17
Hazardous waste: special reference to municipal solid waste management 12 Introduction Detection of traces of toxic chemicals in drinking water supplies, in polar ice caps, groundwater sources and episodes such as those in Minamata Bay, Japan and Love Ca- nal, USA have focussed the attention of the public worldwide on the risks posed by the inappropriate disposal of hazardous waste and accidental release of toxic chemicals into the environment. In India regulations to control and manage air and water related pollution were in place as early as 1974 and 1981 when the Water Act and Air Acts, were respectively, introduced in country. However, the concern and need to manage the hazardous waste generated in the country in a scientific manner was felt only in the mid-eighties after the occurrence of the (in) famous Bhopal gas tragedy on 2/3 December 1984. The Govern- ment’s attention was then drawn towards environmental damage and the casualties that hazardous chemical substances and toxic wastes can cause. In order to cover the envi- ronment in toto, the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) enacted an um- brella act i.e., the Environment (Protection) Act in 1986. Subsequent to this Act, in order to prevent indiscriminate disposal of hazard- ous waste, the MoEF promulgated the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Han- dling) Rules in 1989, and efforts to inventorise hazardous waste generation were initiated. Though the hazardous waste rules were intro- duced in 1989, the response towards their implementation has remained very poor. Also, due to the liberalised policy the pace of indus- trialisation has been accelerated, which has resulted in increasing amounts of hazardous wastes every year. This along with a growing amount of municipal solid waste due to rapid urbanisation and hospital waste due inad- equate policy and technological measures continues to remain a daunting issue of envi- ronmental concern to India. Pressure Industrial and hazar Industrial and hazar Industrial and hazar Industrial and hazar Industrial and hazardous waste dous waste dous waste dous waste dous waste Sources of hazardous waste include those from industrial processes, mining extraction, tailings from pesticide based agricultural practices, etc. Industrial operations lead to considerable generation of hazardous waste and in a rapidly industrialising country such as India the con- tribution to hazardous waste from industries is largest. Hazardous waste generation from industries is also critical due to their large geographical spread in the country, leading to region wide impacts. The annual growth in hazardous waste generation can be directly linked to industrial growth in the country. States such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, which are rela- tively more industrialised, face problems of toxic and hazardous waste disposal far more acutely than less developed states. The major hazardous waste-generating industries in India include petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, paint and dye, petroleum, fertilis- ers, asbestos, caustic soda, inorganic chemicals and general engineering industries. During the last 30 years, the industrial sector in India has quadrupled in size. The main source of hazardous waste and cause of an adverse impact on the environment has been the Indian chemical industry. Hazardous wastes from the industrial sectors mentioned above contain heavy metals,

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Hazardous waste: special reference to municipal

solid waste management��

Introduction

Detection of traces of toxic chemicals indrinking water supplies, in polar ice caps,groundwater sources and episodes such asthose in Minamata Bay, Japan and Love Ca-nal, USA have focussed the attention of thepublic worldwide on the risks posed by theinappropriate disposal of hazardous waste andaccidental release of toxic chemicals into theenvironment. In India regulations to controland manage air and water related pollutionwere in place as early as 1974 and 1981 whenthe Water Act and Air Acts, were respectively,introduced in country. However, the concernand need to manage the hazardous wastegenerated in the country in a scientific mannerwas felt only in the mid-eighties after theoccurrence of the (in) famous Bhopal gastragedy on 2/3 December 1984. The Govern-ment’s attention was then drawn towardsenvironmental damage and the casualties thathazardous chemical substances and toxicwastes can cause. In order to cover the envi-ronment in toto, the MoEF (Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests) enacted an um-brella act i.e., the Environment (Protection)Act in 1986. Subsequent to this Act, in orderto prevent indiscriminate disposal of hazard-ous waste, the MoEF promulgated theHazardous Wastes (Management and Han-dling) Rules in 1989, and efforts to inventorisehazardous waste generation were initiated.Though the hazardous waste rules were intro-duced in 1989, the response towards theirimplementation has remained very poor. Also,due to the liberalised policy the pace of indus-trialisation has been accelerated, which hasresulted in increasing amounts of hazardouswastes every year. This along with a growing

amount of municipal solid waste due to rapidurbanisation and hospital waste due inad-equate policy and technological measurescontinues to remain a daunting issue of envi-ronmental concern to India.

