Pollution & Degradation

India generates over 1,50,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day. The per capita waste generation in Indian cities ranges from 200 grams to 600 grams per day. Only about 75-80% of the municipal solid waste gets collected and only 22-28% of this waste is processed and treated. Current systems in India cannot cope with the volumes of waste generated by an increasing urban population. This has an adverse impact on public health, the environment and the economy. To address these concerns, understanding the shortcomings in solid waste management system in the country is a prerequisite; the following can be highlighted in this context:

At collection level:

• There is an absence of organized and scientifically planned segregation of waste at source, i.e. household level or at community bins. Collection, segregation and sorting is undertaken majorly by the informal sector, rag pickers and kabadiwalas under very unsafe and hazardous conditions.
• Formal solid waste management rules are not implemented well to cover the informal sector. Further, the rules do not even provide incentives for the informal recyclers either to sell to the formal recyclers or to formalise.

At treatment or processing level:

• India is still struggling to make waste-to-energy projects a success story. The composting plants run at under-capacity as compost is not efficiently marketed and it is not economically attractive to the farmer due to heavy subsidies on chemical fertilizers.

At disposal level:

• In India, almost every city, town, or village adopted unscientific disposal of MSW. There are widespread violations of rules with respect to the scientific requirements for the location of a landfill; stipulated timeline of functioning of landfills; dumping more garbage in landfills as compensation of contractors is based on tonnage etc.
• Moreover, the current dominance of the centralised waste disposal arrangements just shifts the problem from the source of waste generation to waste disposal sites. They also involve long distance transportation of waste, with possible negative externalities and higher fuel consumption.

At society level:

As of now there is indifference in citizens and lack of contribution of people towards waste management. The importance of segregation and recycling is not well understood.

At administrative and policy level:

• Municipal authorities have insufficient budgets to cover the costs associated with developing sustainable SWM. Recycling by waste pickers saves municipalities’ money by reducing the volume of waste that needs to be collected, transported, and disposed of. Still there has been no initiative on the part of municipalities to integrate formal and informal sector in solid waste management
• There is a lack of coordination for specific action plans and poor strategy at implementation level by ULBs. There is also a lack of accountability in current SWM systems throughout India.
• Moreover, lack of technical expertise and political & bureaucratic will leads to quick-fix and unscientific solutions. For eg opting for capping i.e. covering up the landfill sites which has proven to be an ineffective solution as it releases methane which has disastrous effects.

These shortcomings prove to be a major hindrance in the waste management in India. In this context, new Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016 may improve SWM system in India as it promotes segregation at source, user fee for collection, compost marketing, promotion of waste to energy etc.