that. The details of that individual also if possible who has who who is doing that write a mail to me. I will take it uh take this forward as urgently as possible and Monday I will take care of it. Okay? because tomorrow we don't have a working day for the other department.

[01:25:45]So it will be taken upon priority that is something I assure you don't worry about it and uh you just uh focus on the studies okay rest everything we we have to take care of other things okay this is my mail ID get in touch and I want the full-fledged details of it don't have the half-hearted details written in the mail now when we talk about the EPR certificates So what are these EPR certificates? So understand the background first of all.

[01:26:21]Now earlier when this concept of EPR was introduced. Now this concept of EPR was as I told you for example Apple has been given a target that every year you have to take 50,000 older phones and you have to treat them you have to cater to them or you have to ensure the safe disposal of them etc. Now think about it Apple has got a kind of a specialization in doing what in mobile phone manufacturing.

[01:26:56]Apple has not got a specialization in where waste is accumulated in Bangalore. What where electronic waste goes in Bangalore? Which society generates what kind of electronic waste.

[01:27:09]Do you think Tim Cook and Apple they are specializing in that? No. They have specialized in manufacturing.

[01:27:16]So as a result of that what used to happen was that despite all the stringent targets none of them could be able to fulfill their obligations. For example again a more relatable case let's suppose you are not able to relate to the Apple case. Let's suppose you have Pepsi.

[01:27:39]Now Pepsi is a kind of uh an FMCG sector basically not exactly an FMCG but beverage sector right now in Pepsi you have millions of plastic bottles that it sells every year particularly in countries like India where they are in great demand. So here let's suppose they have a target that every year you have to take back and you have to treat let's suppose 100 tons I'm just giving you an example on the top of my mind 100 tons of plastic bottles it has got a target to do that now Pepsi specialization is not collecting the old unused bottle or older bottles used bottles of Pepsi which is thrown almost everywhere and anywhere. That is not its specialization. That is not its uh method of operation. So that is why all the various different organizations all the various companies they were facing it a significant amount of difficulty in meeting their EPR obligation. As a consequence of that what would happen was that you had an unorganized sector which obviously in our country unorganized sector for waste disposal and management is the one we have seen in the case of e-waste management also that it is largely almost 95% of the waste management is dominated by the unorganized sector. So the unorganized sector had taken over and has taken over and there are various different laculas because of that because unorganized sector in many of the cases due to lack of information they are inefficient also they cause pollution also the workers they get dam they get long-term damage and they they basically are impacted on the long run also so they get impacted now what can be done so what has been done was that Now you have these APR certificates. Let's suppose few amongst you. You have decided to set up a startup. A startup which specializes in waste management. Let's suppose you have a startup. You have opened a startup in Delhi and you have people working for you who will scour the region of let's suppose South Delhi, the region around Sake, Malvinar etc. And they will take care of all the plastic waste which is generated and they will collect it right from the retailers from the consumers themselves from the garbage dumps. They have that specific idea about where that plastic waste is getting accumulated who is picking up the plastic waste and they are collecting it back. You have a startup on your own. And what you do is that after collecting that plastic waste and the plastic bottles you carry out incineration. You turn them into plastic pellets. you supply it to the new plastic uh manufacturing industries where they can manufacture newer bottles out of and this is your startup let's suppose this is your startup idea this is your modus operandi now your specialization is waste management ideally the job which has been given to Pepsi or Apple so you have this startup XY Z okay now in an In one year, your startup XY Z caters to 500 tons. I'm just giving you an example again of waste, plastic waste. This is your startup XY Z. Now you have in one year catered to 500 tons of plastic waste because that is your specialty. Now if you have care taken care of these 500 tons of plastic waste, you would be given a certificate of recognition that you have taken care of this 500 tons. That is a certificate that think about it as a credit that you have right. So you will get certificate or credit credit for 500 tons.

[01:32:22]Now Pepsi had a target for 100 tons of plastic bottles but it doesn't have the capacity to ensure the uh carryback offers to ensure that the retailers give them enough. It doesn't have the wherewithal to do that. So what Pepsi will do? Pepsi will give your company money.

[01:32:47]You will get me money from Pepsi and in return you will give Pepsi or the PepsiCo company certificate or credit for 100 tons. Right? So in a way now Pepsi can concentrate on producing uh cold drinks or the soft drinks whereas now the waste management that you have done Pepsi can simply buy off that credit from you you concentrate on waste management waste is also taken care of and in one year all these targets are also met right let's suppose as a company XY Z yes just like carbon credit let's suppose as the company XY Z you needed some money immediately you cannot wait for Pepsi to come in and give you some credit etc let's suppose you don't have that wherewithal in that case what do you do in that case basically let's suppose you sell it to some other organizations can be sold to a financial institute just as an example I'm giving you as an example let me write here for example otherwise I have many such students amongst you who basically will take a screenshot after five or 6 months they will shoot out a mail How could you say this? This is something where so then I will have to explain it over again. So let's suppose for example they have sold it to a FI financial institution. Now in this case Pepsi can pay money to the financial institution and get certificate in return. So this is tradable. This is now a certificate which can be tradable. So what are the benefits of this? The benefits are first of all prior to this none of the companies were able to meet their targeted obligations because they it was not their specialty. None of the multinationals had that specialty. So they were not able to complete or fulfill their obligations. Now the argument which was put forward by some of the people was that but these companies do that in US why not in India if they can do that in US we can if the government is strong enough we will make them do it in India also we'll make them hold their ears do up and down up and down 50 times they will do it in India also but understand these companies are operating in the US these companies are US companies they they are in the good connection with the vendors there with the suppliers there and there also you have this tradable certificate system which goes on but these companies were never able to fulfill their obligations. So if let's suppose PepsiCo had an obligation of 100 uh 100 tons of waste it could hardly end up catering to 20 30 tons of waste and rest of them would be unaccounted for. And what they would do, they would basically bribe the officials eventually and they would simply have a kind of a free pass under these provisions. What now happens is that you will have the growth of these specific companies and startups which is happening. I hope we are aware. I hope you guys specifically are aware that this is one of those sectors where many new companies are coming up, many new startups are coming up about waste management. So you will have now experts these companies obviously they will not take someone working in an IT sector, someone working in a retail sector that okay let's get together let's start a waste. You will have experts in them handling about waste management and that will provide first of all jobs. Experts and expertise will come into the waste management. There will be money which will be coming into the sector because now the conglomerates the companies have to pay them right. The obligations will be fulfilled. So that means a greater amount of waste is targeted. So you are taking care of the waste also. You are providing jobs in the process. Money flows into your system also right and expert waste management is also happening and the companies are obl uh complying with the regulation. So this is beneficial. It is a kind of a market mechanism which was earlier available in the carbon sector. Now it has been made available even in the plastic waste and even in the e-waste.

[01:38:03]Okay, this is not good. Theory and practical differs. Pepsi have to find out method to reduce plastic waste. Is it not so? Absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. That ideal world scenario, what would be the ideal world scenario? That Pepsi starts producing soft drinks in uh a bottle which is eco-friendly. That is the ideal world, isn't it? Ideal world is what?

[01:38:31]where the mobile phones that you have if you throw them off they naturally decompose and become soil themselves.