Pressure

Industrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazardous wastedous wastedous wastedous wastedous wasteSources of hazardous waste include those fromindustrial processes, mining extraction, tailingsfrom pesticide based agricultural practices,etc. Industrial operations lead to considerablegeneration of hazardous waste and in a rapidlyindustrialising country such as India the con-tribution to hazardous waste from industries islargest. Hazardous waste generation fromindustries is also critical due to their largegeographical spread in the country, leading toregion wide impacts. The annual growth inhazardous waste generation can be directlylinked to industrial growth in the country.

States such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, TamilNadu, and Andhra Pradesh, which are rela-tively more industrialised, face problems oftoxic and hazardous waste disposal far moreacutely than less developed states. The majorhazardous waste-generating industries in Indiainclude petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals,pesticides, paint and dye, petroleum, fertilis-ers, asbestos, caustic soda, inorganic chemicalsand general engineering industries.

During the last 30 years, the industrialsector in India has quadrupled in size. Themain source of hazardous waste and cause ofan adverse impact on the environment hasbeen the Indian chemical industry.Hazardous wastes from the industrial sectorsmentioned above contain heavy metals,

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cyanides, pesticides, complex aromaticcompounds (such as PCBs), and otherchemicals which are toxic, flammable, reactive,corrosive or have explosive properties.

Municipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesThere has been a significant increase in thegeneration of MSW (municipal solid wastes)in India over the last few decades. This islargely a result of rapid population growth inthe country. The daily per capita generation ofmunicipal solid waste in India ranges fromabout 100 g in small towns to 500 g in largetowns. Although national level data do notexist for municipal solid waste generation,collection and disposal, for the lack of a nationwide inventory, the growth of solid wastegeneration over the years can be studied for afew selected urban centres. The population ofMumbai increased from around 8.2 millions in1981, to 12.3 millions in 1991, a growth ofaround 49%. The municipal waste generationhowever grew from 3,200 tonnes per day to5,355 tonnes per day in the same period, agrowth of around 67%. This clearly indicatesthat the growth in municipal waste generationin our urban centres has outpaced the growthin population in recent years. The reasons forthis trend could be our changing lifestyles,food habits and changes in the standard ofliving. MSW in cities is collected by the mu-nicipalities and transported to designateddisposal sites normally a low lying area on theoutskirts of the city for disposal. The choice ofa disposal site is more a matter of what isavailable than what is suitable.

State

Industrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazardous wastedous wastedous wastedous wastedous wasteThe first few attempts to quantify hazardouswaste generation in the country remainlimited to indirect estimations. For instance,using the correlation between economicactivity and hazardous waste generation

established by the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD), thereported generation of hazardous waste wasabout 0.3 million tonnes per annum in 1984.World Bank estimates place this atapproximately 4 million tonnes annually forthe year 1995. These scattered inventorieswere not very useful in designing hazardouswaste strategies for the country sincehazardous waste generation is very dynamicowing to the intense growth in industrialactivities taking place. In order to generate anupdated inventory for hazardous waste in thecountry, an exercise in different states ofIndia was initiated by the CPCB (CentralPollution Control Board) in the year 1993.The present information on total hazardouswaste generated from industries and facilitiesavailable for its disposal in Indian states hasbeen collected by the MoEF through therespective SPCBs (state pollution controlboards). Table 12.1 gives the state-wise statusof number of units generating hazardouswaste as well as the quantity of waste gener-ated till 24 March 2000, for recyclable,incinerable and disposable waste types. Intotal, at present, around 7.2 million tonnes ofhazardous waste is generated in the countryof which 1.4 million tonnes is recyclable, 0.1million tonnes is incinerable and 5.2 milliontonnes is destined for disposal on land(MoEF 2000).

