"The West now understands that waste can be a resource"
Sweden's UNO WINBLAD was not a sanitation engineer but had trained as an architect in London in the late '50s. Those were the days of mounting …
No concrete plans
The Centre for Science and Environment's Green Rating Project team has rated the cement industry. Its findings uncovered some surprises. The …
Brinksman
As Le Clemenceau bobs on the horizon, reactions in India get sharper, noisier. We've discovered occupational safety. Asbestos is used in …
‘Handling toxic waste is a matter of science, not administration’
Whether it is the dismantling of toxics laden ship from the US, Oriental Nicety, or the clean up of the 350 tonnes of waste lying at the defunct …
Two technologies that shape our future
Battery and meters are two widely used technologies, yet no one stops to think how they work. They determine our future. They dictate how we …
The Wasted Earth
Waste has become a global problem, and is demanding curative technologies that require almost preternatural efficiency to execute. And that keep …
The reanimators
Best out of waste? These scientists have taken it further, making a supercomputer out of electronic "junk"
Moneyspinning "cashcows"
Initially born as the good samaritan environmentalist's brainchild, recycling now smacks of a lot of hard cash
What a waste
The government is yet to decide what stand to take on the international trade in recyclable waste as banning it completely will hit industry hard
Cleaning the microbe way
Even the tiniest microbes could help spruce up our foul environment when let loose on domestic waste. Researchers in Delhi are now advocating the …
Fisherfolk thwart bid to reclaim wetlands
A unique fishing cooperative that salvaged the wetlands leased to them by the Calcutta Port Trust has successfully fought off attempts to …
Decentralised wastewater solutions the need of the hour for India
With the country hurtling towards a water crisis and treated wastewater a possible alternative, using models that are different from the …
Wealth from waste
A farmer from Hitapur village in Ludhiana district of Punjab has evolved a system of resourcefully utilising all his farm waste
Private sector gives urban rubbish a new look
With government efforts proving inadequate, private organisations recycle the lion's share of urban waste in India.
Simple systems available to treat sewage
Planners should be made aware of easy techniques that can recycle waste water using little electricity.
Environment friendly is far too often unfriendly
Disposable diapers and paper cups tax the environment, yes, but washing reusable diapers and china cups is just as environment unfriendly, say …
Liquidation of solid wastes
Management of solid wastes is a corollary of triumphing civilisation. But how does one recycle or reuse increasing solid wastes in radically …
Vicious cycle
The Union government dilly-dallies on an expert committee recommendation to ban recycled plastic bags
Burdened by refuse
Industries and local councils have had to come to the rescue of Germany's ambitious recycling programme, which is overwhelmed by a huge volume of …
Jakarta scavengers moan loss of scrap trade
Indonesia is burdened, in more ways than one, by other nations treating it as a dumping ground for their wastes.
Zeroing in on discharge
Innovative ZLD technologies can power wastewater recovery through solar thermal application
'Change perception about wastewater'
Blanca Jimnez-Cisneros, director of the division of water sciences and secretary of International Hydrological Programme, Unesco, talks to …
Water treatment need not cost the earth
Countries like India are increasingly opting for expensive, high-tech water treatment systems instead of low-cost, low-tech water treatment …
Feed it to the earthworm
That is what Lata Srikhande, a Pune housewife, did to solve her domestic waste disposal problems. Now her neighbourhood is following suit