Keputusan aktiviti ekonomi ambil kira kesan alam sekitar

Source : Berita Harian Online 18/05/10

PERDANA Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, berkata setiap keputusan dan aktiviti ekonomi yang akan dibuat pada masa depan harus mengambil kira kesannya ke atas alam sekitar.

Berikutan itu, katanya, Dasar Teknologi Hijau Malaysia telah dibentuk dengan matlamat menggunakan teknologi secara lebih baik dan cekap, bagi menyokong pemeliharaan alam sekitar.

“Kita menyedari keperluan di samping memacu pertumbuhan ekonomi, kita juga perlu ‘menghijaukan’ ekonomi,” katanya ketika berucap pada mesyuarat sulung Forum Institusi Kewangan dan Monetari (OMFIF) di Kuala Lumpur, Semalam.

Perdana Menteri menambah, kerajaan melihat teknologi hijau memiliki kesan berkembar dalam memacu pertumbuhan ekonomi, selain menangani isu alam sekitar.
Katanya, teknologi hijau boleh dilaksanakan secara menyeluruh di segenap sektor.

“Model Baru Ekonomi (MBE) mengenal pasti pemeliharaan sumber asli sebagai prinsip penting, selain pembiayaan bagi ‘pelaburan hijau’ dapat diperoleh,” katanya.

Teknologi hijau juga, kata Najib, selain mampu merangsang ekonomi, ia juga menawarkan peluang dalam inovasi dan mencipta kemewahan.
Sementara itu, pada peringkat Asean, Perdana Menteri berkata, usaha sedang dilaksanakan untuk mengurangkan perbezaan dalam mencapai matlamat kemajuan dan pembangunan bersama.

“Sepuluh negara anggota Asean mencari jalan untuk membentuk Komuniti Ekonomi Asean iaitu bagi rantau ini sebagai rantau ekonomi yang berdaya saing, stabil dan makmur.

“Dalam usaha mewujudkan ekonomi yang lebih terangkum, kita menjangka pelaksanaan sepenuhnya Kawasan Perdagangan Bebas Asean (Afta) pada tahun ini akan meningkatkan kelebihan daya saing Asean sebagai rantau pengeluaran tunggal,” katanya.

Use of recycled water

ACCORDING to experts, crisis of drinking water can be mitigated through recycling of water. Alongside this, proper treatment of domestic and industrial waste water should be ensured before discharging the same into water bodies to keep surface water clean. They have suggested that the authorities concerned should take immediate measures to stop misuse of water and protect natural resources for sustainable supply. On an average, 160 litres of water is used by each person a day. At least 2,000 litres of water is required to produce each kilogram of rice while plants absorb millions of litres of water every day. People are paying a very small fraction of the cost of water as actual cost of treatment and supply is much higher.

Source :  http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/02/24/news0597.htm

So, water should be carefully used as without this natural resource existence of life is impossible. Though total resources of water of the Earth are inexhaustible, scarcity of fresh water exists in many parts of the world including Bangladesh. Dhaka city with roughly over 12 million population needs at least 200 crore litres of fresh water per day. Moreover, a huge quantity of water is used in industries, mills, factories. Shortage of water in different areas is becoming a serious problem though Bangladesh is termed as rich in fresh water resources.

The shortage is not for growing demand of water for irrigation as well as domestic or industrial uses, but for pollution and fall of ground water tables, destruction of fresh water reservoirs and withdrawal of water from upstream of the country's river system. Due to disturbance of natural flows, most of the rivers are drying up during the lean season and salinity is increasing at downstream. In view of the overall situation, experts have come up with the suggestion of recycling of water to minimise the crisis.

Effective e-waste management needed

Rocketing sales of cell phones, gadgets, appliances forecast in China, India, elsewhere

Sales of electronic products in countries like China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set to rise sharply in the next 10 years.

And, unless action is stepped up to properly collect and recycle materials, many developing countries face the spectre of hazardous e-waste mountains with serious consequences for the environment and public health, according to UN experts in a landmark report released today by UNEP.

