Waste management is a critical issue in the Indian apparel industry and now the Government is getting strict with the execution of the law related to it. Recently, leading apparel exporter of India, Orient Craft, was at the receiving end when Noida Authority fined the Indian manufacturing behemoth Rs. 10 lakh for violation of waste disposal and management norms.
The Gurgaon-based company has around 26 manufacturing units in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.
A senior official of the company, however, maintained that the concerned authority penalised them ‘inappropriately’ without even hearing them out.
Meanwhile, sources told Apparel Resources that Noida Authority itself was recently penalised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), consequent to which its officials resorted to targeting big entities to arrange the fine amount as imposed by the NGT.
As per the challan issued by the NGT that Apparel Resources managed to see, it was underlined, “Lot of plastic was found in use. Gross violation observed on account of litter management, waste management, and health and hygiene. No document could be produced to establish compliance with SWM Rules 2016. Awareness level was also found lacking…”
“We fined Orient Craft Rs. 10 lakh after solid waste was found in bulk quantity at their site,” said a senior official of Noida Authority, who was part of the team that inspected the company’s facility.
Speaking to Apparel Resources, Pawan Arya, VP-Operation of Orient Craft said, “In the evening a team of 15 members came to our unit and in 5 minutes issued a challan without even meeting the senior officials of the factory or speaking to them. We are following the rules and have all systems in place, right from the dustbin to waste yard and recycling. We will soon meet the Noida Authority officials and present them the facts…It is wrong to issue the challan without even hearing us out.”
It is pertinent to mention here that supplying apparels to many globally renowned brands, Orient Craft boasts of a green factory in Chopanki (Rajasthan).
When contacted, a senior official of the Noida Authority refused to comment while maintaining that they have a video recording of the said inspection to prove their point.
Solid waste: Major points to take care of
Solid waste encompasses construction and demolition waste, and plastic waste (includes polythene bags), biomedical waste, hazardous waste and e-waste. Last year, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) notified the new SWM Rules, 2016. Important points of these rules include source segregation of waste to channelise the waste to wealth by recovery, reuse and recycle. In case gathering of more than 100 persons at any licensed/unlicensed place, the organiser(s) will have to ensure segregation of waste at source and handing over of segregated waste to waste collector or agency, as specified by the local authority.
Collect back scheme for packaging waste: Owners who sell or market their products in non‐biodegradable packaging material, should put in place a system to collect back the packaging waste generated due to their production.
Per annum India generates more than 62 million tonnes of waste, out of which 5.6 million tonne is plastic, 0.17 million tonne biomedical waste, 7.90 million tonne hazardous waste and 15 lakh tonne e-waste.
As per the Government of India, waste generation will increase from 62 million tonnes to about 165 million tonnes by 2030.