Review on Solid Waste Management Practice in India

Muhamed Sabin S S (17122029)

I. Abstract

The volume of municipal solid waste in India has been increased day by day as a

result of rising incomes, unplanned and at the same time rapidly growing urbanisation

and changing lifestyles. All these phenomena are resulted in increased composition of solid

waste items like plastic and other inorganic materials. Recent researches show that, by 2031

the volume of waste is projected to increase from 64-72 million tonnes at present to 125

million. Solid Waste management is a complicated process as it needs to mange waste items

such as industrial, agricultural, municipal, transport etc. This paper focuses on one of the

necessarily resolving problems, that is the management of municipal waste generated across

the country and the treatment of this in order to protect environment. It‟s a clearly known fact

that municipal waste is one of the major headaches and the root of environment problems of

most of the cities in our country. UN effective management leads to hazardous inhabitant. An

attempt has been made to provide comprehensive review the characteristics, generation,

collection and transportation, disposal and treatment technologies of MSW practiced in India

is stated here and discussed. This paper gives current scenario of India with respect to

municipal solid waste quantity, quality and its management.

II. Introduction

India, one of the developing countries in the world is the second most populated as

well as the second fastest growing economy. During the period of 2001-2028, it is expected

that the population of India will increase from 1029 million to 1400 million, an increase of

42% in 26 at the rate of 5.2% annually. About 852 million people live in rural areas and

325 million live in urban areas. It can be able to notice level of increase in the rate of
urbanization of the country from 26.5% to 38% in the last 50-60 years and by 2026 it is

expected to rise to 44%. We can notice an important factor based on India‟s urbanization,

that is the phenomenal concentration of the population in Class I cities1 (metropolitan

cities), urban agglomerations/cities having a population of more than 1 million, as depicted

by the increase in the number of metropolitans from 23 to 35 in the last decade.

It is clear when analyse the rate of MSW collection that, larger cities collect about

70-90% of MSW generated, whereas smaller cities and towns collect less than 50% of

waste generated. More than 91% of the MSW collected formally is land filled on open

lands and dumps. An open burning of MSW and landfill fires is a critical issue as it

together releases 22,000 tons of pollutants into the lower atmosphere. These pollutants

include Carbon Monoxide e (CO), Carcinogenic Hydrocarbons (HC) (includes dioxins and

furans), Particulate Matter (PM), Nitrogen Oxides (NO) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO). One of

the most important reasons behind the increase of MSW is the migration of people from

rural areas to cities as a result of population explosion and rapid industrialisation.

A reasonable framework to address the multiple challenges of municipal solid waste

management in India can be seen in Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. For the first time

there was a significant improvement over the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules

(2000), notified for Indian cities. National programmes and missions which was

directed and funded by the Government of India like JNNURM, AMRUT, Smart Cities and

Swachh Bharat Mission have also created an environment, at the same time they also failed

to find a reasonable solution to the problem of appropriate management of solid waste. It is

high time to change the plan from the Rules and the Missions into a practical approach of an

operational integrated strategy of solid waste management.

2.1 Municipal Solid Waste Scenario in India

Considering the waste management to the categorisation of municipal waste alone, it

includes household waste, commercial and market area waste, slaughter house waste,

institutional waste like the waste from schools, community halls, horticultural waste from

parks and gardens, waste from road sweeping, silt from drainage and treated biomedical

waste etc. Recently, Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste used to be defined as part of

municipal solid waste but Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 have taken C&D waste out

of the definition. And C&D Waste Management Rules 2016 have been separately notified.

Until proper systems are put in place for managing C&D waste in compliance with the new

Rules, there is danger of neglecting C&D waste in the transition, while the volume of C&D

waste is likely to grow rapidly with the increase in construction activity as India gets back to

the trajectory of rapid growth.

2.1.1 Municipal waste management as an element of the sustainable development of

cities

Cities are the seat of rapidly growing economic activities. But the fact which is not

surprising is that these cities and the activities happening around create large volumes of

waste. The rapidly growing economy creates an increase in the flow of goods as well as the

growth of waste. There are different ways in the categorization of waste materials. Waste can

be categorized as industrial or municipal based on its origin. The waste act from 14

December 2012 defines municipal waste as waste generated in households, excluding

exploited vehicles or non-toxic waste generated elsewhere which is similar in its form and

composition to household waste; mixed municipal waste remains municipal waste after

processing which does not change its form significantly. Waste is usually associated with an

ineffective functioning of communities and squandering resources. The amount of waste

generation is directly proportional to growing number of town users. Although cities take up

only 2% of global space, they use over 75% of resources and generate 70% of all the waste in

the world. Waste generation is linked with the exploitation of natural resources, water

consumption, negative environmental impact and creating additional costs of waste

management. Negative influence on the natural environment can be reduced with an

environmental awareness of entrepreneurs and citizens. A zero waste city concept can be

attained only through some practical and innovative ways. In fig.1 the key principles of the

zero waste city is presented.