As per the information provided by theMoEF, there are 323 hazardous waste recy-cling units in India, and of these 303 recyclingunits use indigenous raw material while 20depend on imported recyclable wastes. Thestatus of hazardous waste imported for recy-cling and recovery of mostly metallicconstituents in country is presented in Box 1.The major types of hazardous waste importedby the country include battery scrap, lead andzinc dross, ash, skimmings and residues andgalvanised zinc.

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The contents of Box 1 indicate that theimport of hazardous waste into the countryfor recycling purposes clearly needsguidelines to regulate it so that India does notbecome dumping ground. The MoEF hastaken a few initiatives in this regard toregularise and track the hazardous wasteimported. These are explained in more detailin the response section of the chapter.

The major generators of non-hazardousindustrial solid wastes in India are thermalpower stations producing coal ash, steel millsproducing blast furnace slag and steelmelting slag, non-ferrous industries such asaluminium, zinc and copper producing redmud and tailings, sugar industries generatingpress mud, pulp and paper industries

producing lime sludge and fertiliser andallied industries producing gypsum. Sincethese wastes are generated in huge quantitiesin the country (147 million tonnes per annumas per a 1999 estimate), the recycle/reusepotential of these wastes should be explored,otherwise a huge land area would be requiredfor disposal. The quantities of industrial wasteproduced per annum from these industrialsources are presented in Table 12.2.

Municipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesAs stated earlier, the daily per capita genera-tion of MSW in India ranges from about 100g in small towns to 500 g in large towns. Therecyclable content of waste ranges from 13%to 20% (CPCB 1994/95). A primary survey in

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1971 estimated that the urban populationgenerated 374 g/capita/day of solid waste(Bhide and Sundersan 1983). In anothersurvey conducted by NEERI the quantity ofwaste produced has been found to vary from200 to 600 g/capita/day. A survey in 1981places this figure at 432 g/capita/day (Nath1984) and yet another survey in 1995 at 456g/capita/day (EPTRI 1995). A survey con-ducted by ORG in 1989 places total MSW

generation for 33 Indian cities at 14,934tonnes a day. The EPTRI estimates of thesurvey in 1995 for 23 Indian cities places itaround 11 million tonnes a year. The surveyconducted by CPCB puts total municipalwaste generation from class I and II cities toaround 18 million tonnes in 1997 (CPCB2000a). The present annual solid waste gener-ated in Indian cities has increased from 6million tonnes in 1947 to 48 million tonnes in

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1997 and is expected to increase to 300 mil-lion tonnes per annum by 2047 (CPCB2000a).

The characteristics of MSW collectedfrom any area depends on a number offactors such as food habits, cultural traditionsof inhabitants, lifestyles, climate, etc. Table12.3 presents the changes in thecharacteristics of waste over the past twodecades. The data show the changes in therelative share of different constituents ofwaste in the past several decades. Table 12.3shows that the percentage of recyclable wasteis increasing in the municipal waste streams.This can be largely attributed to changinglifestyles and increasing consumerism. Photo12.2 shows disposal of plastic bags along withother types of waste streams. The strategy todeal with municipal solid waste in thecountry, should therefore target maximisingrecycling/reuse efforts so that dependence onlandfills for final waste disposal can beminimised.

Only few cities follow such good practiceof waste disposal as tipping of waste usingmechanised equipment for levelling andcompacting and placing a daily cover of soilon top of it before compacting it further.

Some municipalities also practise compostingthe organic fraction of the waste. Photos 12.3and 12.4 show compacting of municipal wasteand vermi-composting being practiced at oneof the dumpsites, respectively.