[01:38:38]But have we reached that stage? No.

[01:38:40]Maybe we'll reach that stage 5 years down the line, 6 years down the line.

[01:38:44]But in those 5 to 6 years, we might end up generating 50,000 to 100,000 tons of waste easily easily much more than that.

[01:38:54]And we are generating around 1 lakh 50,000 tons per day of waste. Think about it. Even if we are generating 5,000 tons per day of plastic waste, imagine what amount of waste we'll be generating in 5 years, 10 years down the line with the population increasing, the youthful population increasing. So before that entire compliance comes into the picture, what do you do till that point of time? Do you keep on forcing PepsiCo that no you have to do this, you have to produce it in a non-plastic bottle? They will not do so. It takes time for the technology to come over. So till that point of time you have to come up with an innovative measure to reduce the problem at the source. That is why this is something which is beneficial.

[01:39:41]Okay. Is that understood Prashant? My uncle's company is working in the same field for carbon and plastic credits. That is one of the sunrise sectors. 10 years, 20 years down the line, this will be one of the most lucrative sectors out there. That is something which is which one should keep in mind. Before um it comes in glass bottles, now it stopped. But then the glass bottle things they stopped in the region such as US and Western Europe much long time back. Glass bottles used to be provided in these uh developing and third world countries for a longer period of time. And the problem with the grass glass bottle significantly for a long time was the cost of operation was uh very high right. And secondly there were also issues about contamination where the glass bottles many of the times they first of all when you refill them many of the times uh the general process would be that the collected glass bottles would be crushed back and new glass bottles would be manufactured and then in that it would be filled. But in many of the cases it was found that companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, they would they were basically cleaning up the older glass bottles and refilling them. Now that led the scope or created the scope for contamination which was the case which emerged in certain countries of Africa and certain regions of Asia also. That is why in order to reduce their cost of operation in general in any kind of a business you have to reduce your cost of operation to generate profit. If you don't generate profit virtually you are non-existent. you have to shut down. So that is basically why that process of plastic as I told you plastic is cheap.

[01:41:23]Plastic has got a good load carrying capacity that is why. Okay, let's take a break now and let's be back and we will study about the details of the amendment of the plastic rules and the uh e-waste rules. Let's take a break for 15 minutes.

[01:41:46]And we'll be So a well-rounded candidate, a well-formed candidate is the one who is able to look at both sides of the coin.

[01:44:57]Okay. In today's day and age, sadly due to the narratives which build up around us and obviously we are exposed to and u especially uh at your age many of you have got a kind of an overexposure to social media the kind of misinformation etc. As a result of that we either for any particular policy we think that it is absolutely bad or it is absolutely good but most of them will have some drawbacks also some benefits also and that is what needs to be encapsulated in answer writing when you create an answer that needs to be included. Okay. So here the disadvantage of this if you have to think about it the only disadvantage that you can think about or that you can talk about is the fact that here the larger conglomerates can escape their responsibility and they can continue their unsustainable practices that is it okay but that disadvantage has also been catered to particularly when we talk about the e-waste management rules etc the amendment of the e-waste management rules where the amended management rules have talked about the fact that even worker training needs to be ensured.

[01:46:13]Even for example, how do you treat that waste? Those uh workers their health needs to be ensured. And also the manufacturers eventually have to keep on reducing the amount of mercury, cadmium and other different types of hazardous materials that they are using. Okay. So here let us take a look at the plastic waste amendment rules of 2022. Now it was announced by the ministry of environment forest and climate change and it has been amended for the elimination of single-use plastics and to promote alternatives. So under the new rules what has been done is that the plastic plastic is not a kind of a monolith that only you have one grade of plastic. You have multiple grades of plastic, multiple different types of plastic. You have, for example, you go out there um in an electronic store to buy an electronic item. That electronic item will be packaged in styrofoam, etc. That is also a grade of plastic. But those styrofoams can be reused, isn't it? But you also have very thin plastic bags that you get from your vegetable vendors that cannot be reused.

[01:47:27]Similarly, you have packaging plastic.

[01:47:29]You have for example a thicker bottle that you buy from the market, the plastic bottle that can also be reused and recycled. So you need to have a categorization of the kind of plastic and then you can enforce the norms and the rules. So here first of all classification of that plastic is done.

[01:47:46]So you have category one which includes rigid plastic packaging that is included in this particular aspect in this particular provision. Category two, flexible plastic packaging of single layer or multi-layer plastic sheets, covers made of plastic sheets, carry bags, plastic sache or pouches, they are included in category two. Category three, multi-layered plastic packaging, right? So that is included. Category four, plastic sheets as well as plastic bags made up of compostable materials which are eco-friendly. Now you don't have to learn this that what is in category 1 2 and 3 and four but just an idea that categorization of the plastic has been done in order to better manage and reuse and recycle the waste which is generated. Then after that you have the plastic packaging. So in that the reuse when we talk about the plastic packaging reuse of rigid plastic packaging material has been mandated in the guidelines to reduce the use of fresh plastic. So this ensures a significant recycling and reuse of the material. Then EPR certificates. Okay. Now these EPR certificates basically the guidelines allow for the sale and purchase of surplus EPR certificates and this will set up a market mechanism for the plastic waste management. This will boost the economy also ensure better waste management also cater to uh professional waste management cater to creation of jobs also. So this will boost economy due to the sale and purchase, right? Provide jobs and also at the same time ensure that there is a kind of a greater efficiency of waste management. Waste management is carried out with a much greater efficiency. Now there is a centralized online portal which has been made up by CPCB. So this portal is for the registration and filing of the annual returns by producers, importers and brand owners of the plastic waste processors of the packaging waste. So everyone who is making that plastic, who is basically building that plastic, who is indulged in the production, import the sale of that plastic materials, they will have to register on the online portal if they want to carry out their business legally under the white money operations. They will have to register themselves on the portal and they will have to register the amount of plastic materials that they have manufactured, the amount that they have sold and where they have sold it to. So these details will be maintained by CPCB in an online portal.

[01:51:14]This ensures not only transparency but also ensures that there cannot be evasion of responsibility which will be done by the companies. So this is to ensure transparency at the same time to ensure that organizations or companies that is producers, importers etc. Do not evade responsibility.

[01:52:24]Okay. So that is the case or that is the purpose to be solved by an online portal. A similar online portal has been established even as per the requirement of e-waste norms as well. The e-waste rules which have also been amended in 2022. So that similar requirement of an online portal is there. So if you want to operate in black money market, if you want to carry out the operation under the table, so then you have the eyes of the income tax department etc. which is always there. So you if you are ready to take that risk, fair enough. But then if you want to carry out a legal operation, if you want to operate the company legally, you need to register on this.

[01:53:07]earlier what used to be the scenario until now what still the scenario is because these new norms have not fully been implemented till now it takes around a couple of years for any new rules to be implemented on the ground level so till now even in many areas for example in the outskirts of Hyderabad in the outskirts of Delhi Mumbai Bangalore almost in all the cities you will come across the scenario that many of the companies they would say they would be manufacturing tons of plastic and in order to evade tax in order to evade let's suppose accountability of ER etc they would simply say that we have not had any sale right or we sold uh only around five tons or four tons now in that situation they would be able to evade tax also they would be able to evade scrutiny also now that the IT department etc they are also using AI and machine learning so that window is closing but at the same time if you give the details of for example an intermediary company like PepsiCo, it is buying plastic from some larger organization. So PepsiCo will give the account that I have bought 500 tons from this one this individual. Now that company has to basically furnish that detail that where did the 500 tons go.