 Collaborative Consumption
Zone waste Programmes
Awareness, Sustainable
Consuption Behaviour Change
Transformative Education Education &
Research & Behaviour
Sustainable Living
Zero waste Research
Cradle to cradle Design
New Infrastructure
New ZERO Transformed Cleaner production
New Technologies Infrastructure
& System
WASTE Industrial
Design
Zero waste Governance Thinking CITY Producers Responsibilty

Zero Landfill Legislation

Reduce
Zero
100% Depletion
Zero incineration Legislation
Repair/Reuse Recycling & Legislation &
Recovery Policies Incentives
Recycling/Recovery

fig.1 the key principles of the zero waste city is presented.

2.1.2 Hierarchy of Waste Management

The hierarchy of waste management is reducing the use of materials and reusing them

to be the most environmental friendly. The process of reducing can be happened only by

decreasing the amount of waste generated and by reusing materials to prevent them from

entering the waste stream. Thus, waste is not generated until the end of “reuse” phase. Once

the waste is generated, it needs to be collected. The effective way of handling waste is the

material recovery from waste in the form of recycling and composting. Most of the MSW

generated in India ends up in landfills due to technical and economic limitations of recycling;

product design; inadequate source separation and lack of sufficient markets that can use all

sorted materials. So it is a challenge before local authorities to start working with their

partners to promote source separation. While this is being achieved and recycling is

increased, provisions should be made to handle the non-recyclable wastes that are and will be

generated in the future.

2.1.3 Waste Generation and Disposal Status of Indian cities

 36 % (8 out of 22) cities generate more than 1000 TPD of waste (Ahmedabad, Delhi,

Greater Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Pune and Surat)

 13.6 % (3 out of 22) cities generate waste between 500-1000 TPD (Indore, Ludhiana

and Vadodara) x 50 % (11 out of 22) cities generate less than 500 TPD of waste

(Agartala, Asansol, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Guwahati, Jamshedpur, Kochi,

Kozhikode, Mangalore, Mysore and Shimla)

 63.6 % (14 out of 22) cities supply more than 75% of their waste to dumpsites

(Ahmedabad, Asansol, Chandigarh, Delhi, Faridabad, Greater Mumbai, Jaipur,

Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Pune and Vadodara)

 Out of the 17 class I cities, 47.05 % (8) have a single dumpsite, 29.4 % (5) have 2

dumpsites, 5.88 % (1) has 3 dumpsites and 11.76 % (2) have 4 dumpsites. Lucknow

does not have a designated dumpsite for waste disposal

 Greater Mumbai and Ludhiana supply 100% of the waste collected to the dumpsite

2.1.4 Status of Sanitary Landfills (SLF)

 45.45 % (10 out of 22) of cities do not have sanitary landfills which includes major

generators such as Greater Mumbai, Delhi and Kanpur x 27.27 % (6 out of 22) of

cities have a sanitary landfill (Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Mangalore,

Surat and Vadodara)

 Guwahati, Indore and Jaipur are in the process of constructing a SLF and Agartala

and Lucknow are considering construction of SLF

 Gujarat emerges as one of the most active States with respect to initiatives on solid

waste management as 3 cities of the State have already constructed sanitary landfills.
2.2 Current practices regarding solid waste in India

In India, Municipal Corporations/Municipalities/Panchayats are providing waste

management systems as per their rules. Age old laws are needed to be changed according to

the current scenario. Effective implementations of these laws are also needed. In most of the

municipalities there is no separate department for waste management. SWM is the

responsibility of a health officer who is assisted by the engineering department in the

transportation work. The activity is mostly labour intensive, and 2-3 workers are provided per

1000 residents served. The municipal agencies spend 5-25% of their budget on SWM. ,

which is Rs. 75-250 per capita per year. In spite of this huge expenditure, services are not

provided to the desired level. Present practices regarding solid waste in India are as follows.

2.2.1 Problems Associated with SWM in India

 Mixed Waste: In India, all the waste items like biodegradable, recyclable,

construction, hazardous or soiled are mixed together. There is no system of

segregation at the source level exists here. In rural areas, long time before the waste

management is practised in the way that kitchen waste was used to feed to the

animals. But with increasing income, changing lifestyles, use of more packaging and

plastic material all waste are mixed now and put into one dustbin which make the

problem of waste management more complex.

 Rapidly increasing population and waste respectively: Now we are 1.21 billion

(census 2011) and are rapidly increasing. Newly urbanised areas and semi-urban areas

are already feeling burden of population and accordingly civic services and waste

management is coming as a challenge in these areas. There is no system of Integrated

Waste Management (ISWM) here and waste is increasing day by day with increase in
 population and increase in per capita waste generation rate due to changing lifestyles,

increase in income and consumerism.