However, overall, the average waste collec-tion efficiency of the total generation in Indiancities is around 72% (NIUA 1989) and 70% ofIndian cities do not have adequate wastetransportation facilities. Lots of litteringusually takes place while waste is stored incollections centres and also during its trans-port. Photos 12.5 and 12.6 show primarywaste collection centre and transportation ofmunicipal solid waste in the country.

In addition, till date, biomedical wastegenerated from clinics, hospitals, nursinghomes, pathological laboratories, blood banksand veterinary centres, in absence of anylegislation till very recently, and a lack ofawareness of impacts due to its indiscriminatedisposal, was also being disposed alongwithmunicipal waste in dumpsites. Photo 12.7shows co-disposal of biomedical waste atmunicipal waste collection centre.

Assuming a waste generation factor of250 g/bed/day for infectious biomedical waste,the Directorate General of Health Services

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has estimated the total infectious biomedicalwaste generated from different states in Indiaat 54 404 tonnes per annum as on 1 January1993 (CPCB 2000b). A WHO study on healthcare waste has estimated that of the total

waste generated in health care facilities, about85% of the waste is non-infectious, 10%infectious but non-hazardous and 5%hazardous (CPCB 2000b). Based on theseestimates, the total health care waste

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generated as per the 1993 data in the countrycan be taken as 544 040 tonnes per annumand hazardous waste generation from healthcare facilities can be taken as 27,202 tonnesper annum. A proper waste segregationscheme for separating hospital waste intoinfectious and non-infectious categories istherefore desired. This should be coupled withseparate and dedicated treatment facilities forinfectious waste categories so that co-disposalof infectious waste with municipal waste canbe avoided. Photo 12.8 shows a medical wasteincinerator installed at Safdarjung Hospital inDelhi.

Impact

Industrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazarIndustrial and hazardous wastedous wastedous wastedous wastedous wasteImproper storage, handling, transportation,treatment and disposal of hazardous wasteresults in adverse impact on ecosystemsincluding the human environment. Whendischarged on land, heavy metals and certainorganic compounds are phytotoxic and atrelatively low levels can adversely affect soilproductivity for extended period of times. For

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example, uncontrolled release of chromiumcontaminated wastewater and sludge resultedin contamination of aquifers in the NorthArcot area of Tamil Nadu. These aquifers canno longer be used as sources of freshwater.

Discharge of acidic and alkaline wasteaffects the natural buffering capacity of surfacewaters and soils and may result in the reduc-tion of a number of species. The Boxes 2 to 4,provide illustrations of contamination due toimproper management of hazardous wastes inGujarat, the Thane-Belapur Industrial Area,and the Delhi- Rajasthan area, respectively.

Municipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesMunicipal solid wastesAt presently most of the MSW in the countryis disposed off unscientifically (no ‘sanitarylandfill’ exists) (Pachauri and Sridharan1998). This has adverse impacts on not onlythe ecosystem but also on the human environ-ment. Unscientific disposal practices leavewaste unattended at the disposal sites, whichattracts birds, rodents, fleas, etc. to the wasteand creates unhygienic conditions (odour,

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release of airborne pathogens, etc.). Theplastic content of the municipal waste ispicked up by rag pickers for recycling eitherat primary collection centres or at dumpsites.Plastic are recycled mostly in factories, whichdo not have adequate technologies to processthem in a safe manner. This exposes theworkers to toxic fumes and unhygienicconditions. Moreover, since the ragpickingsector is not formalised, not all therecyclables, particularly plastic bags, getpicked up and are found littered everywhere,reaching the drains and water bodiesultimately and choking them. Policyintervention to strengthen administrativestructures can help in mitigating the adverseimpacts of the waste on public health. Theefforts of the Surat Municipal Corporationafter the plague epidemic in 1994 have re-sulted in a complete metamorphosis of thecity. This successful example has streamlinedthe management of solid waste and has

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infectious categories and are disposed inmunicipal bins located either inside oroutside the facility premises. Sanitary workerspick this waste from here along with otherMSW and transport and dispose it atmunicipal dumpsites. Since the infectiouswaste gets mixed with municipal solid waste,it has potential to make the whole lot

helped in creating an atmosphere where theurban local bodies and citizens can discussthe gravity of the problem and shareresponsibilities with a more positive attitude(Box 5).

