HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB)’s move of playing an advisory role to the industries across the state has begun paying dividends with an increasing number of industries adopting the concept of green productivity.
Introduced by the board to contain environmental pollution, the concept of green productivity has been demonstrated as a successful model for cutting down on pollution while making profit at the same time and it has caught the fancy among various industrial sectors in the state.
“One’s waste can become the raw material for another industry. This is the strategy behind green productivity which we need to increasingly adopt in our state. It is the key for pollution prevention as recycle and reuse is considered before finally treating the waste. The strategy is increasingly being employed by various industries,” says joint chief environment engineer, APPCB, B Madhusudana Rao.
The Cleaner Production Cell (under the APPCB) was set up in 2000 and began its work by creating a data base of all the major industries across the state. It also simultaneaouly made a databank of how waste from one sector could be recycled and reused to manufacture other industrial products.
On the one hand, this reduces the cost of waste treatment and on the other, the recycled wastes bring in profits either by using it in the same industry or selling it as raw material to other industries.
The databank enables industries to find a way to dispose off of its industrial waste in a profitable manner. “The Cleaner Production Cell provides specific information on what kind of waste can be recycled for which industry and points out buyers for the specific waste products as well. We have also been providing the knowhow and assistance to industries to make the equipment needed to reuse and recycle the by-products,” he added.