[01:54:23]So that is why as transparent as the system gets it becomes very difficult for the evaders to have their way. Now then the comes to we come to the e-waste management rule the basics of it and then what is covered under the amendment. So here when we talk about the e-waste now in e-waste you have the electronic and the electrical items both to be included. Now here you also have for example nowadays in our country for the past few years for the past decade and a half almost since the mid 2000s itself there has been a greater adoption of solar energy across the country. The overall movement that you will see is that there has been a greater adoption a greater um utility of solar panels and solar energy. Now these solar photovoltaic cells which generate energy they are also going to come into the category of e-waste. Now once they get old where do you dispose them? So those solar panels and photovoltaic cells etc they have also been included into the category of e-waste. So here for example the rules bring producers under the ambit of EPR together with the targets.

[01:55:44]They have been given the targets.

[01:55:46]producers have been made accountable for e-waste collection and also e-waste exchange. Hence those exchange price offers that you would be seeing and you would observe that almost I don't know how many of you would have had mobile phone uh before that but if you uh if basically just to tell you that if you would go out into the market to exchange your older mobile phones around 15 years back you did not have such schemes in existence. Now you have many of these games. Why is it so? Are they becoming consumer friendly? Absolutely not. It is simply because they are able to the they have a target to meet and for that target they you they need the used materials. Now here you will find CFL other mercury containing lamps also have been brought under the purview of these rules. Environment Ministry has notified rules targeting wide range of groups such as hotels, residential colonies, residential welfare associations, bulk producers of consumer goods, ports, railway stations, airports, pilgrimage spots, all of that. In these areas, the plastic waste is generated in bulk.

[01:56:57]These are the regions where you have bulk generation. Uh, e-waste is generated in bulk. So here you have bulk generation of e-waste.

[01:57:13]For example, when you go to a hotel, for example, even if a switch is a bit fidgety, if the switch is not perfectly well, you immediately pick up the phone, you create a scene there. You create as much noise as possible that how come that my room, this particular appliance is not working well, isn't it? In your house it might be the case that fan itself is not working, light is not working. You have adapted to that that okay if I uh basically turn the tube light like this then it uh starts glowing. But in the hotels you won't tolerate that right in the hotels even if I don't operate all the lights but I need all the lights functioning. So thereby the kind of cycling the kind of generation of e-waste is humongous in these areas. Railway stations for example for example the uh pilgrimage spots the amount of e-waste generated is huge humongous earlier they were not included as separate generators of waste right it was very open-ended now the rules have basically made it a a kind of a certainty that these areas or these particular generators of waste also need an accountability associated now here These rules will launch the new EPR regime for the waste recycling. And the salient features of the new rules are that all the manufacturer, producer, refurbisher and recycler, they are required to register on a portal again developed by CPCB.

[01:58:55]No entity is allowed to carry out any business without the registration on the portal and not nobody is going to deal with any unregistered entity. If let's suppose I have registered and you have not registered, we both can't indulge in a business together. So if you want to carry out business, you also have to register. So in a way it is about closing the loopholes. Yes, the companies will still find loopholes, right? You will have many of the accountants who will still be able to find loopholes. You will have many of the lawyers, the corporate lawyers who specialize in finding these loopholes.

[01:59:31]So they will be able to find out loopholes. But as and when the loopholes become very prominent, that is where the policy makers come into place and that is where they are going to shut down these loopholes. Now their authorization has been replaced by registration through the online portal and only manufacturer, producer and refurbisher and recycler they do require recycling.

[01:59:56]Producers of notified eee have been given graded targets. This is a graded target system.

[02:00:08]Graded target means what? The target for collection collection of e-waste keeps on Increasing with the ears every in every couple of years. So that is where they have these graded targets. Management of solar photovoltaic modules, panels and cells they are added to the new rule. So here you will observe that all the producers of notified electrical and electrical electronic equipment they have been given an annual e-waste recycling target based on the generation of what you have previously sold or what you are about to sell or what you have manufactured. So target is made stable for two years. So for example starting with 60% of the total that you are selling or that you are producing that 60% you have to refurbish or you have to ensure the recollection of that from the year 23 24 to 24 25 you have a target of 60% of that what you have sold or manufactured that needs to be taken care of let's suppose I have manufactured 100 tons so 60 tons of the waste e-waste I need to ensure that 60 ton of e-waste I am taking care of that 60 tons. Okay. Then this has been increased to 70% for the year 2025 to 2027, 80% for the year 2027 to 2029. And that is basically how you will be able to generate you will be able to turn out the kind of increased amount of waste utilization. So in the next decade or so you will be able to reach a situation where you will be able to have the companies responsible for almost 100% of the waste that they generate. Okay. Now the quantity recycled will be computed on the basis of the end products. Right? Then the provision of generation and transaction of EPR certificates. Tradable EPR certificates have also been introduced here. This brings about market mechanism. brings market mechanism into place in place. Okay. Then provisions of environment compensation and verification and audit has been introduced. constitution of steering committee to oversee the overall implementation of these rules. Now overall in order to go forward and move ahead into sustainable production because just the collection and the collect back of these waste that can never be a long-term solution. So in order to find a kind of a long-term solution the provision for reduction of hazardous substance in manufacturing. So whatever in the manufacturing processes the hazardous substances have been used or are being used that needs to be reduced. So reduction of hazardous substances in manufacturing of electrical and electronic equipment has been provided. It does mandate that every producer of electrical and electronic equipment and their companies shall ensure that their products do not contain lead, mercury and other hazardous substances beyond the minimum prescribable limit. So this is about the portion of sustainable production.

[02:04:29]sustainable production practices. Okay. So that overall the hazardous substances used in the products is reduced. To reduce The quantity of hazardous substances in the final product.

[02:05:25]Okay. So that is the case in the norms.

[02:05:31]Now they also as I told you the new norms they also provide for upskilling because as we have already talked about that 95% of the e-waste management in our country happens at the hands of unorganized sector. Now that unorganized sector has got its own lacuner and its loopholes. So that is why you have a case where upskilling is also required.

[02:05:56]So it also provides for recognition and registration skill development, monitoring and ensuring the safety and health of the workers involved in dismantling and recycling for e-waste.

[02:06:09]So this is for worker benefit.

[02:06:15]worker benefit. Okay. So these are the norms that you observe in the case of the new amended rules of plastic waste management and e-waste management.

[02:06:37]Now we come to the key principles which were brought forward by the solid waste management rules which has been introduced in 2016 itself. But many of the norms that it has brought about not only did it create a lot of fur a lot of anger amongst the masses. Many of the people many of the activists in fact were up in arms against the government when you had the introduction of these solid waste management rules. But then it has got some amount of potential benefit also if it is implemented completely. Even now it is not being implemented completely in many of the areas but it can be if it is implemented completely. Now first of all you need segregation at source. Segregation of waste at source is absolutely essential.

