Overview of issues related to Waste and Waste Management

Chitra MukherjeeImran Khan

Session I

How waste works

Why waste matters

India Waste generation = Australia Wheat generation = 42 million tons/year

• By 2050, India will generate 150 million tons annually

• Each Urban Indian generates 0.8 kg waste/day

• Less than 15% urban waste safely processed; less than 2% properly disposed

Urban waste requires environmentally, socially and economically sustainable waste management

Why waste is a crisis

• Landfills are filled; landfills contaminate ground water irreversibly; cancer clusters are often found near them

• Flies breed on waste, and spread disease

• Waste filled drains result in backlogs and accompanying sanitation based illnesses

• Over 3% of India’s green house gas emissions are on account of poor waste management

Environmental HazardsPolluting the Commons

• Water Contamination Surface water : pollution of ponds lakes, riversGround Water: leachate from waste

• Air Contamination: Greenhouse gases, emissions from burning

• Soil Contamination: due to open dumping of waste

India is drowning under its own waste!

Kinds of waste

Hazardous: Pose threat to Health and Environment • Industrial waste (produced due to industrial activity)• Biomedical waste (Needles, syringes, scalpels , blades, glass, human

tissues, organs, body parts etc.)• Electronic waste (discarded electrical and electronics equipment eg.

personal computers, CPU, mobile, telephone, cordless etc.Non Hazardous : Municipal Solid Waste generated by cities (paper, plastic, glass etc, food waste, soiled waste (ST, diapers, disposable syringes etc.), toxics (used batteries, medicines, pesticides, paints)

Formal Sector: Government,Municipalities, ULBs

Informal Sector: Waste pickers,waste collectors, small wastetraders etc.

Who handles the waste

• Informal Sector: 15 lakh people in India depend on waste pickingfor a livelihood

• Backbone of Recycling industry in India- recycles 15-20% ofurban solid waste thus efficient recycling and conservation ofresources

• Significantly reduces GHG emissions• Saves the municipality a considerable amount of money wrt to

labour force employed

How the Informal Sector works

• Collect waste from dumpsites, landfills and segregate into recyclable waste streams like paper, plastic, metal glass etc. which is sold to recyclers

• The work of these waste pickers is hazardous and unsafe

• They experience brutality and discrimination

• They face health hazards like TB, anemia, gastro-intestinal diseases, cuts, injuries, headaches, nausea, back aches etc.

Session II

Current scenario and the way forward

Institutional framework for management of waste in India: Rules , Policies and Reports

• Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000

• Batteries Management & Handling Rules, 2001

• The National Environment Policy, 2006

• The CAG Audit on Municipal Solid Waste in India, 2008

• The National Action Plan for Climate Change, 2009

• The Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2009, draft 2011

• Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011

• E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011

Brazen flouting of laws and policiesCurrent scenario of implementation of existing rules and policesRules and Policies tip of iceberg. Implementing rules a daunting task

JNNURM: Chintan report “Failing the Grade” 2012 evaluatedimplementation of these rules 5 years after CAG’s Audit• 14 cities - Patna, Ahmedabad, Faridabad, Varanasi, Mathura, Allahabad,

Hyderabad, Indore, Bangalore, Nagpur, Rajkot, Cochin, Pune and Delhistudied under JNNURM to understand how they had included theinformal recycling sector

None of the 14 cities had fully implemented these rules and policies

What is the solution

Materials Efficiency- Circular Economy (reducing waste, extractingvalue from organics, lowering emissions, reducing GHGs)

Decentralized Waste Management – waste managed close to source

• Source segregation

• Door to door waste collection

• Space for waste

• Less dependence on High Tech solutions like Incinerationtechnologies

The solution

Source Segregation: Management of waste close to source

Currently, at the level of waste generation and collection, no sourcesegregation of compostable waste ,non-biodegradable, recyclable waste.

Proper segregation leads to:

• Better options and opportunities for scientific disposal of waste• Recyclables transported to recycling units• Enables technology up gradation, better quality products, saving of

valuable raw material resources, reducing the need for landfill space• Organizes the informal sector and promotes micro-enterprises• Promotion and development of recycling thus upgrading living and

working conditions of waste pickers and other marginalized groups

The solution

Door to door waste collection: bridges garbage gap between people’sdoors and municipality’s collection points

Chintan: Delhi NCR

SWaCH Cooperative: Pune

• Dtd collection, resource recovery, waste processing

• Ensures waste picker livelihoods, professional training, safe occupation

The solutionSpace for : Segregation and Sorting, Composting, Collecting and StoringChintan’s Material Recovery Facility in Delhi & NCR

• Handling all recyclable wastes• Segregation and storage• Cutting PET plastics into granules for value addition• Bailing segregated waste• Reuse of items that can be re-used, such as old clothes, shoes, and

furniture• Composting of organic or biodegradable waste

The solution

Less dependence on High Tech solutions like Incineration technologies

Waste-to-Energy Technology (WTE)

Incineration technologiesWaste to energy is the process of generating energy in the formof electricity and/or heat from the incineration (burning) of waste toproduce fuel pellets or Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)

Burn technologies opposed world wide now. “Burn” bans in many countries.No new plants in Canada since 1988, in US since 1995

STOP massive subsidies to allow small viable on-site solutions to evolve and grow.

• Undermines incentives to reduce waste• Competes with recycling for materials• Takes away livelihoods of informal sector• Burning RDF is an inefficient way to

generate energy; less energy is producedthan would be saved by recycling

• Deadly cancer-causing Dioxins formwhen PVC or electronic waste burns

The solution

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) : the responsibility of amanufacturer of products and brand owners using such products forthe environmentally sound management of the product until the endof its life

• The producer responsibility is to avoid having products on themarket that cannot be handled effectively and environmentallycorrectly when they become waste products.

• Enable the implementation of EPR for wastes that are hazardous or challenging to handle and therefore, landfilled or incinerated. This may be on the directions of the MOEF or on its on initiative.

Waste a tool to fight poverty

• Understand and Acknowledge role ofInformal sector waste pickers, sorters,traders and

• Implementation and monitoring ofprogressive rules and policies

• Recognition of existing local resources-informal recycling sector

The challenge is to see theinformal sector waste recyclerswith new eyes!

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