Solid Waste ManagementR. Rajagopalan 2005 Environmental

Studies: From Crisis to Cure. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, Chapter 13 (pages

202-216)

Alang Ship Breaking Yard – › political economy (poverty of labourer) + › environmental hazard

Waste: any material that is not needed by the owner, producer, or processor.

Types of Waste

Domestic waste Industrial waste (oil, food industry) Construction waste Extractive activities waste (e.g. mining

slurry) Plastic waste Agricultural waste Biomedical waste E-waste Natural disasters, conflicts, wars..

Waste Disposal

Seperation of waste (homes) Landfills Reuse (e.g. ragpicker economy) Incineration

Sanitary Landfill Located above water table Not geologically active Not near residential community Land inexpensive Accessible to transport Trained staff for supervision

Liquid Waste Dumped into

water bodies (e.g. river, sea)

Exported to Developing countries

Actually: Should be treated before disposal

1972 London Dumping Convention

Municipal waste

Left uncollected Quite often not seperated (biomedical,

wet, dry all put together) 94% that is collected dumped on land Incineration, burning – causes pollution 5% composted

Srinivasan, of Vellore –Zero Waste Management

Separate Garbage at source Separate collection schedules Division of spoils (eg sale of recyclable

material) Compost organic waste Involvement of community Livelihood of local poor safeguarded

(e.g. recyclable material for ragpickers)

Major Polluting industries of India

Tanneries Distilleries Thermal Power Industrial waste (e.g. DDT, effluents)

Way out? Common Effluent Plants (set up in very

few places (e.g. some tanneries in TN) Recycling (reusing, energy bricks etc) Reducing waste production

› Good example: Kalundborg, Denmark