Green Crackers Latest News
Recently, the Supreme Court has permitted only green crackers to be sold in Delhi-NCR region.
About Green Crackers
- Green crackers are fireworks developed by the government’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).
- Green crackers were developed after the Supreme Court banned conventional firecrackers in 2017.
- Three types of green crackers have been developed – SWAS (Safe Water Releasable), STAR (Safe Thermite Cracker), and SAFAL (Safe Minimal Aluminium),
Features of Green Crackers
- They are made by reducing the size of the shells, eliminating ash, using fewer raw materials, and adding dust-suppressing additives.
- There are two main categories of green crackers: improved crackers that modify existing formulations to cut emissions; and new formulation crackers that replace polluting ingredients altogether.
- Metals, which form part of particulate matter, are either minimized or eliminated to reduce toxicity.
- Chemical composition of Green Crackers
- Green crackers, on the other hand, exclude barium compounds, and have drastically-reduced aluminium and sulphur content.
- They rely on cleaner oxidisers and formulations that limit the release of harmful particulates.
- Conventional firecrackers use chemicals such as barium, sulphur, potassium nitrate, and aluminium, which produce bright colours and loud noises. They also release heavy metals and toxic gases into the air.
Advantage of Green Crackers
- They produce brightness and sound comparable to conventional firecrackers (around 100 to120 dB) and reduce particulate matter (PM), SO2, and NO2 emissions by at least 30 per cent.
Identification of green crackers
- Genuine green crackers can be identified through two mandatory features introduced by CSIR-NEERI which include the official Green Fireworks logo printed on the packaging, and
- a unique QR code that can be scanned using the ‘CSIR-NEERI Green QR Code’ mobile app.
- Scanning the code provides details about the manufacturer, formulation, and NEERI certification status of the product.
Source: IE
Green Crackers FAQs
Q1: What are Green Crackers?
Ans: Environmentally friendly crackers designed to reduce pollution
Q2: Why were Green Crackers developed?
Ans: To reduce air and noise pollution during festivals