[02:07:23]Now this is carried out in very few places across the country. If you consider the population of the country to be close to around 140 uh cr it is that segregation of source would be hardly carried out by 1% or 2% of the population even that is an overestimation because in whichever area that you live in in majority of the areas across the country you come across a similar kind of a norm and what is that you come across a norm where for example all the waste generated in the household or in any region it is dumped into the same large plastic bag or the large uh waste bucket and that is disposed of. Now eventually when you have that kind of a co-mingled waste then you need to separate it somewhere right and if that separation does not happen completely well then you have the other consequences in almost all the countries across the western part of the world and in almost all the wellperforming economies or developing and developed economies you have that concept of segregation of waste at source the same people when they live in India they will throw the waste and the garbage in a kind of a co-mingled way.

[02:08:34]But the same people when they start living abroad observe them following the norms and you will be surprised to know that we Indians are so good at following the rules. But we need to implement that in our country also. So that is why segregation at source is an important factor. Collection and disposal of sanitary waste needs to be done separately. Collect back scheme for the packaging waste for the reuse recycle to promote, reuse and recycle of the waste.

[02:09:23]then user fee for collection. Now this created lot of anger against the government because the general perception the general mentality in our in our society is we all are a part of the same society. So we should basically uh embrace the realities of our existence. Also the general perception and the general mentality is first of all I'm giving you my waste.

[02:09:51]Whatever waste is generated from my house that is so very clean that other households I don't know but my household waste is very clean. I'm giving you that waste to take care of it. you should be feel you should be feeling obligated that I have taken that waste from uh this person's household and then you are asking me money also I'm not going to give the money nobody is ready to pay money for the collection of garbage and that is one of the strangest facts try to convince an individual out there especially in the tier one tier 2 tier three cities tier four cities or small towns that for the person who will come to collect your garbage you need to pay some fees. Look at the kind of a resistance that they will give to you or the stare that they will give it to you that you feel that money grows on trees etc. Why will we give money for them?

[02:10:44]But that money is required because that individual is providing you a service.

[02:10:50]Municipality is providing you a service.

[02:10:53]They are collecting the garbage. They are disposing of the garbage. Right?

[02:10:57]Many of the people in the regions they don't even know where the garbage goes.

[02:11:01]So they are carrying out a service and for that service you need some payment for them and it is very nominal payment which the municipalities take. But what has happened and what the reality on the ground is municipalities and municipal uh the collectors when not the collectors but the people who collect the garbage when they come most of the households they say that we don't have garbage so that they don't have to pay the money and when they see a garbage truck moving by they simply dispose of the garbage nearby or they will go to the nearest uh open area and they will start dumping the garbage that from here the municipality he has to collect at least I won't have to pay the money. So this is an aspect of or an attitude of mindset change that mindset change unless and until it does not happen we cannot think of a future where the garbage is collected efficiently disposed of efficiently. Okay. So that is basically where this was a slight different policy as compared to the previous ones. Waste processing and treatment and promotion of compost and that compost basically is about for the promotion of promotion of organic farming.

[02:12:32]organic farming. Okay. Promotion of waste to energy. Various incentives have been provided for the waste to energy plants, the waste to energy operators. So that is basically the aspect which the key principles which were involved in this.

[02:12:53]UPSC has asked a mains question from this particular portion immediately the next year because that was in the news that was in current affairs that is why next year UPSC asked a straightforward mains question that what are the key principles of the solid waste management rule 2016 so whenever you have such new stories new legislations which are passed UPSC will ask you question from that and that is going for example this year as I told you the conference of parties for uh The conference of parties number 28 for the climate change conf convention is going on in UAE. It has been attended by the prime minister. Now that that has it has been a long time since uh Indian prime minister attended this convention. Chances are UPSC will ask you a question about the loss and damage fund next year. Right? So in the mains examination in all probability or a prim can also be easily framed from that particular area. So whenever these things come in news, UPSC asks a question from that.

[02:13:56]Okay. Now we come to the portion of noise pollution. But in my city, I'm very proud of my people and residents who are paying money for the garbage collector to collect the waste. But there also I'll tell you that it would be restricted to a certain area. We need a widescale implementation. If let's suppose your city is carrying out in the entirety then that is a good thing that needs to basically be propagated across the entirety of the country if possible.

[02:14:22]Now when we talk about noise pollution what is noise pollution? Excessive exposure to an unwanted sound or audio is noise pollution. Right? So regular exposure to elevated sound level that might adversely affect the humans or the other organisms that is basically noise pollution. Now noise pollution can be created by various different events by various different purposes and various different causes also right for example let's suppose train horn heavy traffic all of them construction activities all of them they create substantial amount of noise pollution. Now noise is something or sound is something that you basically measure in the form of decibb. Deci is the unit. Now as per the regulations you have various different parameters which are fixed. For the industrial area what amount of sound is permissible? For a commercial area what amount of sound is acceptable and permissible? For a residential area what is acceptable and permissible? For the silence zones what is permissible and acceptable? What are silent zones? Silent zones in an urban area in a township are those areas where creating noise pollution is not permitted is not allowed. You create now noise that is a different matter. You don't have any regulation for it that is a different matter or no penalty for it that is a different matter but it is not allowed. Ideally in the laws there are penalties also but it is the enforcement of the laws where we are particularly weaker just like any of the underdeveloped or developing nation. It is the enforcement of the laws where that is our weak point. So here in silent zones that includes the regions for example around hospitals around schools around courts where ideally noise is absolutely unwanted. So those would be included in the silent zones.

[02:16:25]So this particular portion what is included in the silent zones that is what is relevant for your prudence.

[02:16:41]Okay. So that is something hospitals, educational institutions and the codes they are included in the regions of silent zones. Now these are your various different causes of noise pollution. For example, industrialization.

[02:16:56]Those of you living near the industries, you would always be exposed to you would be exposed to noise levels, high amount of noise levels of the machineries operating through and through. And you would have heard that elevated level of sound and noise for a long period of time. So industrialization is one of them. Then poor urbanization. Poor urbanization. What does that mean? Where for example you have clustered colonies and houses, narrow lanes, bylanes and roads. Ideally the lanes and the roads in majority of our cities not the main roads but the roads between the colonies etc in many of the parts they are so very narrow right that you cannot have more than two uh two wheelers which can move parallelly but then in that we move trucks also we move buses also we move cars also and as a result of that what happens frequent traffic jams those traffic jams will be very frequent and we all of us we have a different way to treat the traffic jams. When you have traffic jams let's suppose in other larger countries you will find that the drivers or the riders they basically wait for the jams to clear. We think we have a superpower all of us and all of us are a part of the same society. So all of us are culprit at the same level.

[02:18:21]We think we have a kind of a superpower where when we blow the horn maybe the traffic will automatically clear itself.