 Lack of Planning: In India, there is no law regarding waste disposal and treatment of

residential areas/apartments/flats at the time of passing plan of these areas where there

waste will be disposed off and how it will be treated. Private developers take benefit

of this and no place in residential areas is left for disposal and treatment of waste.

Result is that their waste scatters here and there at any vacant place or plots or

alongside roads.

 Lack of Resources: As civic bodies give very low priority to SWM accordingly very

less budget is assigned for it. Whatever funds are assigned they are only for waste

collection and transportation and not for treatment or recycling.

 Old Equipment and Technology: If we leave big metropolitan cities, in India there is

no specifically designed landfill sites in class II and class III cities to dump the waste.

Equipment used for collection, transportation of waste are very old and the only

method to recycle the waste is incineration which creates serious health and

environmental hazards when all mixed waste is burned.

2.2.2 Strategies suggested

Strategies to deal with solid waste so that it may prove a resource instead of waste are

given below

 Plan Properly: Whenever any plan is passed by civic authorities for any new

residential colony/apartments/flats, market areas or malls it must check that there

should be proper provision of waste disposal and treatment in it so that its waste

should be treated at its source level itself and it should not scatter here and there and
 money spent by civic bodies on its collection, transportation and treatment can be

reduced.

 Characteristics and Quantity of Waste: Through a pilot study we can find the

characteristics of waste in any specific area and quantum of each waste type

biodegradable, recyclable, hazardous, construction etc. and with projected annual

increase in population future quantum of waste can be estimated in any area and

accordingly plan can be finalised for disposal of various types of waste. Where

quantity of any type of waste is less 2-5 colonies or villages can be clubbed together

and a central facility can be developed for disposal of waste of all these areas.

Types of Locality Frequency Class II Cities

Class I Cities ( < 1 Lakh population)

(> 1 Lakh population)

Residential Areas

Area with high population Once or twice a day Once a day

Area with medium Once or twice a day Once in two days

population density

High income and VIP Area Once or twice a day Once a day

Area with low population Once or twice a day Once a day

density Once in two days Once in three days

Once in two days Once in three days

Markets Once or twice a day Once or twice a day

Commercial Area Twice a day Once a day

Industrial Area Once a day Once a day

 Collection and Transportation of Waste: Door to door collection system should be

encouraged with optimum frequency so that waste should not be accumulated or

thrown here and there by the residents or waste collectors. A financial burden or fine

can be levied in those areas where these facilities are developed properly for throwing

the waste outside the bin. Suggested collection frequencies for cities with different

population ranges have been provided by NEERI in its report depicted in Table

 Disposal and Recycling of Waste: Waste should be disposed only at scientifically

designed landfill sites where no leachate to soil is there. Since India is an agricultural

country and people are fond of fresh food and vegetables so kitchen waste or

biodegradable waste is more here and composting can be best method for utilising this

waste and converting into resource. It should be popularised among people. Small pits

should be dug in new residential colonies and apartments separately for each type of

waste collection and biodegradable waste should be treated at the source level itself

by converting it into manure.

 Financial Management: A new charge based on „Polluters Pay Principle‟ can be

levied on people for the whole waste management activity. Either civic bodies can

take this responsibility on themselves and charge from the people for whole

management from bottom to top or can transfer this responsibility on the people

themselves or they can adopt PPP (public Participation Programme) approach to

manage their waste themselves.

 Community/RWA/NGO‟s Participation: No waste management programme can be

successful without the help of the people because ultimately they are the producers of

waste. Proper help should be taken from the effective people of the society like Gram

Pradhan, RWAs, and NGOs etc. to sensitize and educate the people regarding waste

management. Even private sector help can also be taken to manage the waste of these
 residential and commercial areas. Social status should be provided to SWM activity

and waste management workers so that they may also feel that they are providing

useful service to the society.

III. Conclusion

Solid Waste Management is an immediately needed to be solved crisis which should

be seriously taken care of by government/ civic bodies to provide SWM service properly to

the public. Public apathy and low social status assigned to SWM activity by civic bodies is a

great hurdle in solving this problem. Strict and practicable laws should be passed in this

regard for proper disposal and treatment of waste. No new plan of any residential,

commercial area should be passed until and unless it has proper place for disposal and

treatment of its waste. In India there is a strong case of private sector participation in this area

and private sector can come with its expertise, technology and capital, improved and

efficiently managed service. Public participation is of paramount importance and can provide

big results if seek properly. NSWAI (National Solid Waste Association of India) working to

solve the problem of SWM in India has given following Fig sustainability model.

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