Streamlining the implementation of hazardous waste management for its effective disposal, the government has decided to ban the import of tyres, waste edible fats, animal and vegetable oils and critical care medical equipment for the purpose of recycling.
Bringing amendments to the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008, expected to be notified soon by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the import of tyres, household and edible fats waste, oils of animal and vegetable origin and critical care medical equipment have been added to the prohibited list, a top ministry official said.
The changes to the Act were made as vegetable oils and animal fats are said to produce similar effects on <g data-gr-id="20">environment</g> as by petroleum oils. They can cause devastating environmental effects such as coating animals and plants with oil and suffocating them by oxygen depletion. “There are about 41,523 hazardous industries in India generating 7.90 million tonnes per annum of waste,” he said. These wastes are categorised into three components – recyclable, land fillable and incinerable.