Promoting Resource Efficiency
through Policy Interventions in India


C
urrent trends and processes in resource production and consumption are unsustainable due to nature’s dwindling capacity to assuage our burgeoning material and energy needs. Continuing this path of resource exploitation will prove to be detrimental to both the health of the national economies and human societies. Besides, our actions will have widespread consequences, potentially causing large-scale environmental degradation resulting in massive biodiversity loss. This is particularly significant for emerging economies like India, where these impacts will be borne disproportionately by the poor and vulnerable, who are ill-equipped to tackle them. This necessitates identification and adoption of effective measures, in a timely manner, that promote responsible resource utilisation without compromising socio-economic development.

Enhancing Resource Efficiency (RE) or Resource Productivity has emerged as a promising solution for addressing the concerns highlighted above and facilitating decoupling of resource utilisation and environmental impacts. RE is expressed as a ratio between a given benefit or result and the natural resources use required for it. Successful implementation of RE leads to a host of benefits namely alleviation in resource stress, enhancement in resource security, strengthening of society’s resilience to supply disruptions and other volatilities, among others.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) has proposed to introduce the National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP) 2019 with a mission to establish resource efficiency in the country. The policy shall facilitate RE across all critical resources like metals, minerals, fossil fuels, biomass, air, water, land, forests etc. over their entire life cycle, i.e. from extraction of raw materials till end-of-life management.

Through the NREP, the government intends to provide a supportive regulatory framework to institute resource efficiency and productivity by leveraging cross-sectoral synergies, formulating policy instruments and action plans and developing rigorous implementation and monitoring frameworks.

The policy describes resource efficiency strategies for seven relevant sectors viz. automotive sector, plastic packaging sector, building and construction sector, electrical and electronic equipment sector, solar photo voltaic sector, steel sector and aluminium sector.

In India, the building and construction sector plays a key role in the overall economy progress, contributing nearly 9% share of the total national income. It is also highly resource intensive, responsible for around 20% of all material demand, making it the second largest sector-wise consumer in the country. Specifically, it accounts for 30% of the overall electricity, 92% of overall limestone, 40–45% of steel, 85% of paint and 65–70% of glass consumption in the country. In addition, the sector produces an enormous amount of waste, both during the construction and destruction phases. The resulting Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste provides great potential to be used as a raw material for construction, thereby reducing demand for primary materials.

The National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP) 2019 prescribes the following broad actions that are required to be carried out to effectively bring about RE:

i. Develop codes and standards for quality of secondary raw materials to ensure confidence in the product.

ii. Public tenders to include quotas for locally sourced materials.

iii. Greater use of indicator frameworks and green rating schemes that enable comparability between building concepts with regards to their environmental impacts.

Correspondingly, the following nationwide targets have been set:

i. Municipalities in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to start inventorising construction and demolition waste data by 2022.

ii. Recycling rate for C&D waste to reach 50% by 2025 and 75% by 2030.

iii. By 2025, 30% of total public procurement of materials for civil construction from recycled materials.

Although progressive, the policy is just the first step towards reaching the ultimate goal of establishing a thriving economic system that is in harmony with nature. Its success will not only depend upon ensuring its potency but also in maintaining its relevance, effected through constant improvements.

References:
http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Draft-National-Resourc.pdf
https://www.devalt.org/images/L2_ProjectPdfs/MarketevaluationreportforrecoureefficiencyusingCDwaste.pdf?Oid=122


 

Kranav Sharma
ksharma1@devalt.org

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