Towards a sustainable waste management systemfor Bangalore

INTRODUCTION

Bangalore generates around 3000-4000 tonnes of Solid

Waste and a major constituent of which is organic

waste. Today, primary and secondary collection, and

transportation have been reasonably satisfactory to

enable the city to remain clean. The existing solid

waste treatment system in the city is not very

effective. Between the 70s and 90s a significant

fraction of the fermentable wastes was composted or

used directly in the fields. In spite of rapid growth

in solid waste production over the years, the

capacity of compost plants has not increased. Various

forms of waste recycling processes are currently

functioning in Bangalore. This level is inadequate

and it results in the production of non-fermentable

wastes to be land-filled. A significant fraction of

the total solid waste is also dumped in about 60

shifting open dump sites and poses environmental

problems. The total Municipal Solid Waste generated

in Bangalore city has increased from 650 tonnes

(1990) to 1450 tonnes (2010) and today it has become

3500 tonnes. From 1990 to 2010 there is reasonable

change in waste composition: fermentable, paper and

plastic has increased by 7%, 3% and 0.2%,

respectively. There is now a potential to reduce the

quantity of wastes transported by adopting source

segregation and facilitating decentralized treatment

wherever possible. Open dumping is conducive to the

generation and release of hazardous gases such as

methane – having 21 times more than CO2. As we head

into a climate conscious society, it is imperative

that we plan to reduce the potential Green House Gas

emissions from waste management.

All these pose challenges to the sustainability of

Bangalore waste management system: lack of people’s

participation at various stages, insufficient

segregation, inadequate recycling, insufficient

commercial incentives for processing fermentable and

an absence of a value system for health are possible

causes. The report discusses the potential for

decentralized options as possible solutions to

overcome this issue.

With an estimated population of 6 million, Bangalore

is among the largest five cities of India. Presently,

Bangalore employs a quasi-centralized collection

system leading to a predominantly open dumping of

collected wastes. Various forms of informal waste

recycling processes function in the cities of

Karnataka. However, there are constant changes in the

extent recycled prior to dumping because the direct

collection from houses provides little chance for

itinerant collectors to collect the recyclables. When

wastes were dumped by households in street bins, this

provided a good opportunity for rag-pickers to

recover many of the recyclables. Much of the

recycling is done by waste collectors collecting

wastes from individual households and the quantity of

waste recovered this way is very small.

Today the waste collection system from households

closely follows the Hon. Supreme Court Guidelines and

MSW (H&M) Rules 2000, employing a range of small

powered and non-powered vehicles for direct door-to-

door collection of wastes. The extent of wastes

collected ranges from 75-90% of the wastes generated.

The primary collection systems transfer the wastes to

large bins that are directly transported by tippers

and dumper placer trucks to locations outside the

city.

Inspite of all the legal measures established, the

outcome is still not considerable. Therefore we as

students request the concerned authority to pay heed

to the suggestions put forth by us so that the

Bangalore revives its original “GARDEN CITY” status.

ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION

In our report we have identified the main problem,

analyzed the consequences and suggested the

appropriate measures to overcome the problem of

Garbage Disposal.

In the above picture we can see the current situation

of garbage dumping in Bangalore and the step by step

process of waste segregation required. Waste

segregation means dividing waste into dry and

wet. Dry waste includes wood and related products,

metals and glass. Wet waste, typically refers to

organic waste usually generated by eating

establishments and are heavy in weight due to

dampness. Waste can also be segregated on basis of

biodegradable or non-biodegradable waste.

The two main causes of garbage pollution are a lack

of a proper garbage collection system in the city and

the presence of an improper disposal mechanism. In

most cities, garbage is collected by a civic agency

or contractor and disposed of properly. Members of

households and businesses typically round up garbage

and place it outside in large bins, where it is

eventually collected. If the garbage is not gathered

properly or not collected regularly, trash

receptacles overflow, and garbage pollution occurs.

Garbage pollution can also become a problem if the

garbage that is collected is not disposed of in the

right way. Trash must be disposed at a designated

landfill site

Waste can be segregated as 

1. Bio-degradable

2. Non-biodegradable.

Biodegradable waste includes organic waste, e.g.

kitchen waste, vegetables, fruits, flowers, leaves

from the garden, and paper. 

Non-biodegradable waste can be further segregated

into:

a) Recyclable waste – plastics, paper, glass, metal,

etc.

b) Toxic waste – old medicines, paints, chemicals,

bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide

containers, batteries, shoe polish.

c) Soiled – hospital waste such as cloth soiled with

blood and other body fluids.