[02:18:29]Right? So that is why you will come across that phenomena and I'm sure you would have witnessed as soon as there is a traffic jam strangely people start honking the horns because they their thought perception is that the individual ahead might be they have parked the vehicle and they're sleeping out in the open. So if I honk the horn maybe the traffic will give way but it does not. Strangely enough the people continue to honk the horns and that creates a noise pollution. The amount of noise pollution that you see in Indian roads that is something which is at an unparalleled scale which not it is a specialty of the subcontinent also that is something that you will observe in the region of Bangladesh also in Pakistan also in Sri Lanka you don't observe that very often in the region of Nepal also you will witness that and Bhutan population is very less so that is basically where you have a lot of noise and Understand when you honk significantly and continuously that noise because it is a case of poor urbanization you have buildings very close by. So that noise kind of resonates and reverberates and it amplifies itself. Right? So that is why it creates a nuisance. Social events.

[02:19:52]Well, social events basically we uh we are so ideal we always blow horn even in traffic jam. Yes, that is the positive side of it. Even if there is no traffic jam sometimes we feel the compulsive need to blow the horn just to make our presence fed and the creativity that we have. Look at the type of sounds that the horns that they have. any new uh audio track or the movie that comes, the horns will have that kind of sound.

[02:20:24]Look at the trucks moving on the highways, they go all creative with the kind of horns that they have. So if you have spent so much money on installing those specific horns, why to keep it unused? Honk as much as possible, isn't it? So when we talk about social events, any kind of uh any kind of congregation, right? Maybe a kind of a religious congregation, maybe a kind of a social congregation, a social event.

[02:20:52]Nowadays, even if you have smaller birthday parties, the first arrangement that the event maker will or event planner will do is install a big loudspeaker. Bigger the loudspeaker, better is the celebration. Right? That is the perception. So there regardless of whatever the general public faces, if today is a Saturday night that I want to celebrate, I will put the volume as high as possible. If my son has graduated or has passed from class 10th or class 12th or grad has become a graduate, I will celebrate. Right? So you have these social events which always are associated with noise pollution. Rarely will you come across a social event which is not very noisy. Then transportation sector. Well, ideally transportation and public transportation is something which is advisable. But as I have told you that for us and this is true for almost all the cities where if you take a look at the public transport the buses when they operate right or the trains when they operate the sound that they create or simply in the roads the noise that they create with the with the superpower that they have in the steering that is the horns well that is unparalleled from maybe you would not have observed these nuances. so significantly you would have seen this, experienced this from tomorrow onwards. Try to observe this and you will basically burst out laughing on the roads and that is where the Indian roads become very enjoyable to drive because you will have such different types of personalities creating their own kind of noise and the melody out of it. That is something you won't find anywhere else in the world.

[02:22:38]So that is the positive side of it.

[02:22:40]Construction activities.

[02:22:42]Well, construction activities are again something that will give you a perpetual kind of a noise of brick breaking of the mortar breaking or the mortar laying for that matter. If let's suppose a metro uh rail construction is happening near you or a highway construction is happening near you, it is associated with noise pollution. Fireworks and loudspeakers.

[02:23:06]As I told you, loudspeaker system is one of the favorite peeves that all of us in every part of the society we have. Be it the loudspeakers during festivals, be it the loudspeakers to give a simple announcement, be it the loudspeakers during the political rallies during the political campaigns. Those of you belonging from the five states which have gone through the election right now, you would basically be attesting to the fact and tomorrow when the election results will be declared, fireworks are again something depending upon who has won. You might be an individual who has absolutely no interest in any politics who comes to power, who goes out of power, I have no interest in that. As long as my vehicle has the horn, I don't care about the world. So there also you will observe the amount of fireworks that happen. it will be unparalleled.

[02:23:58]Now that also is noisy. Now then agricultural machines for example you have the tractors, harvesters, thrashers, they are also associated with a lot of noise pollution. Defense equipments they are also associated with a lot of noise. Now defense equipments when we talk about here now this defense when we get exposed to these noise what kind of defense equipments noise are we exposed to mostly the yes aircraft and jets right rather than the tanks and guns thankfully and um uh hopefully that is the case we we are not well uh well exposed to or we don't get exposed to uh tanks or the gunfire. It is basically the aircrafts, the fighter jets. It is that noise that we get exposed to. So that can be a source of pollution.

[02:24:55]Explosive here when we talk about explosives, we are talking about the controlled explosives, right? The controlled explosive that you use for mining activities, construction activities, etc. Those are the explosives, the uh TNTs, etc. that creates a lot of noise and others well anything which is unwanted becomes a noise pollution.

[02:25:20]Maybe after 2 and a half hours even this lecture becomes a kind of a noise pollution. So any kind of un unwanted audio beyond a particular decibel that becomes a noise pollution and please use your creativity around you to think about that what can be the sources of noise pollution and please don't write that the lecture that I attended was a noise pollution because there technically you will go wrong because of the decibel level not because of any morality etc associated with it okay so that is basically the various different causes of noise pollution solution. Now the impact of it, those people who have noisy vehicles, talk to them if you have a chance. Look at the pride that beams on their face with the noisy vehicles. They get it modified in such a way. They spend thousands in order to get the vehicles modified so that with every gear change, every piston fire, there's a kind of a firecracker noise. Look at the beaming smile that they have. As people across the road, they start covering their ears. Look at the beaming smile that they have. The pride that they have, the pride that they feel that look the effect when I go across the road, everybody looks at me. That happens when you have a billion plus population. You have to make your presence felt. You resort to these activities in order to make your presence felt. So that is basically again one of the sources of noise pollution right yes the the pride associated is what I'm talking about talk to any of those individuals who create that noise first of all when you go to talk to them that your uh vehicle is noisy that in itself will give them the required attention that okay the purpose of all that money spent is now fulfilled. So that is something which is very very common. All right. And uh government has imposed restriction on DJs after 1000 p.m. Fair enough. The government regardless of how many restrictions it imposes. Worst come worst. You know what will happen? Your neighbor will come put a complaint that after 10 p.m. this person is still operating the music. What will happen? The nearby police station will get that complaint. The police people will come there. You pay the police guy, policeman thousand bucks. You can play the music after 12 as well. And then next day you take care of the neighbor so as to ensure that the neighbor never complains. So we are living in the same society. So we are all aware about the realities of the dynamics as it plays in the society. It is not the case that from tomorrow the government makes a norm that no firecracker people will stop bursting firecracker. What people will do they will burst the firecracker shut their doors and windows as if I was not even here the as China does that we have never done anything bad so that always happens right can we may uh mention in answer prayer on big loudspeaker at noise pollution yes that goes on in every festival also in religious congregations also we are presently through the entire festive months October late September, October, November, December up till January you have the string of festivals. Look at the noise created by the loudspeakers. Depending upon in which region of the country, which part of the city you are in, you will be exposed to different sources of noise. We are very very inclusive people in that matter. We ensure that noise reaches each and every corner of the city. If any portion of the city does not get that noise, we put that loudspeaker on the back of the three-wheelers on the auto dickshas and then we roam around the city. So in that way we are very very democratic. So feel free to give any kind of examples that you can. Okay. Now in such cases electric vehicles come with an additional advantage of less noise. They do electric vehicles are almost they don't create any kind of noise at all but you can create an electric vehicle try to take out the horn out of the electric vehicle in India the sales will dip drastically or they will get it modified and they will have that specific for example in uh almost all the cities Delhi you have the entire market around Karolbag and Lajput Nagar which specializes in installing the specific kind of homes depending upon what is your requirement. And what is the uh attentionseeking ability that you have? So they will have a specific horn for you. So even there you have these kind of abilities. Now after this the effect of it effect of noise pollution is disastrous. When we talk about the effect hearing impairment is a very common factor.

