Waste economy

This refers to the news report, ‘Adoption of waste economy in Pakistan to save money, environment’ (Apr 28). The writer points towards an extremely important issue – adoption of waste economy. He says that Pakistani entrepreneurs are gradually moving towards making the best use of consumed products, and by doing so, they do not only save money, but the environment as well. Through refurbishing of old machinery and equipment, they can be brought to a workable and better looking condition. The writer has taken the example of an out of order photocopy machine. The servicing/refurbishing company will recover this machine through replacement of some of its parts, while retaining the mainframe and other major assemblies. The refurbished machine would work as efficiently as a new one and could be sold at 60 percent of its original value. We can also take the case of a wind turbine that has served the owner for 25 years. If it is refurbished, it would get a new lease of life for another ten years. The cost of a 1 MW wind turbine is roughly $1 million. Its refurbishment would cost just a fraction of this amount. This is a good example for our entrepreneurs to make the best use of consumed products and not throw them away as junk.

Similarly, some companies throw away their power generators as junk. These generators could be over-hauled or re-built and made fit for further use. Even aircraft are being rebuilt at rebuilding facilities in the world and not thrown away as junk. The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra is one of such facilities in Pakistan. Had this facility not been established at the appropriate time, the country would’ve been drained of its foreign exchange. After getting rebuilt, an aircraft gets a new lease of life to give service for another few years which’s a lot of saving for the country.

Air-Cdre (r) Azfar A Khan

Karachi