India International Recycle & Waste Management Exhibition 2008
Waste management: The new buzz word
Thomex.com
In India, recycle and waste management is a new buzz word among entrepreneurs looking for fresh business opportunities in eco-friendly and sustainable development. Although still at a nascent stage, the movement is fast spreading in metro cities with genuine concern for the fast depleting natural resources.
A more than Rs 500-crore-industry, waste management covers a wide range of product and services related to solid & liquid waste collection, disposal and management, hazardous & toxic waste management and reduce-reuse-recycle solutions. The waste management, experts feel, will see a spurt as India's population exerts an excruciating pressure on India's limited resources.
According to a 1995 UN report, India's 40 per cent population of over 400 million people will be living in the cities generating about 125,000 metric tonnes of waste by 2030 from its present 40,000 metric tonnes. Experts feel that unless a sound technology is evolved to solve the problem, waste generation could pose serious threat to human health.
It was keeping in view the above need that a three-day conference-cum-exhibition 'India International Recycle & Waste Management Exhibition (IIRWM 2008)' was organised here in New Delhi from August 16-18. Attended by Government agencies, public sector, municipalities, NGOs and Private Sector, the show was well received by people and exhibitors alike.
"We took an international perspective to the show and hoped that more and more people from other states will participate during the extended weekend holidays. This is the first time that such an event is being organised in India. It will take sometime before it bears its fruits," said Albert Khan of India Recycle & Waste Management, the organiser of the show.
Mick Truitt, VP Sales, Marketing & Business Development, Ludlum Measurements said that he received good response from the people. "The show provided us a good opportunity to showcase our products. India is a growing market and we being the leader in our segment for the fast 45 years would definitely like to have our presence here," said Truitt.
"There were lots of companies who contacted us to represent us in India, but we thought of having a direct participation and came here to interview some of the companies for the purpose," said Truitt.
Atul Mehtrotra of Finolex Cables who was showcasing his CFL and other energy-saving products said that the show was on the expected line and was able to manage a fairly good crowd.
Prashant Bharti of Ion Exchange who is into waste water treatment was of the opinion that the show elicited good response in terms of business. He said, "Although there were no huge crowd, the people who came to visit the show were genuine people interested in our products. We received more than 15-16 visitors a day most of whom were from government, municipal corporations and civic bodies."
Ion Exchange which is also into solid waste management makes products for communities, industries and for domestic use. "As there is scarcity of water in all major cities, recycling is the only alternate. We have been in this business for decades and have been offering viable solution," said Bharti.
Manik Thapar of Ecowise Waste Management, a Noida-based company, which started operations two years ago, said that the show could not attract the adequate crowd which it promised. "Initially we were told that there will be massive advertisements, including on TV, to create awareness about the show, but nothing was done. The show was ill-managed and there was poor response from the public," said a dejected Thapar.
A similar response was aired by Narvir Sharma of JBM Auto Limited who makes tippers for transporting the solid waste. "The show was not up to our expectations. We expected more people to come to our stalls and from various backgrounds. The scale of business the show has generated however, will be clear only after sometime," said Sharma who received about 15-20 visitors a day.
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