Source:

https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/op-ed-snap-no-time-left-to-waste-on-waste/

 

Model Answer:

With rapid urbanization, industrialization and an explosion in population in India, solid waste management will be a key challenge for state governments and local municipal bodies in the 21st century. This was highlighted after a mishap at the landfill in Delhi killed couple of people and injured many as well as frequent fires at the Deonar and Bhalswa landfills.

Status of waste management in India:

• Solid Waste Management is a term that is used to refer to the process of collecting and treating solid wastes. It also includes solutions for recycling items that do not belong to garbage or trash.
• India generates over 150,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day
• According to MoEF&CC, 62 million tonnes of waste is generated annually in the country by the 377 million people living in urban India, the world’s third-largest garbage generator at present, 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.
• According to the World Bank, India’s daily waste generation will reach 377,000 tonnes by 2025
• Only 83% of waste is collected and less than 30% is treated
• Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 are applicable beyond Municipal areas and extend to urban agglomerations, census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of Indian Railways, airports, airbase, Port and harbour, defence establishments, special economic zones, State and Central government organizations, places of pilgrims, religious & historical importance.
• The source segregation of waste has been mandated to channelize the waste to wealth by recovery, reuse and recycle.
• Responsibilities of Generators have been introduced to segregate waste into three streams:
• Wet (Biodegradable),
• Dry (Plastic, Paper, metal, wood, etc.) and
• Domestic hazardous wastes (diapers, napkins, empty containers of cleaning agents, mosquito repellents, etc.)

Issues with Waste Management in India:

• With rapid urbanisation, there is substantial increase in solid waste generation which has strained the Solid Waste Management System
• Most Urban local bodies in India struggle to provide efficient waste management services due to financial problems, lack of infrastructure and technology
• Though solid waste management rules mandate source segregation of wastes, it has largely not been followed.
• Due to improper segregation of waste, much of recyclability of waste is lost.
• Most of the municipal authorities deposit solid waste at open dump sites without any leachates treatment.
• These sites emanate foul smell and is breeding grounds for pests and insects causing disease.
• Liquid seeping out of waste pollutes groundwater and poses a serious threat to health and environment. Further, these landfill sites are also responsible for air pollution.
• Most of the funds for solid waste management is allotted to collection and transportation, with very less left for processing or resource recovery and disposal. Also many waste-to-energy plants are non-operational.
• The waste management sector in India is constituted primarily of the informal workers who come from the urban poor. The rag pickers, who are instrumental in waste recycling, are highly vulnerable to health damages owing to poor work conditions.
• Apathy on the part of management and also poor community participation is a major constraint in solid waste management in India.

What Should Be Done?

• 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.
• Waste to energy is a key component of SWM. Installation of waste-to-compost and bio-methanation plants would reduce the load of landfill sites
• There is a need to encourage research and development so as to reinvent waste management system in India. The focus should be on recycling and recovering from waste and not landfill. Further, it is important to encourage recycling of e-waste so that the problem of e-waste
• Public- Private Partnership models for waste management should be encouraged.
• We can also learn from South Korea. South Korea is one of the few countries to separate and recycle food waste. It has also launched landfill recovery projects such as the Nanjido recovery project which have successfully transformed hazardous waste sites into sustainable ecological attractions.
• It also focussed on harnessing energy from WTE (Waste to Energy) plants. The world’s first landfill-powered hydrogen plant was built in South Korea in 2011, and currently over 60% of new and renewable energy is produced from waste.

It will take almost 4-5 years to see the drastic change in how the waste management regimes will work in India. The SWM Rules, 2016 raises hopes in pushing for adoption of a decentralised mechanism for solid waste management. However, it would be challenging to see how segregation at source shall work on the ground. A massive awareness campaign in association with communities, NGOs, students and other stakeholders needs to be planned to push for better implementation of these rules. The Rules need to focus on making solid waste management a people’s movement by taking the issues, concerns and management of solid waste to citizens and grass-roots.