Solid Waste Management in India- Explained Pointwise

The Solid Waste Management in India remains an Achilles heel for India.  The Supreme Court of India recently criticized the solid waste management in New Delhi. There are more than 3,800 tones of untreated solid waste in Delhi alone. This waste reaches landfills and threatens public health and the environment. Proper steps need to be undertaken for safe disposal and treatment of solid waste in India.

What is a Solid Waste?

• Solid Waste: Solid waste refers to any unwanted or discarded material that is not in a liquid or gaseous state. The solid waste includes a wide range of materials generated from various sources such as households, industries, commercial establishments, construction sites, and institutions.
• Types of Solid Waste:

  • Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) – Household, commercial, market waste.

  • Biomedical Waste – Hospitals, clinics (requires special handling).

  • Electronic Waste (E-waste) – Phones, laptops, appliances.

  • Construction & Demolition (C&D) Waste – Debris, bricks, tiles.

  • Industrial Waste – By-products from factories, often hazardous.

  • Plastic Waste – Single-use plastics, packaging material.

What is the status of Solid Waste generation in India?

Status of Solid Waste Generation in India:

• According to a study published in ‘Nature’ – India is the biggest plastic polluter in the world – releasing 9.3mT of plastic waste annually – which is equivalent to around 20% of global plastic emission.
• According to CPCB report, only ~50% of total solid waste generated in the country is treated. The processing of solid waste in India has improved significantly, from 19% in 2015-16 to ~50% in 2020-21. In the corresponding period, the proportion of solid waste landfilled has fallen from 54% to 18.4%.

About 50-55% of the waste generated in Indian cities is biodegradable wet waste, about 35% is non-biodegradable wet waste and 10% is an inert component.

What are the Challenges with Solid Waste Management in India?

1. Rising Waste Generation: Rapid economic growth has raised the consumption levels in the economy, which has in turn increased the waste generation. Further, the expansion of digital economy is leading to a multifold increase in e-waste generation. Rising plastic waste generation in eco-sensitive regions like Himalayas are choking the fragile ecosystems present there. For ex- A Planning Commission Report had estimated that India will generate 165 million tonnes by 2030.

2. Lack of proper Waste Management: India lacks proper waste management and disposal techniques.

• Inadequate Infrastructure: Many urban and rural areas lack proper infrastructure for waste collection, segregation, transportation, processing, and disposal.
• Collection & Treatment: While collection rates are improving, a significant portion of the generated waste remains uncollected.
• Poor Processing: Only 50% of the waste produced is actually processed in India. ~30% of waste is not accounted and ~20% ends up in landfills, reflecting poor waste disposal method.
• Incorrect and Inadequate Segregation Techniques: There is poor segregation of waste at source. Hazardous waste and e-waste is not sealed and labelled leading to improper disposal. For ex- Valuable materials like aluminum and plastics end up in landfills instead of being recycled.
• Reuse/recycling of waste: Reuse and recycling of waste is predominantly an informal economy, lacking access to advanced technology.
• Financial Constraints: Local municipal bodies often face budget limitations hindering investments in modern waste management systems.

3. Littering and Illegal Dumping: Due to poor disposal methods, almost half of waste is placed in uncontrolled dumps and landfills. A substantial amount of untreated waste, approximately 24%, ends up in landfills, many of which are unscientific and overflowing. These landfills are the source of generation of methane gases, leachates, and landfill fires, adversely affecting the surrounding environment

4. Lack of land resources: The urban areas in India lack adequate land resources to set up waste processing plants. For ex- Waste processing plants in Delhi need large land parcels, of about 30-40 acres each for treatment.

5. Lack of public awareness: Lack of public awareness regarding proper waste management practices, contributes to littering and improper disposal habits.

6. Lack of regular waste collection services: The lack of regular waste collection services adds up to the building up of waste as well as littering. Illegal dumping in open areas and water bodies increases the pressure on the municipal body, warranting more resources for clean-up.

7. Lack of proper data: Lack of data regarding the quantity & quality of waste generated & processed in India is a major roadblock in its management. The data regarding the rate of waste generation in India is underestimated & of waste collection is over-estimated. For e.g. according to the official estimates, the plastic waste generation rate in India is 0.12 kg/capita/day, while according to the study published in ‘Nature’ , it is as high as 0.54 kg/capita/day. The agencies in India claim to collect 95% of the waste generated, however, these official statistics do not include rural areas, open burning of uncollected waste or the waste recycled by the informal sector.

