How plastics caused fire & affected air, water, soil, life in Brahmapuram

  • March 29, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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How plastics caused fire & affected air, water, soil, life in Brahmapuram

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context: Spread over 110 acres of land, the Brahmapuram dumpyard caught fire on March 2, 2023. After the heroics of several departments including Fire, Air Force and Navy, the fire was completely doused on March 13.

More on the News:

  • The Brahmapuram fire, which catapulted into the air, atmosphere, water, soil and ultimately life, is a classic example of a ‘plastic chain reaction’.
  • Dumpyards harbour hundred thousand tonnes of mixed municipal solid waste (MSW). MSW has organic waste (50-60 per cent), plastics (8-10 per cent), paper (5-6 per cent) and inert elements (25-30 per cent).
  • Though the percentage of plastics might look miniscule in the overall composition of waste, it is non-biodegradable (percentage composition remains constant) while the organic fraction degrades rapidly since it has 88-94 per cent moisture.
  • The fire was doused using 60,000 litres of water per minute. Many experts believe that this will lead to a very high leachate contamination, which will carry all the toxics straight to the Kadambrayar river, a drinking water source for several areas.
  • The toxins in the water will further be bio-accumulated into fishes and enter human bodies to cause several health issues ranging from nervous disorders to reproductive problems.
  • Kerala CM was counting on the “waste-to-energy (WtE)” plant to turn the tide on the garbage problem.
  • Concerns
    • The electricity produced by WtEs releases more toxins into the atmosphere than the dirty coal fired thermal power plants because it burns plastics.
    • Priced over Rs 7 per kilowatt-hour, WtE produces the costliest form of electricity (more expensive than nuclear energy)
    • Waste collected has very low calorific value (800-1,100 kilocalorie per kilogram) and hence would require additional fuel to burn.
  • Waste-to-energy plants are not the solution.

More details on Waste to energy https://optimizeias.com/waste-to-energy-2/

Solid Waste Management Rules: https://optimizeias.com/kochi-dump-yard-smoke-to-be-contained-in-two-days/

Environment life in Brahmapuram