[02:30:17]But again when you have so much amount of noise what will you do with a very good auditory skill. So people are acceptable to the fact that some amount of hearing impairment is acceptable but then especially in the younger population in the older population it creates massive impact in the older population it can lead to even heart strokes right brain strokes Alzheimer's Parkinson all of that can be triggered the animals in that region they get completely devastated because of that noise pollution. So hearing loss, cardiovascular issues, effect on animals, dementia, Alzheimer's, these are basically the impact. Blood pressure rises up, sleeping disorders. Most of the people in urban areas, they go through that sleeping disorder phase. So that is basically the impact of it. That is why in rural areas you don't find these many issues in terms of health parameters etc. Because all of it adds up. Air is clean, noise is not there, water is clean, crops are better. So that is why people are generally much healthier, right? In urban areas, air is polluted, you breathe in dirty air, you are exposed to that good noise all around you through the day. Then after that, water is contaminated. Bioaccumulation is consistently happening and still we think we are healthy. That is the irony of it. Right? So that is basically the aspect of various different types of pollution. Now we have already discussed the diseases due to contaminants such as arsenic, fluoride and all of those right. So those diseases due to contaminants as we annotate annotated PPTs will have that. So basically you can take a look at this.

[02:32:15]Okay. Testing of missiles.

[02:32:19]testing of missiles well um that can be thought to be as a source of noise pollution but I don't think many of us are getting exposed to that testing of missiles right because it happens in Balasur and around the region of uh the the Chandipur and that Chandipur rather so that is where you don't have that many missiles which get tested which creates that kind of a noise right and Uh yes, the bullet bikes. I have told you already about that. And uh did Supreme Court put prohibition on firecrackers? Yes, they did. But what was the impact of that? and um develop. So there was an article that the amount of energy needed to incinerate the waste is more than they generate the amount of uh energy. So how can we overcome this issue in channelizing this waste to energy. So that is why when we carry out the process of incineration unless and until you have that critical mass of waste that you are burning or the kind of waste which has that calorific value it is inefficient. This is one of the reasons why many of the private sectors they don't enter into that incineration because if you don't have the contract for the entire city of the waste management you won't be turning profitable easily because you will be consuming energy in the production. So that is where pyrolysis comes into place but that also has got a limited applicability. Incineration while it can produce energy, incineration should be thought as the prime solver of another problem. Incineration is going to solve your major problem that is that humongous amount of waste that you are generating. You are able to reduce that waste so that it can be disposed of easily.

[02:34:24]Okay. Noise pollution can also be heard from natural sources like volcanic eruption. Absolutely agreed. And uh can a kind of noise become addictive?

[02:34:34]Absolutely. Yes. And we all are basically examples of that. We are addicted to the noise. Anra, thank you for the kind words. And uh I hope it doesn't turn out to be noise pollution by the end of the session. The irony is to ignore the noise pollution. We started plugging headphones in our ears directly and we listen to loud music and that is where the person sitting behind you or the vehicle behind you they have to put a larger horn. So it is a kind of a vicious cycle which goes on. Yes, even thunder, hail stoms, all of them them can create noise. But think about it, which is more noisy, a construction activity going nearby your house or one thunder or lightning event that you experience maybe once or twice in every two months. India after all is not a very heavy rainfall region. India is a dry country. India is in the tropics, dry region. We experience that kind of a thunderous rainfall for at max one or two months and in various areas and that too the occurrence of this thunder, lightning, cyclone, wind everything will be restricted to a few incidents. Wives murmuring is a noise pollution. Well, I I am I'm too immature to comment on that. So, I will withdraw from that. Right. And uh when I'm boring, I'm tuning in songs with the speaker loudspeaker when no one is around me. Well, if you are tuning on to the loudspeaker, you should not be the judge of whether it is noise pollution or not. Your neighbor should be the judge of whether it is noise pollution or not. If they are not complained to the police till now, that means it is still in the tolerable limit. The day that your land owner or your landlord or the police comes to evict you out of your house that means that limit has been reached. Now after this let us take a look at the important conventions to deal with the problem of pollution. So here we have this is the portion which is going to be relevant for your prelims and mostly match the following kind of a question.

[02:37:01]type of questions. So that is where this kind of a question can be asked that Minamata convention deals with what Stockholm Rotterdam born deals with what? So that that is where see I'll tell you now itself here we will study about four conventions dealing with the portion of pollution right the dumping of waste and waste management etc but then we will be studying conventions in the portion of the aspect of international organizations also what I would advise you is create an A4 sheet of paper don't manufacture the piece paper. Take an A4 sheet of paper. There write a kind of a short note for every convention and its purpose in single line. That's it. Convention its purpose.

[02:38:02]Convention its purpose. Now the purpose of that A4 sheet of uh notes that you prepare is not that you then circulate it to the market and people are studying your notes. No, it should be that every couple of weeks on a kind of a weekend or any of your leisure days, you should be able to look at that or flip through that piece of paper. In that way by the time that you reach the month of April and May the crunch period of time where you don't know what to study what to ignore and what to retain how to retain at that point of time by the time that you reach those months these conventions will almost be there in your subconscious memory. That lowers the load before the prelims quite substantially well. So please do that.

[02:38:50]It will help you and it will basically allow you to escape from the hot patch that the candidates go through and eventually when we talk about the conventions about the environment climate change etc. I will give you a kind of a flowchart also that how this from the Stockholm conference of 1972 followed by the Bruntland report of 1987 followed by the formation of IPCC followed by the Rio summit followed by the cyto protocol. I'll give you the entire flowchart so that you have an ease in retention, ease of retention. This is the maximum that you can do to retain as much and remember as much beyond that there is no particular shortcut. Okay. But this is the maximum that I can help you out in this case.

[02:39:37]Now about when it is signed, when it is has been ratified, not important. UPSC has not been asking that question when it came into force not important ignore those the purpose where it is applicable and the convention that's it okay sign in 13 comments from 17 applicability term make it irrelevant okay so that is where I am telling you that when it has been signed when it entered into force that is something you can ignore just write the purpose if you have a better mental capacity. If you have more capacity to absorb more, you can learn that also. But then also it will be helpful if a random question comes in the mains examination not in prelims. Prelims these questions are not asked. Starting with the Minina Mata convention. Minamata convention was basically designed in order to combat the mercury contamination because mercury contamination is such mercury is an element which even let's suppose in a large pond you introduce a teaspoon full of mercury teaspoon full that is how small it is it can contaminate the entire pond and by the process of bioaccumulation and magnific ification you will find not only do the fishes they die but we humans we consume the fishes and that is where it can be very disastrous for us also. So that is where mercury contamination leads to the minamata disease. Why the name minamata is being harmed at that is because it was first of all this contamination was found to be reported in the minamata region of Japan. Japan is a fish eatating country. I hope we are all wellvered with the cuisine there. So it is a fish eating country that is where this particular contamination spread very easily. Even the cadmium contamination spread there very easily.

