Why Is Digitalization Of Data Critical For Waste Management?

Waste is an emerging problem in the world today. Humans produce millions of tonnes of waste every day. Blame it on the rapidly evolving urbanization or industrialization, solid waste generation has increased by leaps and bounds. While the evolution of technology has worked wonders in supporting urbanization, it has also contributed largely to the per capita income, changing lifestyle, and mindless consumer habits. Unfortunately, these changes, although progressive, have significantly contributed to the size and volumes of waste streams worldwide. Do you know that the future waste generation in India is expected to hit 436 million tonnes by 2050? Yes, we are less than three decades away from a waste-induced apocalypse.

The government, in collaboration with environmentalists, are actively working towards reducing the environmental impacts of waste by establishing a structured waste management process. Speaking of waste management, recycling has been in practice for years now. According to the reports shared by the World Gold Council, India ranks as the fourth largest recycler in the world. From introducing a door-to-door collection of recyclables to setting up recycling plants, the country has come a long way. Regardless of the progress, the waste streams continue to amplify with time, suggesting gaps in the system. It is also not unknown that the country embraces circular economy to make zero waste management in India a beautiful reality. And this brings us to realize and explain the importance of data.

Why is digitalization of data pivotal in waste management?

Waste collection or responsible recycling; data is at the core of every activity. Let’s first understand what data in waste management truly imply. Think about it – there are a large number of waste pickers and segregators operating informally. Does anyone truly know where the waste materials end up or the number of materials that are recycled and recovered? Of course, there’s a number of data that are generated at all points. However, very few data are completely transparent or traceable. The inability to utilize these datasets in capacity impacts the decision-making system and the successful implementation of circular economy in India. Result? The waste keeps piling in the dump zones.

In a recently hosted webinar by Karo Sambhav, the importance of digitizing data has been comprehensively discussed. Lucia Herreras Martinez, the Deputy Director General at the WEEE forum, kicked off the seminar by discussing the advantages of digitizing data to monitor waste management and how it has worked wonders in Europe. Are you aware of EPR? Also known as Extended Producer Responsibility, the environmental policy obligates the PIBOs (Producers, Importers, and Brand Owners) in India to undertake the responsibility of collecting, dismantling, treating, and recycling end-of-life products. In fact, EPR authorization is legally mandatory for businesses to operate. The directives are a strategic approach to curtail the environmental consequences of waste. In Europe, too, there are basic guidelines available to ensure proper management of waste, especially e-waste.

The directives certainly imply a greater workload for the government and policymakers. Wondering why? Well, collecting data, ensuring appropriate implementation of waste legislation, and evaluating and reporting progress to the government authorities the work is quite lengthy. Besides, physically monitoring data is complex and increases the chance of errors. Creating a virtual monitoring system, instead, ensures a simpler way to create, compare, and analyze data when needed. Digital data also makes it easy to check if a company is complying with the EPR rules.

Speaking of waste, little do we realize that it is not truly something people need to get rid of. Instead, waste has an economic value. By establishing recovery and recycling targets set in legislation via EPR, recyclers and the industry in general implement enhanced, monitored and environmentally-friendly practices to treat and lessen the flow of waste around. Besides, the data generated simplifies the monitoring of these practices to ensure the absolute traceability of the waste. Think about it – waste and e-waste, in particular, comprises valuable materials and compounds that are hazardous in nature. And it is undeniably expensive to treat toxic materials. Non-monitoring the process by which the waste is treated creates a gap in the system. This is where the digitalization of data comes into play.  

· It makes monitoring of waste management seamless, easy, and transparent

· Data is an answer to several questions, like are the treatments efficient to process, dismantle, and repurpose waste or should there be a need to raise the charges, is the process useful in keeping the pollution in check, etc.

In simple words, the digitalization of data has made the calculation of recycling and recovery rates a lot less complex. It now enables the government to keep a close eye on the processes executed at the authorized recycling centres, the composition and count of materials recovered from the waste, and the true number of EPR compliances that manufacturers, business owners, and importers abide by. Moreover, digitalization has simplified fluid communication between the PIBOs (Producers, importers, and brand owners), authorized recyclers, and PROs like Karo Sambhav to prepare accurate reports and inform the government about the recycling and recovery rates, the destination of the recovered materials, and so on. Small and critical data sets like such make decision-making by the regulatory bodies less challenging. Digitalization also makes implementing circular economy sustainability solutions targeted and result-driven.