Uncollected, unmanaged...still

COVER STORY

For a country whose people have always found a suitable use for refuse, it is surprising that its policies towards

waste management are a bit asymmetrical. Though addressed in a

small fraction, the problem keeps burgeoning, even as law makers continue to ignore it.

C R Bijoy throws light on the unsavoury areas of India’s waste management policies

Uncollected,unmanaged... Still

rowth’ and ‘development’ have become an obsession with the elite, percolating to the popular G

imagination of India in its race to top the global economic chart. Whether these will usher in a better physical quality of human life in its wake, or eradicate poverty through distributive justice, are hotly contested. What is not contested is that there is a huge cost to be paid, both social and environmental. Tens of millions of people, the most marginalised, have been brutally uprooted, and shrugged off as the necessary ‘sacrifice at the altar of nation’s progress’. While the rulers are yet to come to grip with

environmental cost, the corridors of power are abuzz with the wisdom that ‘environment and development need to be balanced’ when it comes to justifying projects, particularly mining, brushing aside the stiff local resistance, often at the point of the barrel of the gun. The development juggernaut and its concomitant conspicuous consumption spews out waste all over clogging drains, streams and rivers, and polluting the soil, water and air causing distress and human agony. Urban areas, the epicentre of ‘development’, naturally generate a lot more waste than rural areas.

Well-developed environmental laws and their stringent applications were argued as unaffordable to under-developed economies such as India in their pursuit for growth and development, with eradication of poverty as an afterthought. They also scare away foreign direct investment from fuelling the nation onto this fast-track growth trajectory. Waste generation, it seems, is better ignored until its negative externalities gnaw away the gains significantly. Two decades of ‘India Shining’ has generated and accumulated enough waste that the rulers have difficulty pretending to wake up from the slumber. Not just what waste is generated where and how, but also its human and P

march 2011planet earth 16 march 2011planet earth 17

COVER STORY

For a country whose people have always found a suitable use for refuse, it is surprising that its policies towards

waste management are a bit asymmetrical. Though addressed in a

small fraction, the problem keeps burgeoning, even as law makers continue to ignore it.

C R Bijoy throws light on the unsavoury areas of India’s waste management policies

Uncollected,unmanaged... Still

rowth’ and ‘development’ have become an obsession with the elite, percolating to the popular G

imagination of India in its race to top the global economic chart. Whether these will usher in a better physical quality of human life in its wake, or eradicate poverty through distributive justice, are hotly contested. What is not contested is that there is a huge cost to be paid, both social and environmental. Tens of millions of people, the most marginalised, have been brutally uprooted, and shrugged off as the necessary ‘sacrifice at the altar of nation’s progress’. While the rulers are yet to come to grip with

environmental cost, the corridors of power are abuzz with the wisdom that ‘environment and development need to be balanced’ when it comes to justifying projects, particularly mining, brushing aside the stiff local resistance, often at the point of the barrel of the gun. The development juggernaut and its concomitant conspicuous consumption spews out waste all over clogging drains, streams and rivers, and polluting the soil, water and air causing distress and human agony. Urban areas, the epicentre of ‘development’, naturally generate a lot more waste than rural areas.

Well-developed environmental laws and their stringent applications were argued as unaffordable to under-developed economies such as India in their pursuit for growth and development, with eradication of poverty as an afterthought. They also scare away foreign direct investment from fuelling the nation onto this fast-track growth trajectory. Waste generation, it seems, is better ignored until its negative externalities gnaw away the gains significantly. Two decades of ‘India Shining’ has generated and accumulated enough waste that the rulers have difficulty pretending to wake up from the slumber. Not just what waste is generated where and how, but also its human and P

environmental impact, its regulatory laws and mechanism, and whether and to what extent it addresses the situation, is hardly known. The extent and magnitude of the problem are yet to be ascertained with any reasonable accuracy. But what has been unearthed is not amusing.

Of wastes and their fate

If we are to look into the policies that govern waste management in India, there are certain hard facts that have to be listed out. About 0.573 million metric tonnes (MMT/d) of municipal sewage waste (MSW), was generated daily in 2008. Of this, 51 per cent was organic, 17 per cent recyclable, 11 per cent hazardous and 21 per cent was inert. At least 40 per cent is littered around, not collected at all.

There are just 110 facilities in India for treating barely half of the organic waste generated. About 60 per cent is collected, while the rest remains uncollected. Only 24 landfill facilities with a total capacity of 0.06 MMT/d as against 0.183 MMT/d of inert wastes exist. So far, 86 mechanised compost plants, 20 vermi-compost plants, two refuse derived fuel plants, and two with energy recovery system have been established in the country. Many of the sanitary landfill facilities constructed for scientific disposal of MSW are in operation.

