(US-AEP) could see investments or projects in India promoted by
the U.S. in the areas of bio-medical waste and solid waste
management.
Speaking to The Economic Times, Alexander Patico, senior
programme officer of the environmental exchange initiative, said:
"Several companies are interested in the Asia region, with
some specifically in India��.
Incidentally, the US-AEP resulted from a U.S. presidential
initiative in �92, focusing on a "clean revolution in East
and Southeast Asia".
U.S.-based Sanitec, a leader in advanced medical waste
treatment technologies, is one company which has clearly come
forward to outline its intentions to participate in Indian
projects. Mark S Taitz, Sanitec's director, business development,
said he envisaged his company to be involved in "at least
$20m�� worth of bio-medical waste management projects in the
country over the next 2-3 years.
Mr. Taitz added that the ventures would be "built, owned
and operated by our Indian associate AMEXP��. AMEXP's
president Nick Lalvani said Sanitec is likely to generate an
outlay of about $5-7m only for West Bengal over the next 1-2
years.
According to Arup Mitra, who oversees the US-AEP wing at the
U.S. consul general's Calcutta office, amongst other waste
management companies which have shown a "sincere��
keenness about India and West Bengal, are Beckton Dickinson and
San-I-Pak.
Mr Patico stated that the US-AEP covers a "wide range of
subject areas��, including policies, market-based initiatives
and clean technology. "But, for the programmer's
sustainability, both financial costs and responsibility must be
shared," he stressed.
The US-AEP comes up with matching grants with the help of
partners to back up the exchange projects. The advisor to the
state of Washington on medical waste management, Wayne Turnburg,
while describing himself more as a "policy maker and
regulator��, said the U.S. was still catching up on a lot of
facets in this sphere. "The U.S. just has about 10 years of
experience in this field.�� Alternative technologies for
medical waste management involve microwave, radio wave and
variations on steam sterilization.