[02:41:42]Mercury, cadmium, these are generally the byproducts of mining waste. Mining waste, industrial waste, mercury, you and I also we uh use it on a day-to-day basis. Thermometers, right? The thermometers, they have the mercury within them, the mercury column, right?

[02:42:00]So that is why it is always said use the thermometers carefully dispose them with even greater care because that mercury can end up back in your system. So it is an international treaty designed to protect human health and environment from anthropogenic emission.

[02:42:17]Anthropogenic pervine basically that refers to human waste. Anthropogenic anthropogenic is about the human cost or the humanled.

[02:42:29]that anthropogenic emission and release of mercury and mercury compounds. Okay.

[02:42:36]Now the convention covers all aspects of life cycle of mercury from production, trade, consumption etc. So mercury mining, manufacturers and trade of mercury and products containing mercury, disposal of mercury waste, emissions of mercury from industrial facilities, countries that have ratified the convention. Now this is one portion that you have to ensure for prelims for every convention right for most of the convention that you will find that they are bound by the international law or in certain conventions they have to formulate their own law to adhere to the conventions requirement. So this is where again why I'm telling you is because UPSC has asked this kind of a question twice. once in 2016 and another time in 2018 that whether the countries need to formulate their own laws as a part of this convention or whether they are bound by the international law. So that kind of a statementbased question when it comes in the pressure and in the heat of the examination majority of the candidates get it wrong. So that is where you need to be very careful. So the countries that have ratified the convention are bound by international law to put these controls in place.

[02:43:55]Okay. Minamata is a disease. Minamata is a place where you exper where the for the first time that mercury contamination was actually reported.

[02:44:04]Now, Minamata disease is a disease caused by mythile mercury poisoning that was first described by the inhabitants of the Minamata Bay in Japan and resulted from their eating fish contaminated with the mercury industrial waste. The disease is characterized by peripheral sensory loss. The sensory organs that you have audio uh then visual loss then sometimes it can also lead to speech impairment. Then your skin or the nerves becomes unresponsive tremors and both hearing and visual loss. They are a part of that pinamata disease. Okay. Again relevant for your prelims.

[02:44:52]Okay. Now then you have the basil convention. Please don't get confused.

[02:44:59]Don't confuse this basil convention to the basil norms that you study in economics. Right? The basil norms in economics that you study for the banking sector. This is different. The city is the same but those are very different.

[02:45:12]So basil convention is about the transboundary movement of hazardous waste and their disposal. The basil convention directs a prior consent approval method to control the transboundary movement of harmful and other waste to reduce their adverse effect on the environment and protect the individuals from that hazardous effect. Now here you might think about it that what transboundary movement are we talking about? So understand what has been the practice how skewed the world order is. That is why sometimes when you uh basically listen to these countries and the heads of the countries and the uh organizations of these countries the activists from these countries uh like US like the regions of Europe, UK when they start preaching us Indians that you are doing this wrong, you are doing that uh incorrect this is how you should do it. That is why it should basically make your blood boil. Basically all these countries they have been indulging in a practice for decades now where the waste that is generated in their country be it the chemical waste be it any kind of the garbage that they generate you know if they don't have the treatment facilities what do they do they sell it off to whom? to the underdeveloped and developing countries like India, Sri Lanka, African countries, Bangladesh, they sell them their garbage that now it is your problem. Now why do the countries buy that garbage? So that they can recycle that, right? There are incentives involved. As late as last year, you had a consignment. When Sri Lanka was going through that economic turmoil and crisis, it was late 2021 and early 2022 when you had a consignment of garbage which was coming to Sri Lanka from UK. Sri Lanka declined because Sri Lanka on one hand went into that economic crisis because it was promoting organic farming. It wants a cleaner environment because Sri Lanka is thinking about a future for ecourism.

[02:47:30]All the best to them. Good luck to them.

[02:47:33]So they want to keep the region clean.

[02:47:36]Now they declined that shipment of garbage.

[02:47:40]The reaction that the country of UK that gave, the activists that gave, the various different NOS's involved they gave immediately you had lot of articles started coming out in uh in the newspapers, English newspaper that is Guardian, Sun all of them immediately they started reporting how Sri Lanka is absolutely irresponsible. It does not know how to tackle its economic crisis.

[02:48:12]When countries like UK and US are trying to help, it is not taking the help because the people in the government they are irresponsible. You need newer people to come in. The existing people are trens etc etc. That has been the case for a long period of time. The region of Alang in Gujarat where you have the very famed Alang shipyard. Now that Alang shipyard used to be one of the largest shipbreaking yards of the world in terms of the capacity that they would handle for a some for some period of time at least in Asia not across the world but at least in Asia. So what would happen was that the older ships which the western countries they felt that it is no longer utilizable for them they would send it to the shipyard for breaking.

[02:49:06]Now you might have a question. Why don't they do it in Michigan? Why don't they do it in other eastern coast of US where you have the shipbreaking yards? The reason is when you break the ship when you salvage the waste of out of it. Fair enough. You get that steel where you can basically sell it for scrap. Along with that you have asbestos, you have bunker fuel, you have radioactive materials. And the people working in the shipyards the research has indicated they have lower life expectancy because of the contamination that they are exposed to. They get various different what is known as lifestyle or occupation hazards because of the work that they do. They suffer from these diseases. People have people they died lot younger.

[02:49:55]Thankfully now that region of alang shipyard is no longer handling that amount of shipbreaking activities. That place has now been taken by Bangladesh. And this happens. Earlier it was China which used to handle all that waste, take care of that waste. Then as the prosperity happened in China, China grew at a rapid, incredibly rapid pace where the income levels they started increasing. when your income level is slightly higher why would you indulge in such occupations you won't then all those jobs came to India now as India's income level is slowly on the rise we are not increasing at the same rate at China as China did but we are improving nonetheless there now these jobs are shifting to Bangladesh after Bangladesh probably it will shift to a subsaharan country but the western countries they ensure my backyard is clean, my city is clean and then they will have the guts to come to your country and tell you you are generating waste. So that is where it is about setting the global narrative and for that the basal convention was arrived at and here the aspect of it that if you are sending a waste to some other country at least tell them what is that what is there in that waste get a prior consent approval from them and only then go for the transboundary movement of that waste. Okay. Now the objective the main focus of the basil convention to prevent the movement of hazardous waste from developed nations to developing or underdeveloped countries and reduce the transfer of hazardous waste among countries across the globe and this international treaty has aimed to reduce the movement of dangerous waste such as toxic flammable explosive and corrosive waste between the countries. Okay. However, another point which is relevant for your exam for your prelims radioactive waste are not covered under this convention. Okay. Now after that here uh the basil convention also assists the least developed less developed countries in the environmentally sound management of their generated hazardous waste.

[02:52:14]Again relevant for your prelims.

