Ladakh has progressed a lot in recent years in developing a sound waste recovery mechanism, but there is still a lot more to be done to make Ladakh 100 per cent zero waste
A woman carries a bag of waste in Leh. Photo: iStock Climate change has truly reached our doorstep and is knocking at our doors. Having said that, a wide range of equally disastrous environmental issues are being taken somewhat lightly, especially in the high Himalayas. One of them is waste management.
It is no secret that Ladakh faces a huge challenge of waste management like the rest of the country. We Ladakhis often see plastic wrappers and bottles flowing in our streams and rivers, waste being burned near houses and burgeoning dumpyards on roadsides.
The threats of mismanaging waste are immense. Burning plastics can release toxic gases like furans and dioxins that are harmful to humans and animals.
Wet waste can lead to the problem of feral dogs if it is not managed properly. This, in turn, can wreak havoc on wildlife present in micro ecosystems. It is something that is ongoing nightmare in Ladakh.
Micro-plastics that enter the soil and water, also release chemicals that affect the chemistry of the two.
Waste collected from in and around Leh, the capital of Ladakh, was taken for a long time to a landfill popularly known as ‘Bomb Garh’. This landfill, which was hidden between the mountains with smoke constantly emanating from it, was and continues to be Leh’s dark secret.
More than 500 stray dogs feed on food waste at the site. Many would thus agree that Bomb Garh reveals the nasty side of an unsustainable ecosystem supported by mindless consumerism and commercialisation.
Bomb Garh still burns even as better strategies have been implemented by the municipality, like setting up a new material recovery Facility.
PlanetFirst Recycling, a waste management social enterprise, decided to tackle the growing problem of waste in Ladakh. PlanetFirst has set up a scrap buying and selling network connected to all satellite Solid Resource Management Centres, run by the administration of the Union Territory.
These centres are equipped with the necessary machinery that segregate and turn recovered material into compressed pellets / bales, which are then further sold to PlanetFirst for recycling and scientific disposal.
It was also found that the food leftovers from Army camps in Changthang were being dumped in the open. This attracte free-ranging dogs who started hunting local wildlife including snow leopards and black necked cranes (state bird of Ladakh) when not fed.
PlanetFirst installed an organic waste composter near the Galwan valley. The project was monitored for a year including during the the peak winters of -35 degrees Celsius. The machine performed in a desired manner during this time.
PlanetFirst also introduced the the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Devcelopment Council and the Union territory administration to the concept of Deposit Return System.
The team was able to pull in TOMRA, inventors of Reverse Vending Machine(RVM), a Norwegian company to present this unique and modern collection mechanism being followed all over Europe for efficient waste recovery.
The model involves setting up a deposit for consumers on all packaging materials. Once the packaging material is returned, the deposit collected will be returned to the consumer. This system encourages source segregation and collection of scrap from all stratas of the society.
The team has been actively involved in building various policies and plans around environment and waste management in Ladakh. The District Environment Management plan was curated by the team, along with the district waste management and district plastic waste management plan.
PlanetFirst’s active involvement in the waste management ecosystem of Ladakh has led to various bold decisions around collection and recovery of waste across the Union territory. One of its team members, Rohit Joshi has been appointed as a member of the Union territory-level plastic committee.
Ladakh stands at a crucial juncture, where the people are in a connundrum of exploiting the local resources and its flora and fauna as they aim for increased tourism or pushing for the conservation of its sensitive ecosystem.
The ambiguity around the conservation efforts stands as it is, but there are individuals and organisations fighting to bring in a fresh perspective on the balance between economic growth and land conservation.
PlanetFirst is also cognisant of the fact that protecting the environment is not the responsibility of one but of everyone. Therefore, PlanetFirst is also working towards spreading the message of ‘zero waste’ through community engagements. After all, the survival of the natural environment and species can only be possible through collective efforts.
Ladakh has progressed a lot in recent years in developing a sound waste recovery mechanism, but there is still a lot more to be done to make Ladakh 100 per cent zero waste. The biggest stakeholder remains the Indian Army, which is yet to incorporate a waste recovery mechanism.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth
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