No payment to contractors if recycled building materials are not used: Delhi government

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has been asked to come up with an order which would make the use of products made from recycled construction waste mandatory.

In order to boost the sale of building materials such as tiles produced from recycled construction waste, the Delhi government is planning to stop payments of contractors who won’t use these items, said a senior government official familiar with the development.

Workers at a C&D waste recycling plant in New Delhi. All such plants in the city are incurring losses.(Amal KS/HT File Photo)

Civic agencies have also been asked to identify sites where construction and demolition (C&D) waste could be dumped so that it could be collected and taken to recycling plants. While some municipal corporations have already started night inspections to stop illegal dumping of C&D waste, the agencies have also proposed to install CCTV cameras at spots where such waste is dumped illegally.

Delhi generates around 3,900 tonnes of C&D waste every day. There are three plants at Jahangirpuri, Shastri Park and Rani Khera, which can treat up to 2,650 tonnes per day and come up with recycled products such as sand and tiles. But with hardly any takers for these products, all the C&D waste recycling plants are incurring losses.

Now the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has been asked to come up with an order which would make the use of such products mandatory. The decision was taken in a meeting held by the chief secretary in June this year.

“DPCC to pass an order regarding stopping the payment of bills of contractors, if products from C&D waste recycling facilities are not being used by the contractor in certain percentage in his projects,” stated the minutes of the meeting held in June.

The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi had also directed all government agencies in the city to increase the use of recycled products from construction and demolition plants in their projects.

“The issue has been discussed and an order will be issued soon. It has been also circulated among government agencies and civic bodies. According to a 2015-advisory issued by the DPCC at least 2% of the materials used in government buildings and 10% for road, works should be recycled products from such plants. Also, such products would have to be used in at least 5% of nonstructural applications in individual houses and buildings,” said a senior DPCC official.

C&D waste is the second biggest contributor to Delhi’s dust pollution after road-dust, according to a report by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). While road dust pushes up the city’s air pollution by 35%, dust from C&D sites adds another 21%. In the last winter, teams deployed by the CPCB reported that the maximum violation of green norms that led to air pollution in Delhi was taking place at C&D sites.

“A large portion of Delhi’s pollution comes from this sector. If the government can bring down illegal dumping of such waste and take them to recycling plants, it would make a difference. But to make the recycling plants sustainable, it should be made mandatory for government agencies at least to use the recycled products,” said D Saha, former head of the CPCB’s air quality laboratory.