Solid Waste Management

• Waste- Definition
Any material which is not needed by the owner, producer
or processor.
• In a common man’s eye anything that is unwanted or not
useful is garbage. However scientifically speaking there is
nothing waste as such in the world. Almost all the
components of solid waste have some potential if it is
converted or treated in a scientific manner. Hence the wise
description of solid waste could be
• “Organic or inorganic waste materials produced out of
household or commercial activities, that have lost their
value in the eyes of the first owner but which may be of great
value to somebody else.”
 Disposal of SW
• Disposing solid waste out of sight does not solve
the problem but indirectly increases the same
manifold.
• The consequences of this practice such as
1) Health hazards
2) Pollution of soil, (Surface & Ground) water, air & food
3) Fire,
4) Unpleasant surroundings
5) Loss of precious resources that could be obtained
from the solid waste,
6) Social issues
 Management of solid waste
• Management of solid waste
• Reduction
• Proper segregation
• Scientific recycling of all the components
• Reuse
• Treatment
 Classification of solid waste
• 1. Garbage: Putrecible wastes from food, slaughterhouses, canning and
freezing industries.
• 2. Rubbish: non-putrecible wastes either combustible or non-combustible.
These include wood, paper, rubber, leather and garden wastes as
comustible wastes whereas the non-combustible wastes include glass,
metal, ceramics, stones and soil.
• 3. Ashes: Residues of combustion, solid products after heating and cooking
or incineration by the municipal, industrial, hospital and apartments areas.
• 4. Large wastes: Demolition and construction wastes, automobiles,
furniture’s, refrigerators and other home appliances, trees, fires etc.
• 5. Dead animals: House holds pets, birds, rodents, zoo animals, and
anatomical and pathological tissues from hospitals.
• 6. Sewage sludges: These include screening wastes, settled solids and
sludges.
• 7. Industrial wastes: Chemicals, paints, sand and explosives.
• 8. Mining wastes: Tailings, slug ropes, culm piles at mine areas
• 9. Agricultural wastes: Farm animal manure, crop residues and others.
 Classification of Wastes
• Solid waste- vegetable waste, kitchen waste, household
waste etc.
• E-waste- discarded electronic devices like computer, TV,
music systems etc.

• Liquid waste- water used for different industries eg

tanneries, distillaries, thermal power plants

• Plastic waste- plastic bags, bottles, buckets etc.

• Metal waste- unused metal sheet, metal scraps etc.

• Nuclear waste- unused materials from nuclear power plants

• Construction waste – waste steel, debris, brick pieces,
unused broken tiles, glass, ceramic material, unused
concrete etc.
 Classification based on sources
• Domestic waste
• Bio-medical waste
• Plastic wastes
• Nuclear waste / Radio active waste
• Food processing waste
• Factory waste/ industrial waste
• Agricultural waste
• Waste from oil factory
• Construction waste
• E-waste
 Consequences
• Insects
• Rats and other vertebrate vectors
• Fire
• Odor
• Atmospheric Pollution
• Visual Pollution
• Tourism/Ethics/Recreation
• Water Pollution
Basic principles of Solid Waste Management

• 1) 3R : Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

• Reduce - Alter your lifestyle so that minimum
garbage is generated.
• Reuse - Make secondary use of different articles.
• Recycle – Convert the recyclable garbage into
manures or other useful products.
• 2) Segregation at source : Store organic or
biodegradable and inorganic or
nonbiodegradable
• solid waste in different bins. Recycling of all the
components with minimum labor and cost.
 Basic principles of Solid Waste
Management
• 3) Different treatments for different types of solid
wastes.
• One must apply the techniques which are suitable to the
given type of garbage.
• For example the technique suitable for general market
waste may not be suitable for slaughter house waste.
• 4) Treatment at nearest possible point.
• The solid waste should be treated in as decentralized
manner as possible. The garbage generated should be
treated preferably at the site of generation i.e. every
• house.
Waste Management Hierarchy
 Solid Waste Management through T.S.C.
Total Sanitation Campaign
• 1) Region specific planning: Looking at the geographical,
topographical and cultural diversity of the country it can be
divided into five regions such as Northern region, Eastern
region, Western region, Central region and Southern region.
Each of these regions has more or less uniform structure.
Hence all the activities should be planned & implemented on
regional basis.
• 2) Planning from below: Govt has adopted top down approach,
the bitter consequences of which are well known. To make
Solid Waste Management a success in true sense, the planning
as well as implementation should start from GP level planning
followed by block level planning, district level planning and
state level planning.
 Solid Waste Management through T.S.C.
Total Sanitation Campaign
• 3) Emphasis on recycling- Technologies for recycling of
biodegradable as well as the non-biodegradable Solid Waste
should be well disseminated in the project area. This will also
ensure better people’s participation.
• 4) Involvement of SHG (self help group), youth groups and small
entrepreneurs :The GP (gram panchayat) level Solid Waste
Management units can be run by SHGs, youth groups or small
entrepreneurs. This will help in making the programme self
supportive and sustainable.
• 5) Well planned and effective training policy: Technical training
at all levels (GP to state) forms the backbone of a successful Solid
Waste Management progamme.
• It should be seen that adequate training is given to all those
concerned prior to actual launching of the programme in the field.
Solid Waste
Problems of Solid Waste in India
• 7.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste

