Municipal Waste Management in Indian Cities

WHY IN NEWS?

• Prime Minister recently launched the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to make the cities garbage-free.

STATISTICS:

• According to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • 62 million tonnes of waste is generated annually in the country by the 377 million people living in urban India
    • Out of which 5.6 million tonnes is plastic waste, 0.17 million tonnes is biomedical waste, hazardous waste generation is 7.90 million tonnes per annum and 15 lakh tonnes is e-waste.
  • India is the world’s third-largest garbage generator at present
  • The per capita waste generation in Indian cities ranges from 200 grams to 600 grams per day, which is one of the highest in the world
  • Only about 80% of the municipal waste gets collected and only 22-28 % of this waste is processed and treated. Rest 80% is dumbed in landfills
• According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB):
  • 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste was generated in India in 2018-19, of which only about 60% is recycled.
  • India’s contribution is around 3.1% of the global plastic waste generation.
• According to the World Bank, India’s daily waste generation will reach 377,000 tonnes by 2025

ISSUES:

• High waste generation:
  • With rapid urbanisation, rising population, high dependence on plastics >> waste generation exceeds in sustainable treatment
• Presence huge informal sector in the waste collection:
  • Difficult to implement the rules
• Ineffective waste collection:
  • Absence of waste segregation at source into biodegradable and non-biodegradable
• Unscientific disposal methods:
  • Lack of sophisticated technology for waste disposal and widespread burning >> GHG emissions and air pollution
• Failures of waste management rules:
  • They fail to incentivize and impose a strict penalty in case of poor implementation.
  • The rules have not pushed for decentralized management of waste but have encouraged centralized treatment such as waste to energy, the present state of which is not good in the country.
• Poor landfill management:
  • Landfills generate 20% of methane gas emissions in India and pollute surrounding land, ground water and air.
• Lack awareness:
  • People lack proper awareness regarding the need of better waste disposal for societies health and well being
• Low participation from civil society:
  • Despite immense potential in waste management sector, participation from non-profits or community is limited.
• Ill-focussed spending:
  • Three-fourth of solid waste management budget is allotted to collection and transportation, leaving leaves very little for processing or resource recovery and disposal.
• Inefficiency of Local Bodies:
  • Lack of funds and inadequate technical expertise, informalization of rag pickers, absence protective gears for workers >> results in poor waste management
• Poor functioning of waste to energy plants:
  • Waste to energy plants in India are not operating to their full potential.

IMPACT OF IMPROPER WASTE DISPOSAL IN CITIES:

• Health Impacts:
  • Burning of waste at dumb sites >> release of toxic gases and fine particles >> respiratory illness
  • Dumping sites provide breeding sites for mosquitoes thus increasing the risk of diseases such as malaria, dengue
  • Spread of epidemics through stray animals
• Water pollution:
  • Surface water contamination >> through run off from landfills
  • Ground water contamination >> through leaching
• Global warming:
  • Open landfills releases methane from decomposition. Methane is a major contributor to global warming
• Inefficient land usage:
  • Lack of proper treatment and processing >> increase in demand for expansion of landfills in many cities ( ex: Mumbai, Delhi) >> many hectares of land in cities becomes wasteland
• Urban fires:
  • Release of methane from decomposition of biodegradable waste under anaerobic conditions which can cause fires and explosions

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:

• Solid waste management rules 2016:
  • Segregation at source:
    • The rules have mandated the source segregation of waste in order to channelize the waste to wealth by recovery, reuse and recycle.
    • Waste generators would have to now segregate waste into three streams- Biodegradables, Dry and Domestic Hazardous waste before handing it over to the collector.
  • Collection and disposal of sanitary waste:
    • The manufacturers or brand owners of sanitary napkins are responsible for awareness for proper disposal of such waste
  • Collect Back scheme for packaging waste:
    • Brand owners who sale or market their products in packaging material which are non?biodegradable, should put in place a system to collect back the packaging waste generated due to their production.
  • User fees for collection:
    • The new rules have given power to the local bodies across India to decide the user fees
  • Integration:
    • Integration of rag pickers, waste pickers and kabadiwalas from the informal sector to the formal sector would be done by the state government.
  • Zero tolerance policy
    • The rules also stipulate zero tolerance for throwing; burning, or burying the solid waste generated on streets, open public spaces outside the generator’s premises
  • Promoting use of compost:
    • The Department of Fertilizers should provide market development assistance on city compost
  • Promotion of waste to energy:
    • The rules mandate all industrial units located within 100 km from a solid waste-based Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) plant to make arrangements to replace at least 5 per cent of their fuel requirement by RDF so produced.
  • Revision of parameters and existing standards:
    • The landfill site shall be 100 meters away from a river, 500 meters away from highways etc
  • Management of waste in hilly areas
    • The construction of landfills on hills shall be avoided
  • Constitution of a Central Monitoring Committee
    • The government has also constituted a Central Monitoring Committee to monitor the overall implementation of the rules.
• Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban:
  • It aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country.
  • The objectives of the mission are mentioned below:
    • Elimination of open defecation
    • Eradication of Manual Scavenging
    • Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management
    • To effect behavioral change regarding healthy sanitation practices
    • Generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health
    • Capacity Augmentation for ULB’s
    • To create an enabling environment for private sector participation in Capex (capital expenditure) and Opex (operation and maintenance)
  • SBM-U 2.0 envisions to make all cities ‘Garbage Free’ and ensure grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT, make all urban local bodies as ODF+ and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++, thereby achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas.
  • The Mission will focus on source segregation of solid waste, utilizing the principles of 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management.
• Plastic Waste Management Rules:
  • India’s first attempt at tackling the menace of plastic waste came in 2011 when the government notified the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011.
  • It sought to disincentivise the use of poly bags by setting up a pricing mechanism for them and also to established rules for recycling by local authorities.
  • Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 replaced 2011 Rules. It gave emphasis on a complete ban on plastics below 50 microns, phasing out use of multi-layered packaging and introduced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
  • Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 puts complete ban on manufacture, sale and use of some single-use goods made with plastics, polystyrene, and expanded polystyrene from July 1, 2022
• Technology:
  • CSIR-CMERI has developed a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Processing Facility:
    • For scientific SWM and to create value added end products
    • Advanced segregation techniques
• Waste to wealth:
  • GOBAR-Dhan scheme.
    • Under this scheme cattle dung, kitchen waste and agricultural waste can be tapped to create biogas-based energy
  • Government mandates:
    • Industries to buy electricity from power plants fuelled by solid from
    • Private fertilizer companies to buy compost that is extracted from municipal solid waste
• Atal Mission For Rejuvenation And Urban Transformation (AMRUT):
  • The purpose of purpose of AMRUT is to ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection, increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) and reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport.
  • AMRUT 2.0 will adopt the principles of circular economy and promote conservation and rejuvenation of surface and groundwater bodies.
• Other initiatives:
  • Policy on promotion of city compost
  • Star rating protocol for garbage free cities

BEST PRACTICE:

• Local:
  • Alappuzha Model – ‘Nirmala Bhavanam Nirmala Nagaram’:
    • Alappuzha gets recognised by UNEP for its solid waste management practices
    • The city has adopted decentralised waste management and is pushing for 100 per cent segregation in all the 23 wards of the city.
    • Moreover, as many as 80 per cent households now have biogas plants and decentralised composting system.
• International:
  • South Korea - waste management system
    • Focused on controlling waste generation and achieving maximum rates of recycling after 1990s
    • It has since seen a drastic reduction in MSW generation - from 30.6 million MT in 1990 to 19.3 million MT in 2016.
    • Meanwhile, landfill and incineration rates have decreased dramatically from 94% in 1990 to 38% in 2016.

WAY FORWARD:

• Proper segregation of waste at source
  • The key to efficient waste management is to ensure proper segregation of waste at source and to ensure that the waste goes through different streams of recycling and resource recovery.
• Effective use of sanitary landfills:
  • Sanitary landfills are the ultimate means of disposal for unutilised municipal solid waste from waste processing facilities and other types of inorganic waste that cannot be reused or recycled.
• Energy-from-waste:
  • Energy-from-waste is a crucial element of SWM because it reduces the volume of waste from disposal also helps in converting the waste into renewable energy and organic manure
• Waste-to-compost and bio-methanation plants:
  • Biodegradable component of India’s solid waste is currently estimated at a little over 50 per cent. Installation of waste-to-compost and bio-methanation plants would reduce the load of landfill sites
• Concept of common waste treatment facility
  • The concept of common waste treatment facility is being widely promoted and accepted as it uses waste as a resource by either using it as a co-fuel or co-raw material in manufacturing processes
  • For example: Bio-medical waste (management and handling) rules, 1998 prescribe that there should be a Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) at every 150 kms in the country
• Governance:
  • Civic bodies have to redraw long term vision in solid waste management and rework their strategies as per changing lifestyles
  • They should reinvent garbage management in cities so that we can process waste and not landfill it
  • It is reported that almost 80 per cent of the waste at Delhi landfill sites could be recycled provided civic bodies start allowing ragpickers to segregate waste at source and recycle it
• Encourage recycling of e-waste:
  • Recovery of e-waste is abysmally low, we need to encourage recycling of e-waste on a very large scale level so that problem of e-waste disposal is contained.
• Viability gap funding:
  • Government should provide VGF for waste processing infrastructure projects to make in financially viable
• Replication of best practices such as Alapuzha model etc.
• Public- Private Partnership models for waste management should be encouraged.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. ‘Urban India requires alternative waste management pathways, which may better address combined environmental and social justice concerns’. Discuss.