Most biomedical waste generated fromhealth care facilities are at present, collectedwithout segregation into infectious and non-

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infectious in adverse environmentalconditions. Moreover, biomedical waste alsocontains sharp objects (scalpels, needles,broken glasses/ampoules, etc.) the disposal ofwhich poses a risk of injury and exposure toinfection to sanitary workers and rag pickersworking at these dumpsites. Since most ofthese dumpsites are unscientifically managed,the chances of pathogens contained ininfectious waste becoming airborne andgetting released to nearby water bodies oraffecting the local resident population cannotbe ruled out.

PrPrPrPrProjectionsojectionsojectionsojectionsojectionsIndustrial and hazardous wastesAs stated earlier, the present hazardous wastegeneration in the country is around 7.2 milliontonnes out of which 1.4 million metric tonnesis recyclable, 0.1 million tonnes is incinerableand 5.2 million tonnes are destined for dis-posal on land. This indicates that discountingthe recyclable fraction of hazardous waste,total of around 5.3 million tonnes of hazard-ous waste requires some treatment anddisposal. Taking the unit average cost of treat-ment and disposal of hazardous waste at Rs3,000 per tonne of the waste, this requires aninvestment of around Rs 15,900 million everyyear for treatment and disposal of the hazard-ous waste in a scientific way.

The land required to dispose this waste inan engineered landfill, assuming the averagedensity of waste to be around 1.2 tonnes/m3

and the depth of the landfill 4 m, would bearound 1.08 km2 every year. This data can beapplied to future waste projections to arrive atfuture land requirements for the disposal ofhazardous waste.

In addition to hazardous waste, industriesalso generate around 147 million tonnes of non-hazardous (high volume-low hazard) wastesevery year at present (NWMC 1999) which ismostly disposed on open, low lying land.

Municipal solid wastesA study conducted by the CPCB on manage-ment of municipal solid waste in the countryestimates that waste generation from thepresent 48 million tonnes is expected to in-crease to 300 million tonnes per year by theyear 2047 (490 g per capita to 945 g percapita). The estimated requirement of land fordisposal would be 169.6 sq km in 2047 asagainst 20.2 sq km in 1997 (CPCB 2000a).

Response

Existing policy rExisting policy rExisting policy rExisting policy rExisting policy responsesesponsesesponsesesponsesesponsesIndustrial and hazardous wasteThe MoEF, Government of India is the nodalagency at the central level for planning, pro-moting and co-ordinating environmentalprogrammes, apart from policy formulation.The executive responsibilities for industrialpollution prevention, and control, are prima-rily executed by the CPCB at the central level,which is a statutory authority, attached to theMoEF. The CPCB was constituted in Septem-ber 1974, for implementing provisions of theWater (Prevention and Control of) PollutionAct, 1974. The State Departments of Environ-ment and SPCBs and Pollution ControlCommittees (PCCs) are the agencies desig-nated to perform these functions at the stateand union territory level.

Policies for hazardous waste manage-mentThe Hazardous Wastes (Management andHandling) Rules, 1989 was introduced underSections 6, 8, and 25 of the Environment(Protection) Act of 1986 (referred to as HWMRules 1989). The HWM Rules, 1989 providefor control of generation, collection, treat-ment, transport, import, storage and disposalof wastes listed in the schedule annexed tothese rules. Implementation of these rules isdone through the SPCBs and pollutioncontrol committees in respective states andunion territories.

