Recently, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has carved a new category of industries called the ‘blue category’ industries based on the Essential Environmental Services (EES) for managing the pollution due to anthropogenic activities.
- The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has included the highly polluting ‘waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration’ as a part of its revised scheme in ‘blue category’ industries.
- Until recently, the waste-to-energy incineration industries were classified by the CPCB as a ‘red category’.
What are Essential Environmental Services?
- Essential Environmental Services: It may be defined as those facilities which are essential to control, abate and mitigate pollution generated from Domestic and Industrial activities
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About Revised “Classification of Sectors into Red, Orange, Green, White and Blue Categories” Report 2025
- Incentive: The EES sector or the “Blue Category sector” will get an additional 2 years validity for consent to operate (as per Pollution Index) as an incentive for the essential services.
- Principle: The Revised categorisation is based on “precautionary principle” or potential of industries to pollute the environment.
- Category Sector Index: The category of the sector is decided based on the following ranges of Pollution Index,
- Red: Pollution Index score more than 80
- Orange: Pollution Index score between 55 and 80
- Green: Pollution Index score between 25 and 55
- White: These are practically non polluting Industries with a score less than 25.
- Industries Included: The category includes a total of 9 industries,
- Compressed Biogas Plants: CBG plants based on feedstock like municipal solid waste, agro-residue, energy crops/grass/weeds, etc
- CBG plants based on industrial or process waste will continue to be in the red category.
- Others: Composting, biogas, material recovery facilities, Waste to Energy Plants and sewage treatment plants.
About Categorisation of Industrial Sectors 2025
- Origin: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2016 has developed a scoring methodology based on the Pollution Index (PI) to harmonize the criteria for categorizing industries.
- The Pollution Index (PI) was determined by evaluating water pollution, air pollution, and hazardous waste generation
- Objective: The categorisation of Industries has been introduced for facilitating decisions related to the location of the industries, formulation of norms for inspection and surveillance, pollution caused and health impacts.
- Methodology:
- Water Pollutant Score (PIW): Assesses the water pollution potential considering the oxygen demand of wastewater, other pollutants in the wastewater and quantity of wastewater generated.
- Air Pollutant Score (PIA): Evaluates the potential air pollution due to process emissions (point source), work zone emissions (fugitive and odour) and type & quantity of fuel used.
- Waste Pollutant Score (PIH): Considering the type and quantity of waste (which are hazardous/toxic/infectious/bulk in nature) generated.
Waste- to-Energy (WTE) Incineration Plants
- Waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plants are facilities that convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into energy by burning it.
- The heat generated in the process is used to produce steam, ultimately powering a turbine to generate electricity.
- Pollution Potential:
- Highly Polluted: The WTE plants discharges harmful flue gas such as SOx, NOx, HCL, PM, Dioxins and Furans, water effluent with toxic pollutants and hazardous bottom/fly ash that needs to be disposed of in a secured scientific landfill.
- Pollution Index Score: The waste-to-energy incineration industries were classified by the CPCB as a ‘red category’ before being upgraded to blue category. It is considered a highly polluting industry with a PI of 97.6.
- Dirty Electricity: The WTE plants produce electricity that is dirtier than coal, as they emit more CO2 per unit of electricity.
- Carcinogenic: A CPCB inspection on the three WTE plants in Delhi has revealed that the plants released a cocktail of carcinogens over and above the set standards.
- Delhi’s WTE plants: It burnt 7,35,840 tons of plastic or 2000 tons of plastic every day in FY 2022-2023 directly translating into high chloride content in Delhi’s air.
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