GREEN ALANG INITIATIVE: SIGNIFICANCE OF RISK BASED APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY

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1 GREEN ALANG INITIATIVE: SIGNIFICANCE OF RISK BASED APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY Dr. Shyam R. Asolekar Professor Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Mumbai , India Phones , Faxes , THE CONTEXT The ship recycling operation at Alang, India combines the old traditional ship recycling practices to save resources and energy with the application of modern engineering and management knowledge to organize the dismantling processes in a sustainable manner. We should become humble and learn the message from Alang, understand the secrets of their viability and why they will continue to dominate in the international market. In contrast, compare for example what the automobile scapping sector has done so far or airplane scrapping sector has done so far or how consumer durables like washing machines and refrigerators are scrap-piling in the landfills of the socalled industrialized world! Page 1 of 10

2 The existing Ship Recycling industry in Alang is based on a know-how gradually developed over the past 50 years aiming to use the natural energy of wave tides combined with some unique geographical and coastal conditions e.g. a slope of 10 degrees of sandy beach and the quiet ocean. By putting together the obvious advantage of the existence of this unique natural setting described above with the presence of a well-nurtured market that recognizes the commercial value of refurbished used second-hand materials, gadgets and components; the shiprecycling industrial ecology in Alang has proven to be by far the most environment friendly example of industrial ecology. Page 2 of 10

3 OUR PAST EFFORTS OF TRANSFORMING THE ALANG The IIT Bombay team has been studying the ship dismantling sector since year 2000 by visiting Alang in Gujarat and Darukhana in Mumbai year after year as well as by studying analogous problems in the ship repair sector on Shewri mud flats in Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT). Much of the early work was done using our own steam (in-house funding for this research from IIT Bombay). That work attracted attention from all over the world including USA and Japan. We also provided expert opinion on planning of the dry dock recycling facility as well as design of effluent treatment plant at the Pipavav Port Trust, India (a private port project in Pipavav with Indo- Japanese collaboration). At this point, the European Commission recognized our work and invited us to participate in a study conducted by a consortium of partners from government, industry and academia. Page 3 of 10

4 A study project called as ShipDismantl i.e. Cost Effective and Environmentally Sound Dismantling of Obsolete Vessels was funded by the European Commission from 2005 to 2008 and the work was carried out by a consortium of six European partners (two universities and four industry partners) and IIT Bombay - the only Asian partner institution. The project initiated research and development on some of the key issues related to cost-effective and environmentally sound recycling of obsolete vessels irrespective of dismantling methods (beaching, dry dock, floating platform, etc.). An attempt was made for identification, handling, and storage of hazardous wastes on board generated during the process of ship recycling. Further, development of an emergency plan was initiated with the hope that it could help the owners or operators of the ship breaking facilities to minimize and regulate the hazards to human health and environment. Also, guidelines for waste management were developed that delineate treatment and disposal options for hazardous wastes that are generated during ship dismantling. It is hoped that the study carried out in ShipDismantl Page 4 of 10

5 project will help in identifying the hazardous wastes and managing these wastes in an environmentally friendly manner. A preliminary strategy for Occupational Safety and Health Management Plan was also articulated based on a preventive environmental philosophy. The strategy addressed potential health impacts caused by the work conditions and are intended to be applicable to all possible types of ship dismantling facilities, both those mainly based on manual work and those using mechanical methods for large-scale operations even taking into account social parameters related to local conditions. Thus, the project was successfully initiated discussion on critical issues associated with ship recycling activities irrespective of the dismantling method. It was recognized that the true assessment of a given methodology of ship recycling and significant improvement in technology and management can be achieved in ship dismantling sector using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach and preliminary studies have been initiated in that direction using internal funding from IIT Bombay (In-house project). It is intended that an even bigger and more comprehensive study would be undertaken on beaching method versus the dry-dock method. Such a study could involve the estimation of the environmental footprint of each method. The construction and operation phases of ship dismantling facilities required to practice the beaching method and the dry-dock method can also be rationally compared using the LCA approach. This work is in progress. Page 5 of 10

6 Recently we have been contracted by the European Commission to continue the important activities initiated in ShipDismantl project which concluded in The new project funded by the European Commission for a period of three years (concluding in year 2011) is called as DIVEST i.e. Dismantling of Vessels with Enhanced Safety and Technology. The Project is being delivered by an international consortium of twelve partners (a mix of universities, research institutes and industrial players) from nine different countries (France, Germany, Greece, Romania, Sweden, Holland, India, Turkey and Great Britain). Here again the IIT Bombay is the only Asian partner in the consortium. The aim of DIVEST is to provide a holistic understanding of ship dismantling by integrating various requirements and impacts (with associated procedures and processes) from pertinent social, technical, economic and environmental drivers into a single, comprehensive and validated decision support tool (database). With this backdrop, IIT Bombay is poised to launch itself into the proposed project of historic significance. In sum, on the scientific and technological fronts, specifically on the HSEQ-related issues, the IIT Bombay research team has been in collaboration with a number of Swedish research institutions and companies including the University Uppsala, Lund University and the Royal Technical University of Stockholm (KTH). Page 6 of 10

