E-Dialogues 24.0 | World Environment Day
Circular economy at base of restoring planet earth All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) in collaboration with UNCRD, Institute for Special Planning and Environment Research (ISPER), and 3R Waste Foundation, organised a webinar on June 5 on ‘3R & Circular Economy for Restoring Ecosystem and Achieving Clean Water, Land, and Air’ to mark the occasion of the World Environment Day. The webinar was organised as a pre-event of UNCRD’s 11th 3R and Circular Economy Forum 2021, which is scheduled to be held in Moscow later this year
D
r Kulwant Singh, CEO, 3R Waste Foundation, began by welcoming eminent speakers for the webinar. Professor Asit K Biswas, Distinguished Professor, Glasgow University, United
44 June 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
Kingdom, started his keynote address by mentioning the need to rethink the philosophy of 3R and circular economy and go beyond it in view of the ever continuing growth in science, technology, and understanding of the global issues of environment and
development. He first discussed why Indian norms involve provision of providing 130 litres of water per person per day, when the fundamental question of how much water on average a person needs to lead a healthy and productive life remains unasked and unanswered globally. He mentioned how Wales Water Regulator had suggested last year that all the water utilities of England and Wales should reduce their per capita water consumption by half by 2050 reducing it to 71 litres from the current 141 litres per capita. A study done in Singapore says that a person needs around 75 litres of water per day to lead a healthy and productive life, and this amount involves water consumption for aesthetic choices as well. Prof Asit said that reducing the per capita water consumption in India to a level that does not impact health or productivity will ensure production of less waste water, as nearly 80-85 per cent of water consumption in a household is turned to waste. He said, “Waste water is a tremendous source of energy,” and his presentation elaborated on different ways cities have adopted to channelize the energy from waste water, like the city of Aarhus and Durham. Dr Ashwani Luthra, Professor, GRD School of Planning, Amritsar, was the next speaker. He talked about restoration of urban ecosystem in the post-COVID world. His suggestions included working on hap hazardous urban sprawl by going for compact development, and integrated townships, with ecosystem