Issued at a meeting of Basel Convention and other world chemical authorities prior to UNEP's Governing Council meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the report, "Recycling - from E-Waste to Resources," used data from 11 representative developing countries to estimate current and future e-waste generation - which includes old and dilapidated desk and laptop computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, digital photo and music devices, refrigerators, toys and televisions.

In South Africa and China for example, the report predicts that by 2020 e-waste from old computers will have jumped by 200 to 400 percent from 2007 levels, and by 500% in India

By that same year in China, e-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about 7 times higher than 2007 levels and, in India, 18 times higher.

By 2020, e-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to 2 times higher in China and India while in India e-waste from discarded refrigerators will double or triple.

China already produces about 2.3 million tonnes (2010 estimate) domestically, second only to the United States with about 3 million tonnes. And, despite having banned e-waste imports, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed countries.

Moreover, most e-waste in China is improperly handled, much of it incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals like gold -- practices that release steady plumes of far-reaching toxic pollution and yield very low metal recovery rates compared to state-of-the-art industrial facilities.

"This report gives new urgency to establishing ambitious, formal and regulated processes for collecting and managing e-waste via the setting up of large, efficient facilities in China," says UN Under-Secretary-General Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP. "China is not alone in facing a serious challenge. India, Brazil, Mexico and others may also face rising environmental damage and health problems if e-waste recycling is left to the vagaries of the informal sector.

"In addition to curbing health problems, boosting developing country e-waste recycling rates can have the potential to generate decent employment, cut greenhouse gas emissions and recover a wide range of valuable metals including silver, gold, palladium, copper and indium -- by acting now and planning forward many countries can turn an e-challenge into an e-opportunity," he added.

The report was issued at the Simultaneous Extraordinary Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions on enhancing their cooperation and coordination (ExCOP).

It was co-authored by the Swiss EMPA, Umicore and United Nations University (UNU), part of the global think tank StEP (Solving the E-waste Problem), which includes UNEP and Basel Convention Secretariat among its 50+ members. Hosted by UNU in Bonn, Germany, the think tank convenes experts from industry, government, international organizations, NGOs and science. A grant from the European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment, funded the report's preparation.

The report cites a variety of sources to illustrate growth of the e-waste problem:

• Global e-waste generation is growing by about 40 million tons a year
• Manufacturing mobile phones and personal computers consumes 3 per cent of the gold and silver mined worldwide each year; 13 per cent of the palladium and 15 per cent of cobalt
• Modern electronics contain up to 60 different elements -- many valuable, some hazardous, and some both
• Carbon dioxide emissions from the mining and production of copper and precious and rare metals used in electrical and electronic equipment are estimated at over 23 million tonnes - 0.1 percent of global emissions (not including emissions linked to steel, nickel or aluminum, nor those linked to manufacturing the devices)
• In the US, more than 150 million mobiles and pagers were sold in 2008, up from 90 million five years before
• Globally, more than 1 billion mobile phones were sold in 2007, up from 896 million in 2006
• Countries like Senegal and Uganda can expect e-waste flows from PCs alone to increase 4 to 8-fold by 2020.
• Given the infrastructure expense and technology skills required to create proper facilities for efficient and environmentally sound metal recovery, the report suggests facilitating exports of critical e-scrap fractions like circuit boards or btteries from smaller countries to OECD-level, certified end-processors.

Says Konrad Osterwalder, UN Under-Secretary General and Rector of UNU: "One person's waste can be another's raw material. The challenge of dealing with e-waste represents an important step in the transition to a green economy. This report outlines smart new technologies and mechanisms which, combined with national and international policies, can transform waste into assets, creating new businesses with decent green jobs. In the process, countries can help cut pollution linked with mining and manufacturing, and with the disposal of old devices."

Country Situations

The report assesses current policies, skills, waste collection networks and informal recycling in 11 representative developing economies in Asia, Africa and the Americas:

• China, India
• South Africa, Uganda, Senegal, Kenya, Morocco
• Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, Peru

It also outlines options for sustainable e-waste management in those countries.