8. Informal Sector: The informal sector, consisting of waste pickers and recyclers, plays a crucial role in managing and extracting value from waste, though often under hazardous conditions.

9. Waste Composition: A large percentage of Indian waste is organic, offering potential for composting and biomethanation. However, the increasing proportion of non-biodegradable waste like plastics and e-waste presents management challenges.

What are the harmful impacts of poor Waste Management?

1. Health Issues: The improper waste management leads to several health issues such as:

• Open burning of waste leads to formation of harmful particles which can cause lung diseases.
• Poor collection of solid waste leads to garbage dumps which act as breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes etc. Mosquitoes act as carriers of diseases like malaria and dengue.

2. Environmental Issues: Improper waste management techniques lead to various environmental problems such as:

• Unscientific dumping in landfill leads to formation of harmful chemicals which permeate into soil and groundwater. This renders groundwater unfit for drinking and cause multiple diseases
• Waste in landfills leads to formation of harmful gases leading to air pollution. For ex- Around 90-98% of landfill gases are made up of methane and carbon dioxide, remaining 2-10% includes nitrogen, oxygen, ammonia, sulphides, hydrogen and various other gases.
• A lot of land-based waste eventually ends up in sea leading to marine pollution.

3. Economic Impacts: Improper waste management usually has grave economic impacts such as:

• Expansion of landfills occupy useful land, leading to wasteful utilization of an economic resource.
• Poor waste collection leads to clogging of drains, which has become a factor in urban flooding, leading to economic losses.
• Poor waste management leads to general filth in cities, which impacts tourism potential.

What have been the Government interventions for Solid Waste Management?

What should be the Way Forward?

1. Scientific Waste Management: The waste management planning should be based on sound scientific and engineering studies. They should consider waste composition, capital and long-term operating costs, transport distances, and the geographical location of waste processing and disposal facilities.

2. Smart Waste Management System: In the long term, technology like (Internet of Things) can be integrated into waste management. For ex- RFID-enabled door-to-door waste collection monitoring can enhance collection efficiency and GPS based vehicle tracking can help in real time monitoring.

3. Emphasis on recycling, resource recovery & processing: Policies supporting recycling and recovery of resources from waste must be implemented stringently. Waste processing methods like composting, vermicomposting and bio-methanation should be adopted for treating organic waste. Establish efficient material recovery facilities (MRFs) and support the formalization of the recycling sector.

4. Scaling up Waste-to-energy: Bio-methanation (anaerobic digestion) which uses microorganisms to convert the organic waste into methane, can be used as fuel. Bio-methanation plants should be scaled up. Also, Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) which consists of plastics, paper, and textile waste, having good calorific value, can be used to generate power in waste-to-energy projects.

5. Polluter Pays Principle: Waste Management Rules which have incorporated ‘Polluter Pays Principle‘,  need to be stringently implemented to penalize non-compliance. Polluter pays principle casts absolute liability on the polluter for the harm caused to the environment & extends not only to compensate the victims of pollution but also the cost of restoring environmental degradation. While the liability is clear under this principle, but the process of determining an equitable compensation is difficult as it must account for both tangible & intangible damages inflicted on environment & the affected communities. To overcome this, the Courts have modified the principle into ‘Government Pays Principle’ under which it is the government which has to pay the compensation to the affected individuals & recover the same from the polluters, until the damage caused to the ecology is fully reversed.

6. Increasing Public Awareness: Self- help groups, residents’ welfare associations, and community-based organizations should be encouraged to educate and acquaint people with beneficial waste management strategies, including separation, recycling modes, and drop off centers for recyclables, as well as composting.

7. Data collection: There is an urgent need to collect & provide reliable data about waste generation & its composition in the country for its effective management. We need to know how much of the waste is being generated, where & how it is being managed for finding an effective solution. We also need to have data regarding the infrastructure that has been built over the years for waste management & such infrastructure needs to be geotagged to help in proper disposal of waste.

8. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): To effectively operationalize the EPR, the producers, importers & and brand owners that have a legal obligation to collect the waste, can collectively form kiosks across the country to collect the waste from local bodies – so that all the waste that is covered under EPR can be deposited & effectively managed.

Conclusion:
According to the SC of India, environmental protection is not only a regulatory obligation but also a constitutional imperative which aims to to safeguard the fundamental rights of the individuals & preserve the ecological balance. Thus, it is the right time to hold the waste management system in the country accountable to the people whose health is impacted by the land, water & air pollution caused by unmanaged & mismanaged waste all across the country.