The rules for waste management in India are based on the principles of "sustainable development", "precaution" and "polluter pays". If their actions disrupt it, these principles mandate municipalities and commercial establishments to act in an environmentally accountable and responsible manner—restoring balance. Subordinate legislations regulating the manner of disposal and dealing with generated waste have been made under the umbrella law of Environment Protection Act, 1986 (EPA), due to the increase in waste generation as a by-product of economic development.
“When considering solutions, no matter how advanced the solution is, unless and until it is applied to the ground zero level, it will not be effective.”
– Dr. Sunil Kumar, Senior Scientist, Waste Management Section, NEERI
Separate rules and compliances are mostly required for specific forms of waste, such as authorizations, maintenance of records, and adequate disposal mechanisms. The country is facing a massive waste management challenge due to rapid urbanization. There are over 377 million people living in urban areas in 7,935 towns and cities who generate an estimated 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year. Of the waste, only 43 million tonnes (MT) is collected, 11.9 MT is treated, and 31 MT is dumped in landfill sites. Municipal authorities in the country provide Solid Waste Management (SWM) as one of the basic essential services to keep urban centres clean. Municipal authorities haphazardly deposit almost all solid waste at a dumpyard within or outside the city.
Solid Waste Management across the country faces 4 major challenges.
The other MCDs are far behind, with only the New Delhi Municipal Corporation having advanced the waste scenario. Delhi city is the only one that has generated about 10,500 tonnes of waste to date, and most of it has been disposed of directly in landfills. The MCD is not well prepared for waste management, in addition to the problem. For example, every company spends a crore on installing the two-bins system without following the proper waste segregation process till date. Other parts of India are also lacking in every aspect of solid waste management.
Waste power plants in Delhi are not effective in generating energy because they only use 13% of the total waste. The rest can be processed organically or recycled. However, to treat only 13% of the waste, the capital has built three WTE plants with a capacity of almost 50% of municipal waste, a fourth without knowing where the high calorific waste will come. For proper SWM, Delhi needs a hybrid solution. The landfill should ideally only be used for waste and inert substances, which should then be transported to the energy plant. Entering city landfills is not a solution to the city's waste problem because they are filled with mixed waste.
All areas are not considered by municipalities. The problem is that waste management is only for residential colonies, homes, and markets. If lakhs of people live in small areas, how does one get rid of waste? Municipalities need to initiate the involvement of rag pickers in order to effectively manage waste. The burden of waste disposal on capital is reduced when these two things are done.
There are still areas today that complain about not having access to facilities of waste pickup from locality or door to door. Citizens do not separate garbage since there are no facilities or laws for separating it. Waste management needs to be planned for. We need to make sure that the inhabitants are fully trained in the documents they need to follow. The waste must be separated before it can be disposed.
Around 100 cities are set to be developed as smart cities, and civic bodies need to rethink their waste management strategies to accommodate changing lifestyles. Households and institutions must segregate their waste at source to enable better waste management.
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