• One Sq km of additional landfill area is required every-

year

• Rs 1600 crore for treatment & disposal of these wastes

• In addition to this industries discharge about 150 million

tonnes of high volume low hazard waste every year, which
is mostly dumped on open low lying land areas
 Growth of Solid Waste In India
• Waste is growing by leaps & bounds
• The quantity of solid waste generated ranges from as low as 50 to 100
g per head per day in a tribal area to as high as 500 to 700 g per head
per day in urban areas & metros.

• In Mumbai, municipal solid waste has grown from 3200 tonnes to

5355 tonne per year, an increase of 67% in 10 years

• Waste collection is very low for all Indian cities

• City like Bangalore produces 2000 tonnes of waste per annum,

increasing waste has put pressure on hygienic condition of the city.
• The solid waste from rural areas is more of a biodegradable nature
• Waste from urban areas contains more non-biodegradable components
like plastics & packaging.
 SWM
• Solid Waste Management is a system
responsible for the handling all garbage,
municipal waste collection, recycling
programs, dumps, and incinerators so that
the outbreak of diseases would be
minimized
 Solid Waste Management
• Collection---
• Separation
• Transportation—
• Treatment-
• Disposal
 Waste Collection in India
• Primarily by the city municipality
-No gradation of waste product eg. bio-degradable,
glasses, polybags, paper shreds etc
-Dumps these wastes to the city outskirts

• Local raddiwala / kabadiwala (Rag pickers)

-Collecting small iron pieces by magnets
-Collecting glass bottles
-Collecting paper for recycling

• Sophisticated vehicle
Ideal solid Waste Management scheme
 Treatment
• Vermi composting
• Incineration
• Anaerobic treatment/Gasification
• Low lying Land filling/ sanitary landfill
• Dumping into the sea
• Ploughing in fields
• Grinding & discharging in to sewers
• Hog feeding
• Salvaging and reuse (Paper, wood, glass, metal, cotton pieces)
 Managing Waste
Recycling: Processing of a waste item into usable forms.
Benefits of recycling:
-Reduce environmental degradation
-Making money out of waste
-Save energy that would have gone into waste handling &
product manufacture
Saving through recycling:
-When Al is resmelted- considerable saving in cost
-Making paper from waste saves 50% energy
-Every tonne of recycled glass saves energy equivalent to 100
litres of oil
Recycling is not a solution to managing every kind of waste material
For many items recycling technologies are unavailable or unsafe
In some cases, cost of recycling is too high.
 Problems in Dealing With Solid
Waste
• Education & voluntary compliance

• Collection of waste

• Technological interventions

• Institutions & regulatory framework

• Absence of mandatory standards for waste reduction

• Market action for waste reduction

Principal technical elements of a
landfill
 Pyrolysis-gasification
• Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of waste in
the absence of air to produce gas (often termed
syngas), liquid (pyrolysis oil) or solid (char,
mainly ash and carbon).
• Pyrolysis generally takes place between 400-
1000 °C. Gasification takes place at higher
temperatures than pyrolysis (1,000-1,400 °C) in a
controlled amount of oxygen (NSCA, 2002).
• The gaseous product contains CO2, CO, H2, CH4,
H2O, trace amounts of higher hydrocarbons
 Incineration
• Incineration is a thermal waste treatment process
where raw or unprocessed waste can be used as
feedstock.
• The incineration process takes place in the presence
of sufficient quantity of air to oxidize the feedstock
(fuel).
• Waste is combusted in the temperature of 850ºC and
in this stage waste converted to carbon dioxide, water
and non-combustible materials with solid residue
state called incinerator bottom ash (IBA) that always
contains a small amount of residual carbon