[02:52:19]So sound management of waste by other countries by minimizing the amount of waste and toxicity of the waste. Now here also as is the case with any particular convention the chief decision-making body is conference of parties. Conference of parties that is basically the chief decision making body of that. Okay. So it meets twice a year in this case. In the case of Ramsar convention, how frequently does the conference of parties they meet? Three. Three. Very good. In this case it is twice a year. So these details I need you to mentioned in an E4 sheet paper. This is the example of the kind of waste that are considered hazardous under the scope of basil. So consumed or exhausted lead acid batteries, biomedical waste, stubborn organic pollutant waste, explosive waste and utilized oil, the used oil. Then PCB compounds, the PCBs that are used, heat exchange fluids that you have in the even in the electronic equipments, your laptops, your computers, all of them.

[02:53:36]Even when you talk about the hydraulic fluid uh fluid in uh your vehicles, right? So all of them then harmful chemicals, insecticides, chemical waste generated, electronic and electrical waste, ships intended for dismantling even for the mercury waste.

[02:53:55]Okay.

[02:53:58]Right. Kamish uh sir but uh regardless of the kind of waste there is underdeveloped countries will still accept it. Yes. But if the there is a convention which protects them at least you will have some scope some scope of protection right that scope of protection is required however still the countries they need money they do that that is the reality of the world we cannot uh shy away from that then you have the Stockholm convention now this is different from a Stockholm conference right so when we talk about the Stockholm convention it is a global treaty that aims to protect the human lives and human health from the persistent organic pollutants. What are these persistent organic pollutants? So when we talk about pops, persistent organic pollutants, they are a group of chemicals possessing the characteristic that they are first of all toxic to humans and wildlife. They can last for many many years in the environment before degrading into less dangerous form. That is why the name persistent.

[02:55:08]They bioaccumulate in the food chain and they can be transported over large distances. Let me simplify this for you. For example, when you use chemicals such as DDT, Eldrin, Maidex, all of these or the industrial chemicals or the byproducts of these industrial chemicals. Now these chemicals, majority of them, they will stay in the soil. For example, insecticides, pesticides. Now you are growing, you are spraying that insecticide and a pesticide on a crop, right? That is where you spray them. I hope we are all aware that insecticide and pesticide we spray it on the crop field and we don't use it just for leisure purposes that we will remove the smell in my house or we'll fight off the mosquitoes with this. So it is in the crops that you spray. Now when you spray this these pollutants will get into the plant system also isn't it? Maybe the crops that have been there they will have some amount of this organic pollutant. You eat that crop. Now these pollutants are such they are water insoluble. They are fat soluble. Okay. So here they are fat soluble and water insoluble. Meaning what? What is the meaning of this term?

[02:56:52]Fat soluble, water insoluble.

[02:56:56]Suppose in my body I get a contaminant which can be dissolved in water which is soluble in water. Now my body will have or I will take in lot of water lot of various in a day or in a couple of days I will drink lot of water. Now those contaminants will get dissolved in that water and after that maybe that contaminant passes through the bloodstream in rare cases but other than that that uh uh contaminant which has been dissolved in water will pass through the small intestine large intestine and will be excreted out in general. So thereby the contaminant buildup in my body won't happen or the contam passing on the contaminant from one to another won't happen easily.

[02:57:44]But you have certain contaminants which are not soluble in water but they get dissolved in the fatty layers of the body and the fatty cells of the body.

[02:57:54]Now there the fatty cells and the fatty layers you don't you don't excrete that that persists in your body isn't it? Now when you have a mother lactating and feeding her child. Now the mother's milk primarily consist of fatty cells also in large quantities. So from the mother to the child when those fatty cells which are contaminated with that toxin that goes into the young child and in that infant that toxin buildup starts happening maybe at the age of few months imagine the impact the significantly delterious and disastrous impact that it will have on the health of the young one.

[02:58:47]So these are your organic pollutants which are persistent means they remain persistent means they remain for a long period of time before disintegrating into a different compound. That is where bioaccumulation in the body continues to happen. Biomagnification across the food chain of various different systems that also happens. So all those such pesticides, insecticides, industrial chemicals, solvents they come under the category or under the control of the Stockholm convention. Okay. So Stockholm Convention deals with pops and pop not the plaster of Paris persistent organic pollutant. Okay. Remember that. Now here again important point for your prelims when we talk about the salient points for Stockholm convention. The global environment facility is the I'll tell you more about the global environment facility and when it was formed in the in the next week.

[02:59:56]So it is the designated interim financial mechanism for the Stockholm convention. Unido it takes the responsibility for the developing nations and the transitioning economies to help them implement the provisions of the Stockholm convention. Then you have Rotterdam convention. Rotterdam convention is again dealing with a kind of a prior informed consent procedure for certain kind of pesticides and hazardous chemicals in transboundary movement.

[03:00:29]Understand these pops here we they are controlled in every region right it is not about transboundary movement here about the insecticides etc. Here we are talking about again international movement. Basil convention dealt with the hazardous materials and their transboundary movement. Rotterdam deals with certain other kinds of hazardous and pesticides. Okay. It is administered by food and agriculture organization FAO and United Nation environment program UNP. It has three different lists consisting of pesticides, industrial chemicals that have been banned or have been severely restricted. It covers those pesticides and industrial chemicals that are banned or severely restricted and any concern related to pesticides and industrial chemicals promotes them in into included into a banned list that is the annex 3 list and it needs a prior informed consent. prior informed consent.

[03:01:39]Okay. Also may contain those chemicals and pesticides that present a risk under the conditions of use in developing nations or countries with economies in transition. So that is the portion of Rotterdam convention and that brings us to the end of the module and now we come to the portion of climate change. Ananda you had certain basic types of uh chemicals pesticides etc which have not been included in the list of basil. They are included in Rotterdam. LDC refers to the least less developed countries of the world. Right.

[03:02:21]And uh Capil my dear friend I understand your predicament and uh see the be we are trying to resolve that issue to the best of our abilities that should be sorted out within the next few days I'm not talking about uh weeks or months now it should be sorted out in the next few days but then u till that point of time please carry out the preparation from the Ppts from the digital reading materials please Don't let your preparation get hampered. The NCERTTs are available online. We will try our best and humble apologies for that. We are trying our best at all the levels to resolve the issue.

[03:03:04]Okay. Uh pharmaceutical chemicals are included in this list. No. Gorov u if they you have harmful chemicals used in pharmaceutical industry that is a big no no anyways. Gorov u why do develop developing countries buy waste from developed countries? Do they get money also? Because from that waste they have to recycle something they get that recycled material and it is also bid out.

[03:03:33]Yes. Okay. So should we carry on the class for another hour and carry on with the portion of climate change or have you reached the level of saturation the panic which is created. Oh my god. No. No. I'm I'm not going to be so harsh. Don't worry. Fair enough. Have your Saturday night. Play out the loudspeakers. ride that uh motorbike with that modified sound. Have a good time. We'll meet again on Monday. That is when we'll carry out the discussion further more. We will talk about climate change and biodiversity on Monday and we will continue further. In the meanwhile, do take up the subjective and the objective test which would be uploaded in the portal. And that is all from my side. I hope the session was tolerable and uh some new information has been added. Just ensure that you revise it whenever the time comes. Whenever you feel that the time is right or whenever you feel like revising, do revise it.

[03:04:42]Till we meet again, do take care of yourself. Relax. Have a good night.

[03:04:48]Goodbye.