Study compliance of environment laws by tyre pyrolysis units: NGT to CPCB

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to assure whether advance batch automated plants can address emission of pollutants due to burning of waste tyres in pyrolysis industries, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to conduct a study within a time frame of four months revealing all the essential data required. As per the NGT bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, NGT Chairperson, the study would be carried out by CPCB along with National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. 

In pyrolysis, old tyres are recycled through a thermochemical process carried out under high temperature to produce industrial oil and other matters.

The CPCB informed the green tribunal that as per an action taken report from the state pollution control boards, there are presently 678 pyrolysis units in 19 states where old tyres are recycled, following which the green tribunal passed the directions. Of the 678 tyre pyrolysis units, 270 were aligned with the environmental norms, informed the CPCB.

“The increase in number of compliance units is mainly due to monitoring by CPCB and SPCBs. SPCBs post direction of CPCB has started process of closing the non-compliance units,” the CPCB said.

The NGT passed its directions, to ban pyrolysis of old tyres in the units which area non-compliant with the environmental norms, during the hearing of a plea moved by an NGO Social Action for Forest and Environment (SAFE).