Question

Read the passage given below and answer the questions/complete the sentences that

follow: 10 M

When plastic waste is burnt, a complex weave of toxic chemicals is released. Breaking down

polyvinyl chloride (PVC) — used for packaging, toys and coating electrical wires — produces

dioxin, organ chlorine which belongs to the family of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). A

recent Dioxin Assessment Report brought out by the United States Environment Protection

Agency (USEPA) says the risk of getting cancer from dioxin is ten times higher than reported by

the agency in 1994.

Yet the Delhi government is giving the green signal to a gasification project which will convert

garbage into energy without removing plastic waste. Former transport minister Rajendra Gupta,

the promoter of this project, says this is not necessary.

He claims no air pollution will be caused and that the ash produced can be used as manure. An

earlier waste-to-energy project set up in Timarpur failed. The new one, built with Australian

assistance, will cost 200 crore. It will generate 25 megawatts of power and gobble 1,000 ₹

tonnes of garbage every day.

“Technologies like gasification are a form of incineration,” says Madhumita Dutta, central

coordinator with Toxics Link, New Delhi. Incineration merely transfers hazardous waste from a

solid form to air, water and ash, she points out.

Toxins produced during incineration include acidic gases, heavy metals as well as dioxins and

furans. “The ‘manure’ will be hazardous and a problem to dispose,” says Dutta.

Municipal solid waste contains a mix of plastics. Breaking down this waste emits hydrochloric

acid which attacks the respiratory system, skin and eyes, resulting in coughing, vomiting and

nausea.

Polyethylene generates volatile compounds like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, both suspected

carcinogenic. Breathing styrene from polystyrene can cause leukaemia. Polyurethane is

associated with asthma. Dioxin released by PVC is a powerful hormone disrupter and causes

birth defects and reproductive problems. There is no threshold dose to prevent it and our bodies

have no defence against it.

“Even the best run incinerators in the world have to deal with stringent norms, apart from

contaminated filters and ash, making them hugely expensive to operate,” says Dutta. In

Germany, air pollution devices accounted for two-thirds the cost of incineration. Despite such

efforts, the European Dioxin Inventory noted that the input of dioxin into the atmosphere was the

highest from incineration.

“India does not have the facility to test dioxin and the cost of setting one up is prohibitively

expensive,” says Dutta.

Besides, Indian garbage has a low calorific content of about 800cal/kg, since it has high moisture

and requires additional fuel to burn. Toxics Link calculates that the electricity generated from

such technology will cost between 5-7 per unit, which is six times higher than conventional ₹

energy. India has chosen a dioxin preventive route and burning of chlorinated plastics is​

Answer 1

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