Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal and monitoring of waste materials.

The two conventional principles of waste management were: ‘Dilute and disperse’ or ‘concentrate and contain’.

The main necessity of waste management is to enrich the resources which are being depleted due to rising population and increasing consumption rates.

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

The Environment Ministry has revised Solid Waste Management Rules after 16 years.  Addressing a press conference to announce the revised Rules here today, Minister of State of Environment,

62 million tonnes of waste is generated annually in the country 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 tonne is e-waste.

The per capita waste generation in Indian cities ranges from 200 grams to 600 grams per day. 

43 million TPA is collected, 11.9 million is treated and 31 million is dumped in landfill sites, which means that only about 75-80% of the municipal waste gets collected and only 22-28 % of this waste is processed and treated.  

“Waste generation will increase from 62 million tonnes to about165 million tonnes in 2030

Per capita generation of waste varies from 200 gm to 600 gm per capita / day. Average generation rate at 0.4 kg per capita per day

HEALTH IMPACTS OF SOLID WASTEHEALTH IMPACTS OF SOLID WASTE

Exposure to hazardous waste can affect human health, children being more vulnerable to these pollutants.

Improperly operated incineration plants cause air pollution and improperly managed and designed landfills attract all types of insects and rodents that spread disease.

Direct handling of solid waste results in chronic diseases with the waste workers and the rag pickers being the most vulnerable.

Types of wasteTypes of waste

• Solid waste• Liquid waste• Gaseous waste• Animal by

product(ABPs)• Biodegradable waste

• Chemical waste• Commercial waste/ Business waste• Biomedical waste• Bulky waste

Solid wasteSolid waste• It is defined as “ non liquid, non-soluble materials

ranging from municipal garbage to industrial wastes that contain complex & sometimes hazardous substances”

• Solid waste also include Garbage Rubbish Demolition products Sewage treatment residue Dead animals Manure and other discarded material. -- Per capita solid waste out put 0.25-2.5 Kg/day

Charecterization of Charecterization of muncipal solid wastemuncipal solid waste

STRUCTURE OF MUNICIPAL STRUCTURE OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTESOLID WASTE

MSW

Refuse Trash

Bulky wastes (TV, refrigerators goods, Broken furniture, etc.)

Garbage Rubbish Putrescible matter non-degradable (glass, rubber, Metals, plastics non-metal set)

Vegetables, Meats, food Wastes and other readily Degradable organic wastes slowly degradable (paper, wood Products, textiles etc.)

HIERARCHY OF INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE HIERARCHY OF INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT

Segregation at source MSW waste minimization

Waste collection from source to segregation centers

Waste segregation into degradable to non- degradable

Non degradable wastes organic waste size reduction

Recycling plant aerobic composting

Agricultural land, gardens etc

WASTE MINIMISATIONWASTE MINIMISATION

Prevention of waste being created is known as waste reduction which is an important method of waste management.

The modern concepts based on the three ‘R’s are: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Methods of avoidance include reuse of second hand products, designing products to be refillable or reusable, repairing broken items instead of buying new etc.

HIERARCHY OF HIERARCHY OF WASTE MINIMIZATIONWASTE MINIMIZATION

PROCESSES CARRIED OUT DURING THE SOLID PROCESSES CARRIED OUT DURING THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENTWASTE MANAGEMENT

Integrated solid waste management through the following processes can provide a better reliable solution for the problem of municipal solid waste generation.

WASTE COLLECTION SEGREGATION RECYCLING SHREDDING OR PULVERIZING COMPOSTING

CONTROLLED TIPPING / LAND FILL

WASTE COLLECTIONWASTE COLLECTION

From individual houses, wastes can be collected in person with the help of vehicle.

To minimize the time and cost involved in collecting waste through vehicles, public can be given instruction to dump their house wastes in one place (nearby their street).