7 THE GREEN ALANG INITIATIVE : OUR EFFORTS CONTINUE! Green Alang initiative is a research-cum-industrial project funded by the Gujarat Maritime Board, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. It started in August 2010 and is expected to conclude in five to ten years keeping IMO s initiatives in perspective along with the know-how of the ship-recyclers community. The basic thrust of Green Alang is to achieve the maximum degree of recycling of as much material as possible by organizing the whole process from ship dismantling and recycling to the markets for the recovered products. Strengthening of the relevant Health Safety and Environmental Quality (HSEQ) features to the already competitive, viable and internationally leading industry was the purpose of initiating the Green Alang Initiative project in the year The Gujarat authorities have entrusted Prof. Shyam Asolekar, Center for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE), IIT Bombay to lead the effort in developing the vision, objectives and project plan. Designing anything from the beginning is always easier than changing and adding elements to a brown-field reality.. especially when their already exists a long tradition of adoption and usage of time-tested industrial methodologies. In such a case, it is necessary to work simultaneously on the development and presentation of new methodologies as well as changing of wrong attitudes and work practices by introducing new policies. Consistent with the objectives of the Green Alang project IIT Bombay has made progress in both of the above mentioned impact areas. According to our experience so far our assessments indicate that working with attitudes and traditional thinking in some cases is worth far more than efforts to develop new technologies and innovations. Page 7 of 10

8 Engineering is very important in all the steps of Green Alang project but more important is to introduce innovations by keeping the fundamental concept of maximum possible recycling of materials. The strategy developed by IITB, aims to utilize the unique characteristics of the existing ship recycling (SR) industry in Alang which is based on collaboration between a group of companies in close proximity. The total objective of maximized recycling is not meant to be achieved on the level of the single Ship Recycling yard but on the level of a group of collaborating yards and companies which are specialized in a number of topics of knowledge and engineering. The IITB-team is not focusing exclusively on the Ship Recycling Yards but on the entire chain of production activities including those outside the SR-facility; considering them as forming an industrial eco-system of ship recycling-related service providers along with a group of dismantling yards. The main challenge for Page 8 of 10

9 the IITB-team has been in making the entire industrial ecological system sustainable. Those criticising beaching methods have little or no experience of recycling a large number of different types of ships. They have, at best, broken a few small ships and committed them to landfill sites. It is important to recognise that hazardous solid waste, non-hazardous solid waste, waste water and other liquid wastes as well as waste gases and materials would be generated irrespective of the method of ship breaking - either mechanised or manual operation. There is an urgent need for the critics of the beaching method of ship recycling to realise that ships need to be scrapped not only at the end of their design lives, but often earlier as per the implementation of regulations or the demand of market forces, in an economically viable manner, as they are high value assets which cannot be simply given away to ship recyclers at a cost to the ship owner! The International Maritime Organization s International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships is indeed a most welcome step since it has provided, for the first time, an international convention that addresses and hopefully systematises all the operations of the SR-yards, so that health and safety of workers and prevention of pollution of the environment, both at sea and ashore, can be ensured and verified. In sum, ship recycling by beaching method, as carried out in the Indian subcontinent, can become an environmentally and economically sound practice and safe for workers provided some serious efforts can be made by all the concerned players. The industry is labour as well as capital intensive. Therefore ship recycling solutions that are economically viable for all stakeholders and that are fair and equitable for worker s considering the socio-economic situation in the region is the key for long term success. Page 9 of 10

10 FINAL THOUGHTS It is envisaged that the activities in Green Alang Initiative have been broadly divided into three phases, namely: Phase I: Study of episodic pollution from different kinds of ships and analysis of data (including Warships, Large passenger liners, International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) vessels, Oil and chemical tankers, and Fishing and fish-factory vessels). Phase II: Identification of potential preventive environmental interventions that could lead us in the direction of cleaner and greener dismantling and recycling of ships in Alang. These activities could eventually help in developing decision support system (DSS) for ship-specific green dismantling plan. Phase III: Multi step iterative process for development, improvement and validation of preventive environmental technologies through involvement of multiple stakeholders and multiple layers of research and technological development and implementation in real-life situations. There is no option as attractive as complete recycling because any alteration leading to a lesser extent of recycling and reuse will necessarily generate a larger environmental footprint and associated adverse health impact. Complete recycling of materials, objects and metals from the ship at its end-of-life is the most important feature of ship recycling in Alang, India. There is no equal of it anywhere in the World! The Award Winning Safety Officers with Prof. Shyam Asolekar at the Valedictory Ceremony at the end of a training programme in Alang, India Page 10 of 10