The data includes equipment generated nationally but does not include waste imports, both legal and illegal, which are substantial in India, China and other emerging economies.

Broken down by type, the report estimates e-waste generation today as follows:

• China: 500,000 tonnes from refrigerators, 1.3 million tonnes from TVs, 300,000 tonnes from personal computers
• India: over 100,000 tonnes from refrigerators, 275,000 tonnes from TVs, 56,300 tonnes from personal computers, 4,700 tonnes from printers and 1,700 tonnes from mobile phones
• Colombia: about 9,000 tonnes from refrigerators, over 18,000 tonnes from TVs, 6,500 tonnes from personal computers, 1,300 tonnes from printers, 1,200 tonnes from mobile phones
• Kenya: 11,400 tonnes from refrigerators, 2,800 tonnes from TVs, 2,500 tonnes from personal computers, 500 tonnes from printers, 150 tonnes from mobile phones The report also includes data on per capita sales of electrical and electronic goods. For example South Africa and Mexico lead in personal computer sales with the equivalent of 24 sold per 1,000 people. Brazil, Mexico and Senegal generate more e-waste per capita from personal computers than the other countries surveyed.

Way Forward

Developing vibrant national recycling schemes is complex and simply financing and transferring high tech equipment from developed countries is unlikely to work, according to the report.

It says China's lack of a comprehensive e-waste collection network, combined with competition from the lower-cost informal sector, has held back state-of-the art e-waste recycling plants.

It also notes a successful pilot in Bangalore, India, to transform the operations of informal e-waste collection and management.

Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Morocco and South Africa are cited as places with great potential to introduce state of the art e-waste recycling technologies because the informal e-waste sector is relatively small.

Kenya, Peru, Senegal and Uganda have relatively low e-waste volumes today but likely to grow. All four would benefit from capacity building in so-called pre-processing technologies such as manual dismantling of e-waste.

The report recommends countries establish e-waste management centers of excellence, building on existing organizations working in the area of recycling and waste management.

Existing bodies include those supported by the United Nations including the more than 40 National Cleaner Production Centers established by the UN Industrial and Development Organization and the regional centers established under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

Source: United Nations University

Cleanup resumes at illicit toxic dump in Sweden

Source : http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100222/ROCEARTH04/302220009

More than a decade after a prolonged and costly cleanup at the biggest illicit toxic dump site ever found in the Rochester region, workers have returned to the site in the town of Sweden this month to do still more work.

Now a grass-covered field about three miles south of Brockport, the site was an unauthorized burial ground from which more than 2,500 drums and bottles of industrial waste were removed in the 1990s. More than 2,000 tons of contaminated soil was treated on-site to remove toxic chemical residue.

Cleanup of the site, known as Sweden 3-Chapman, cost at least $8.5 million — all of it coming from state coffers. Though dozens of companies were believed to have furnished the wastes that were buried on the property by a former owner, the owner denied any knowledge of the mess and none of the companies accepted responsibility. State officials decided a decade ago they were unlikely to prevail in court.

A Department of Environmental Conservation lawyer told the Democrat and Chronicle several years ago that he could not remember a toxic dump site in this part of New York where the state had spent so much money and recovered nothing from potentially responsible parties.

The DEC now will spend an additional $700,000 in taxpayer money to remove 1,200 cubic yards of soil that remains contaminated with volatile organic chemicals such as tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethene.

The burial site was so large, officials said, that their sampling at the time couldn't find everything.

"The contamination being removed now is located in a small concentrated area of the site that was not detected in the original sampling," said DEC spokeswoman Maureen Wren. Cleanup was needed because on-going monitoring showed groundwater still contains unacceptable levels of those chemicals. To address that, the DEC will inject the groundwater with a relatively harmless chemical compound, potassium permanganate, which will promote degradation of the organic industrial chemicals.