SEGREGATIONSEGREGATION

Segregation of wastes into degradable and non-degradable wastes is to be done to recover or divert non-degradable wastes (electric items, plastics, tyres etc.) and degradable items (wood, textiles etc.) to its recycling plant and if possible, it can be reused.

It is a tedious process which therefore needs labour. Magnets can also be used to segregate ferrous metals.

This process will help in reducing the amounts of waste going for composting and also earns money (through selling wastes to recycling plant.

RECYCLINGRECYCLING

The non-degradable and degradable wastes can be recycled very economically in the recyclingplants.

Apart from sending wastes to recycling plant, recycling of some organic waste is possible.

Some of the waste recycling techniques are: Fly ash, Organic wastes, Slag and scrap, Industrial gases, Waste waters, Recovery of silver from photographic films.

SHREDDING OR PULVERIZINGSHREDDING OR PULVERIZING

This process involves in size reduction of organic wastes before it goes for composting.

This process reduces the overall volume by 40%. ADVANTAGES:

It will increase surface area availability for bacterial activity (decomposition).

Facilitates easy handling of moisture content and aeration.

COMPOSTINGCOMPOSTING

Aerobic composting is one of the cheapest and easiest methods that are being available for MSW.

Generally, composting can be carried out in three techniques. They are

i) windrow composting ii) Aerated static pile method iii) In vessel method

Sanitary LandfillSanitary Landfill• Sanitary Landfill

– Layer of compacted trash covered with a layer of earth once a day and a thicker layer when the site is full

– Require impermeable barriers to stop escape of leachates: can cause problem by overflow

– Gases produced by decomposing garbage needs venting

– 1 acre/10,000 people: acute space problem: wastes piling up over 150 million tons/year;

– # of landfills down from 8000(1988) to 3091(1996)– NIMBY, NIMFYE, NIMEY, NOPE– NJ ships >5 million tons of waste every year

Monitoring of Sanitary Monitoring of Sanitary LandfillsLandfills

• Gases: Methane, Ammonia, Hydrogen sulphide

• Heavy Metals: Lead, Chromium in soil• Soluble substances: chloride, nitrate,

sulfate• Surface Run-offs• Vegetation: may pick up toxic substances• Plant residue in soil• Paper/plastics etc – blown by the wind

IncinerationIncineration• Solves space problem but:

– produces toxic gases like Cl, HCl, HCN, SO2– High temp furnaces break down hazardous

compounds but are expensive– Heat generated can be recovered: % of waste

burnt• Japan 67%, Switzerland 80%, USA 6%

• Dioxins and furans are some of the most toxic chemicals known to science.

• Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are compounds that are highly toxic environmental persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

• They are mostly by-products of various industrial processes - or, in case of dioxin-like PCBs and PBBs

•  They include:• Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins.

PCDDs are derivatives of dibenzo-p-dioxin.

• Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), or furans. PCDFs are derivatives of dibenzofuran.

• Polychlorinated/polybrominated biphenyls (PCBs/PBBs), derived from biphenyl

• Under certain conditions PCBs may form dibenzofurans/dioxins through partial oxidation.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ACHIEVEDACHIEVED

First and foremost, the surroundings become very clean.

Air pollution resulting from the burning of the waste has been eliminated completely.

The use of chemical fertilizers has been stopped in the nurseries, instead of which organic manure is being used.

Income from the sale of manure and recyclable waste have crossed 2 lakhs.

reducereduce

• Disposable goods: paper plate, paper bowl, Styrofoam cup, plastic spoon, roll of paper

towels, paper napkin; Durable goods: ceramic/plastic plate, metal spoon, glass/plastic drinking cup,

dish towel, cloth napkin)• Recovery of one tonne paper can save 17

trees.

ReuseReuse

• Instead of buying new containers from the market, use the ones that are in the house.

• Don’t through away the soft drink can or bottle cover them with home made paper or paint on them and use them as pencil stands or small vases.

recyclerecycle• Use shopping bags made of cloth or

jute which can be used over and over