
NEW DELHI: With government agencies in Delhi-NCR failing to meet the target set for using construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycled products, the Central Public Work Department (CPWD) has asked all departments to ‘take pride’ in consuming reprocessed waste generated from construction, renovation, and demolition of concrete structures such as houses, roads, and bridges.
The remark was made in a review meeting held to check the progress of the usage of recycled material by the director general (D-G) of CPWD and the joint secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
Following the deliberation on low take-off of the C&D waste material by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and CPWD, the officials agreed to introduce mandatory provisions for usage of 20 per cent recycled sand and other aggregates — conforming to the specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)—in tenders to achieve the target.
The manufacturers of pre-cast tiles are also to be mandated for using 20 percent recycled materials from C&D plants as per the specifications.
According to the minutes of the meeting seen by this newspaper, quarterly demand of C&D recycled waste material should be shared in advance with the operators of the plants for planning and scheduling plant operations by the contractors.
“Government department start taking pride in using recycled materials and share in annual and sustainability reports,” read the minutes.
Instructions were also issued to all officials concerned to upload details of utilizations of recycled material on the dedicated module every month.
In December, the ministry conveyed its displeasure to the CPWD as it had failed to meet the off-take target of utilisation of C&D waste products for three consecutive years. It noted that ‘overall performance of the department has been poor over the preceding years due to lack of will, vision and action plan. The department, in its response, cited imposition of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the national capital as one of the reasons for not achieving the target.
The government has been pushing for increased consumption of recycled C&D waste products such as paver blocks, Kerb stones, blocks, paver tiles, recycled aggregates, and manufactured sand under its flagship programme Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
20 percent recycled sand
The officials agreed to introduce mandatory provisions for usage of 20 per cent recycled sand and other aggregates — conforming to the specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) — in tenders to achieve the target.