The agency also will install two more monitoring wells to track the contaminated plume of groundwater.

Underground water flows northeastward from the original dump site, located north of Beadle Road and east of Redman Road. Wren noted there are no drinking-water wells in that direction.

"DEC conducts periodic testing of well water from the residents outside the plume area and has not detected any chemicals in the water samples above state standards," she said.

The cleanup plan is a scaled back version of one that was put forth four years ago; after more exploration at the site, DEC officials now believe the scope of the problem is smaller.

Site preparation is already under way at the location, with cleanup work to be done by late spring. Groundwater monitoring will continue and should show whether this second cleanup was adequate.

"If additional work is needed to address the contamination, DEC is committed to performing it," Wren said.

SORR@DemocratandChronicle.com

French Broad gets healthier, but much work remains

Source : http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100222/OPINION01/302220004/1006

The French Broad River is one of the earth’s oldest, flowing before our mountains were even born millions of years ago. But for generations, we’ve not always treated those waters well. Wilma Dykeman, the pioneering writer who first championed the French Broad, wrote in 1955 of a muddy polluted waterway that was “too thick to drink and too thin to plow.”

More than a half century later, stepped-up enforcement has stopped the straight-piping of industrial waste into the waters. Countless volunteers have helped pick up litter and debris, making the French Broad River a destination for paddlers, fishermen or the folks who enjoy a stroll among the many green spaces and parks that have sprung up along its banks.

So there’s good news and bad in the North Carolina Division of Water Quality’s draft report last week that shows 224.5 miles of impaired streams in the French Broad River basin. That’s 69 fewer miles from the year before, showing a promising trend of improvements.

Most of those streams won reprieve from the impaired list submitted regularly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because their waters were clearer, says Hartwell Carson, a water quality specialist with the Western North Carolina Alliance.

Just as it took years of pollution to turn the once-pristine French Broad into a sewer, cleaner waters don’t happen overnight or by accident. It has taken hard work by many.

For all you Asheville residents, if you paid your annual storm water bill earlier this month, you did your share to improve the river. That $28 per single family residence, on top of the monthly water and sewer bills, comes out of already pinched pocketbooks for most residents, but the funds help the city of Asheville hire erosion inspectors and take other measures to keep sediment from fouling the French Broad.

Others contribute their time to guard the river. In his previous job as the French Broad Riverkeeper, Carson trained 100 citizens to monitor construction sites for problems with runoff. Riverlink, the nonprofit group, brings in volunteers regularly to pick up trash along the stream banks and champions green spaces along the flood plain.

There may even be good news for the river in the Great Recession that brought most development to a screeching halt last year. Carson says that slowdown may have meant less erosion and sediment across the French Broad River basin.

Everyone hopes for recovery and new growth with homes and new businesses, but the economic downturn offers some breathing room for the river and for our landscape.

But what about the bad news?

Those miles of streams that were dropped from the impaired list could be quickly added again if development takes off again at the same pace without any erosion oversight, Carson warned. Before we see developments taking shape on fragile mountain slopes, where heavy rains can send sediment straight into the river, we may want to ask what kind of growth do we need, and how do we protect our river and natural resources.

Understand that a clean river isn’t just a tourist attraction, a feel-good luxury. It’s the lifeblood of our communities.

The city’s water treatment plant is situated at the confluence of the Mills River and French Broad, with intake pipes into both currents. At times of low flow, that plant is pulling water from the French Broad.

What was unthinkable in Dykeman’s day, when people blanched at the thought, is an unspoken fact today. Many residents in southern Buncombe and Henderson counties are getting their drinking water from the French Broad.

And far downstream, our neighbors in Knoxville, Tenn., rely on drinking water drawn from the Tennessee River, just below the confluence of the French Broad, which winds over the mountain to join the Holstein River.

Asheville has been here on the banks on the French Broad for only a blink of time, but poor stewardship nearly killed the river once in our own lifetime. We’ll have to work at it if we want those living waters to roll on for generations to come.