What eep Madurai is about.

Electroplating – the process used to coat components with a thin, even layer of metal – is among the most harmful sectors of industry. Emissions include acid fumes and spent dyebaths which contain a panoply of toxic substances in high concentrations – ranging from lead, arsenic, and cadmium to mercury and dioxins.

In Madurai, India, some 100 small electro­plating units are scattered among residential areas, their emissions polluting the urban sewage network and posing a considerable health and environmental risk to their neighbourhood. Public complaints on this issue have grown considerably of late.

To remedy the problem, it was decided to relocate the processing units to an industrial estate off the city centre – an eco-industrial estate, equipped with a state of the art effluent treatment, and a sewerage and metal recovery system.

What eep Madurai aims at.

eep Madurai’s vision is to solve rather than shift

the problem of environmental contamination caused by the electroplating sector in Madurai: For the cluster of enterprises bundled in the Eco-Electroplating Park, the project encompasses both a management and a technological treatment of the hazardous effluents, targeting to avoid metal sludges. The core objective, then, is to set up an eco-electroplating park using environmentally clean technology with zero liquid discharges, and to introduce the enterprises with tools and techniques of cleaner production.

This is not to remain a once-only effort, however – experience reaped here shall help find solutions to similar settings in India and the wider South Asian region, and facilitate environmental technology transfer between Europe and Asia.

How to achieve this.

Following a thorough assessment of current production processes and chemical analyses of effluent and sludge composition, project staff and entrepreneurs will identify technological options for individual and central level effluent treatment. The set-up of technology will necessarily be carried out by stages, its concept, however, is designed to allow for zero discharge upgrade from the outset.

The technological facilities will be complemented by the introduction of integrated environmental management approaches. This includes good house­keeping practices, chemical substitution measures and waste minimisation. Using guided tours, stakeholder meetings and an on-site capacity building programme as well as internet and poster presentations, eep Madurai will support entrepreneurs in gearing production towards environmental sustainability.

Who is involved.

Key actors are the electroplating entreprises in Madurai, who are challenged to implement new cleaner production processes while relocating their workshops. The Electro Platers and Metal Finishers Association (EPMFAT) is charged with the facilitation of the project in the EEP, forming the bridge to the enterprises. The University of Leoben supplies international expertise in industrial wastewater treatment, while GTZ ASEM holds responsible for the technical coordination in India. Adelphi Research takes on demonstration activities in India and project management in Europe.