Toxic and soiled waste must be disposed of with

utmost care.

Waste is collected at its source in each area and

separated. The way that waste is sorted must reflect

local disposal systems. The following categories are

common:

Paper

Cardboard (including packaging for return to

suppliers)

Glass (clear, tinted – no light bulbs or window

panes, which belong with residual waste)

Plastics

Scrap metal

Compost

Special/hazardous waste

Residual waste

Organic waste can also be segregated for disposal:

Leftover food which has had any contact with meat

can be collected separately to prevent the spread

of bacteria.

Meat and bone can be retrieved by bodies

responsible for animal waste

If other leftovers are sent, for example, to

local farmers, they can be sterilised before

being fed to the animals

Peel and scrapings from fruit and vegetables can

be composted along with other degradable matter.

Other waste can be included for composting, too,

such as cut flowers, corks, coffee grindings,

rotting fruit, tea bags, egg- and nutshells, paper

towels etc.

Chip pan oil (fryer oil), used fats, vegetable oil

and the content of fat filters can be collected by

companies able to re-use them. Local authority

waste departments can provide relevant addresses.

This can be achieved by providing recycling bins.

We have learned to dump trash and we have learned to

get rid of the trash but we still need to learn how

to do it right. The phrase, “Reduce, reuse and

recycle” has really caught on in India very recently.

The food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we

drink are all polluted, thanks to our careless

behaviour. We see heaps and piles of garbage lying on

every street and the stink is unbearable! Even

landfills are filling up and waste management is now

a giant problem facing our nation. It is time for

change and no government can bring this change

without the support of the people. This garbage is

polluting the soil, water and in turn coming back to

us in a harmful way. The medical waste is causing a

lot of harm, it is, in fact helping the diseases to

spread.

Garbage segregation can make our streets cleaner, it

can help us recycle things, reduce the use of certain

raw materials and hence in making our city a better

place to live in.

Recycling is a process to change waste materials

into new products to prevent waste of potentially

useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh

raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air

pollution (from incineration) and water pollution

(from land filling) by reducing the need for

"conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse

gas emissions as compared to plastic production.

Recycling is a key component of modern waste

reduction and is the third component of the

"Reduce,Reuse and Recycle" waste hierarchy.

Recyclable materials include many kinds

of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles,

andelectronics. The composting or other reuse

of biodegradable waste—such as food orgarden waste—

is also considered recycling.[2] Materials to be

recycled are either brought to a collection center

or picked up from the curbside, then sorted,

cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound

for manufacturing. In the strictest sense,

recycling of a material would produce a fresh

supply of the same material—for example, used

office paper would be converted into new office

paper, or used foamed polystyrene into new

polystyrene.

However, this is often difficult or too expensive

(compared with producing the same product from raw

materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many

products or materials involves their reuse in

producing different materials (e.g., paperboard)

instead. Another form of recycling is

the salvage of certain materials from complex

products, either due to their hazardous nature

(e.g., removal and reuse of mercury from various

items). Critics dispute the net economic and

environmental benefits of recycling over its costs,

and suggest that proponents of recycling often make

matters worse and suffer from confirmation bias.

Conclusion

Bangalore from being known as the garden city, is now

known as the garbage city. No matter how many round

table conferences or how many petitions we sign, if

one does not take charge of his own actions, no

policy can be implemented.

Waste management has become very crucial today, as

there are a number of health issues that has emerged

due to a polluted and unclean environment.

Bangalore has an effective primary waste collection

and transport system. However the costs of municipal

solid waste collection, transport, processing and

disposal is gradually becoming expensive and even

less sustainable. There is a need to treat the MSW

nearer the source so that segregation and recovery of

recyclables are more efficient. This calls for a

decentralized system within localities. Decentralized

systems run so far have had aesthetic and economic

problems and have always been short lived. Running

these sustainably in a decentralized manner requires

firstly a good technology such as biomethanation that

provides many more revenue streams and secondly

reasonably good recovery and sale of recyclables.

Decentralized systems have lower business risks

because of a large spread of revenue streams. This

also avoids expenditure of over 1500/t for the

municipalities and ULBs which becomes a big saving

and can be invested in development. It is therefore

important that this concept be tried with at various

municipalities so that we could become zero-waste

cities of the future.