Packaging waste too is managed as part of MSW. A wide variety of materials are used in packaging, most of it in non-food packaging (about 80 to 90 per cent by weight). The thermoplastics, which constitute 80 per cent of total plastic waste, such as Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), High-density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET),

Styrofoam or Polystyrene (PS) are not only unsafe as food and beverage, but also non-biodegradable. So are many of the thermosets which constitute the remaining 20 per cent plastic waste, such as alkyl, epoxy, ester, melamine formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, polyurethane, silicone and urea formaldehyde. PolyAl (extra polystyrene and aluminum) obtained by fusing aluminum and plastic, is increasingly used to package food products. Not only is it completely non-degradable, but also emits toxic fumes when burnt. Almost 90 per cent of these plastics such as polythene carry bags, thermocol packing, plastic wrappings, plastic plates, cups and spoons are actually recyclable. The non-recyclable plastic waste includes plastic pouches, laminated packing and multilayer packaging. Nevertheless, these disposable flimsy highly visible wastes have become trendy, an envious signature of modernity and fast lifestyle. Huge quantities find its

tonnes. Forty-four per cent of these wastes are confined as land fillable, 7 per cent as incinerable and 49 per cent as recyclable hazardous waste. There are 141 hazardous waste dumpsites in 14 states. Only 35 of the 64 Common Hazardous Waste Transportation, Storage and Disposal Sites (TSDFs) sites are notified sites. Total waste handling capacities of TSDFs is about 1.5 MTA and there is a deficit of about 1.2 MTA for land fillable wastes and about 0.9 MTA for incinerable wastes.

Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste includes concrete, bricks, plaster, wood, metal and plastics. The construction industry generates about 10 to 12 million tonnes of waste. About half of C&D waste is not recycled, while items such as tiles, bricks, wood and metal are recycled.

Of the 506.74 tonnes biomedical waste generated per day, 56.87 per cent is treated in the 159 common biomedical waste treatment facilities or captive treatment facilities. There are an estimated 602 biomedical waste incinerators, both common and captive, besides 8,038 shredders, 2,218 autoclaves, 192 microwaves and 151 hydroclaves. Of the 602 incinerators, 70.4 per cent have air pollution control devices while the remaining operate without any air pollution control devices. According to the state pollution control boards

Since no mechanism exists to collect data on waste, the above data are therefore suspect. Even guesstimates are not available for mining waste, packaging waste, electrical items, agricultural waste and waste from end-of-life vehicles and tyres. In the absence of any meaningful assessment of generation of wastes, the current and future capacity to handle waste, any waste management plan by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the nodal agency, are rendered ineffective.

Governance of waste management

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees protection of life and personal liberty, Article 32 offers remedies for enforcement of rights through the Supreme Court, Article 47 stipulates that the State has the duty to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living, and to improve public health, Article 48A

Action Plan

Management of industrial and municipal waste is the major cause of soil pollution and a serious challenge in terms of magnitude and required resources. An Action Plan will comprise:

a) Develop and implement viable models of public-private partnerships for setting up and operating secure landfills, incinerators, and other methods for the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste, both industrial and biomedical, on payment by users, taking the concerns of local communities into account. The concerned local communities and state governments must have clear entitlements to specified benefits from hosting such sites, if access is given to non-local users. Develop and implement strategies for the clean-up of toxic waste dump legacies, particularly in industrial areas and abandoned mines. More importantly, the reclamation of such lands for future use.

b) Carry out a survey and facilitate the development of a inventory of toxic and hazardous waste dumps, and an online monitoring system for the movement of hazardous waste. Strengthen the capacities of institutions responsible for monitoring toxic waste.

c) Fortify the legal arrangements and response measures for addressing emergencies arising out of transportation, handling, and disposal of hazardous wastes, as part of the chemical accidents regime.

d) Strengthen the capacities of local bodies for segregation, recycling, and reuse of municipal solid waste – recognising inter-alia the positive impacts it may have on the welfare of safai-karamcharis. Setting up and proper operation of sanitary landfills, via competitive outsourcing of services.

e) Give legal recognition to, and strengthen the informal sector which is involved in the collection and recycling of various materials. Enhance their access to institutional finance and relevant technologies.

f) Promote organic farming of traditional crop varieties, through research in and dissemination of techniques for reclamation of land with prior exposure to agricultural chemicals, facilitating marketing of organic produce in India and abroad.

g) Promote biodegradable and recyclable substitutes for non-biodegradable materials. Develop and implement strategies for their recycle, reuse, and final environmentally benign disposal.

h) Develop and enforce regulations for management of e-waste. Promote removal of barriers and regulate the beneficial utilisation of non-hazardous waste streams such as fly ash, bottom ash, red mud, and slag, including in cement and brick making, building railway and highway embankments.

There are only 110 facilities in India for treating barely half of the organic waste generated. About 60 per cent is collected, while the rest remains uncollected

way to dumpsites and landfills causing major pollution when burnt or incinerated.

About 5.7 of the 8 metric tonnes of plastic consumed annually (71.25 per cent) is converted into waste as per the estimate of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2008. This means 15,722 tonnes of plastic waste per day, of which 40 per cent is neither recycled nor collected. Thousands of tonnes of thermoplastics are recycled in small unauthorised units. They manufacture highly hazardous plastic products with poor quality dyes and plasticisers, most of them toxic and carcinogenic. They have high doses of toxic hydrocarbons such as unpolymerised free monomers, contaminants as POPs, pesticides, and heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and chromium.

Total e-waste generated was 1,46,000 tonnes in the year 2005 and is expected to exceed 8,00,000 tonnes by 2012, making it the fastest growing waste stream. Electrical and electronic products have a high and increasing obsolescence rate. E-waste or its constituents are categorised as ‘hazardous’ and ‘non-hazardous’ waste. About 36,000 hazardous waste generating industries generate 6.2 million

(SPCBs), 53.25 per cent of the 52,001

health care establishments in the

country operate without any

authorisation from their respective

SPCBs.

(Extracts from ‘National Environment Policy, 2006)

What a mess: A civic body worker sorts out waste near the bin

Scattered: Even the beaches in India have not been spared