Waste Management: Overview of issues and regulation in India

Suneel Pandey8th May 2014

Present status

• Municipal - 62 million tonnes/annum

• Construction & Demolition – 10-12 million tonees/annum

• Industrial

– Hazardous – 7.90 million tonnes/annum

– Non Hazardous – 200 million tonnes/annum

• Biomedical – 1.5 lakh tonnes/annum

• Electronic – 8 lakh tonnes/annum

Key issues

• Municipal solid waste– Lack of waste segregation at source

– In efficient collection – efficiencies range from 50 to 90% in major metros; smaller cities, it is around 50%

– Inadequate transportation facilities in more than 70% of the cities

– Inadequate disposal – very few sanitary landfills– Landfill gas emission and contamination of water and

soil due to leachate – Biomedical waste, slaughter house waste, industrial

waste often reaching the MSW dumpsites posing potential hazard to sanitary workers and ragpickers

MSW characteristics in Indian cities

Parameter Unit Range

Compostable % 30 – 55

Recyclable (Plastics, Paper,

Metal, Glass etc)

% 5 – 15

Inter including construction &

demolition waste

% 40 - 55

Carbon/Nitrogen (C/N) Ratio 14 – 53

Moisture % 17 – 65

Calorific Value kcal/kg 520 – 3766

Source: CPCB

Door step collection of waste

Land requirement

• As per the CPCB report 2012-13– If all the waste is disposed, it will need 3,40,000 m3 of

landfill space every day

– In the present situation the municipal areas generate 1,33,760 TPD waste, of which only 25,884 TPD is treated and 1,07,876 TPD is disposed on land requiring around 2,12,752 m3 of land fill space

– Requirement of land for next 20 years could be as high as 66,000 ha (1240 ha per year)

Contamination due to leachate

Fire due to LFG

Key issues

• Construction and demolition debris

– No recycling/reuse though potentially almost everything can be recycled

– Waste still going to landfills or in abandoned areas in city landscape thus occupying valuable space

Key issues

• Non-hazardous solid waste

– No policy for effective management, recycling, reuse

• Hazardous waste

– Legacy contaminated sites

– Lack of incentive for recycling/reuse

– Illegal disposal for small industries

Unscientific disposal of industrial wastes

Unscientific disposal of industrial wastes…

Groundwater in Rajasthan

Key issues

• Biomedical waste

– Risk of injury/disease due to exposure

– High level of segregation and treatment required

– Waste often mixed and seen dumped to MSW sites

Key issues

• E-waste

– Transboundary movement

– Improper recycling in informal sector still rampant

– Soil and groundwater contamination

– Human health issues

Destination

Open burning of e-waste

Acid striping of chips and PCBs

Pollution of water bodies

Burning of waste

Pollution of soil

Distribution of Pb and Cu in soil

Air pollution

Air concentration

Water bodies

PCB levels

Regulation

• Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000; Rules for 2013 awaiting notification – Mandates local body for primary collection,

storage, transportation, processing and disposal

– Emphasizes on need for segregation

– Bans organic waste to be disposed in landfills

– Promotes recycling and organic waste processing

– Prescribes standards for landfills and incineration facilities

Regulation

• Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011– Carry bags to be either transparent or with permitted

colourants (IS:9833:1981)

– Storage of food items not permitted in recycled plastic bags

– Ban on manufacturing of less than 40 micron bags

– Not to be used for pan masala, gutka or tobacco

– Recycled carry bags to conform to IS:14534:1998

– Carry bags from compostable plastics to conform to IS:17088:2008

– Guidelines for recycling

– EPR based

Regulation

• Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2008– Provides broader definition of hazardous waste

• Characteristics based

• Process based

• Quantity based

– Harmonizes the definition with provisions of Basel Convention

– Restriction on waste import and export

– Manifest system for waste tracking

Regulation

• Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998 and amendments thereof; draft rules 2011 awaiting notification

– Simplification of colour coding

– Mandatory authorization

– District level committees for monitoring

– Precautionary principle for ensuring safety of workers

Regulation

• E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 which became operational in May 2012– The rules empower the concerned state agencies to

control, supervise and regulate relevant activities connected with e-waste management such as collection, segregation, dismantling and recycling

– EPR central theme for the Rule– Provision of registered dismantlers and recyclers – Targets for reduction in hazardous components in

different products – Hazardous component of waste to disposed in

secured landfills

Future rules

• MSW Rules are being revised as MSW Rules 2013

• Separate Rules for C&D waste being formulated

• Need assessment is being done for packaging waste

• Another critical issues is management of end-of-life lamps

Treatment facilities

• Hazardous waste – 30 common TSDFs spread across 16 states, 6 under construction

• Biomedical waste – presently 205 CBWTFs (188 operational and rest under commissioning); 688 incinerators, 2,710 autoclaves, 179 microwaves, 13 hydroclaves and 4,250 shredders as captive treatment equipment

• E-waste – 77 registered e-waste recycling facilities

Thank you