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Besides these rules, in 1991, the MoEFissued Guidelines for Management and Han-dling of Hazardous Wastes for (a) generators,(b) transport of hazardous waste, and (c)owners/operators of hazardous waste storage,treatment and disposal facility. These guide-lines also established the mechanisms for thedevelopment of a reporting system for themovement of hazardous waste (the manifestsystem) and for the first time establishedprocedures for closure and post-closure re-quirements for landfills. In 1995, these werefollowed by publication of Guidelines for SafeRoad Transport of Hazardous Chemicals thatestablished basic rules for Hazardous GoodsTransport and provided for the establishmentof a Transport Emergency Plan and for provi-sions on Identification and Assessment ofHazards.

In addition to these direct rules dealingwith issues of hazardous waste management,the Government has moved to enact intolegislation, additional incentives for industriesto comply with environmental provisions andbring market forces out into the business ofenvironment. In this vein, the Public LiabilityAct 1991 was adopted to require industriesdealing with hazards to ensure against acci-dents or damages caused by release ofpollutants. The National EnvironmentalTribunal Act 1995 provides provisions forexpeditious remedies to parties injured byenvironmental crimes. Legislation on a Com-munity Right to Know 1996 has been adoptedto provide more access to information regard-ing potential hazards from industrialoperations. India is also a signatory to theBasel Convention, 1989 on control oftransboundary movement of hazardous wastesand their disposal. There were few inherentlimitations observed in implementation ofHWM Rules, 1989. To remove these limita-tions, the MoEF notified Hazardous Wastes(Management and Handling) AmendmentRules in January 2000.

Initiatives taken for hazardous wastemanagementEmerging policy directions in the field ofhazardous waste management emphasise theneed for scientific disposal of waste and poli-cies to encourage waste minimisation andadoption of cleaner technologies. Variousactivities initiated by the Government of Indiato meet these objectives are listed and dis-cussed below:� MoEF has initiated task of hazardous

waste inventory in various states to gatherupdated information

� State governments are in the process ofidentifying hazardous waste disposal sitesbased on EIA of the potential sites

� The CPCB has prepared a ready reckonerin 1998 providing technical information onsources of hazardous wastes, their charac-teristics, and the methods for recycling anddisposal

� Training programmes have been organisedfor concerned personnel in ports and cus-toms and in pollution control boards so asto familiarise them with precautionarymeasures and testing methodologies forhazardous waste constituents.

� It has been decided to impose a ban onimport of hazardous wastes containingberyllium, selenium, chromium(hexavalent), thallium, pesticides, herbi-cides and their intermediates/residues basedon recommendations by an Expert Com-mittee constituted at the national level foradvising in matters related to hazardouswastes

� In order to control movement of BaselWastes, cyanide wastes and mercury- andarsenic-bearing wastes have been prohibitedfor export and import from December1996.

� Import of waste oil and metal bearingwastes such as zinc ash, skimmings, brassdross and lead acid batteries for processingto recover resources would be regulated byMoEF and allowed only by environmentallyacceptable technologies

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In addition to these initiatives, variousprojects to regulate storage, treatment anddisposal of hazardous wastes have beeninitiated in the country. These projects arediscussed below.

Australian-Aid projectAn Australian Aided Hyderabad Waste Man-agement Project was initiated with a total costof 8.4 million Australian Dollars in 1996 todevelop a common treatment, storage anddisposal facility for hazardous waste generatedfrom industries located in Medak, Hyderabad,and Ranga Reddy districts. The SPCB is alsoreceiving technical assistance through thisAus-Aid project for training in hazardouswaste management.

German projectA German Technical Co-operation Project(GTZ) for assisting Karnataka in developmentof hazardous waste management infrastructurehas been initiated in 1995 at an estimated costof DM 3 million for creation of a hazardouswaste disposal facility and DM 3 million fortechnical co-operation. In this project, thework completed includes a hazardous wasteinventory, status of existing disposal system,and evaluation of waste disposal alternativeswith focus on incineration and landfilling. Thestudy has recommended setting up one singlecentralised landfill and development of onecement kiln in the state to incinerator status.

Municipal solid wastesAt the central level the responsibility of deal-ing with municipal solid waste lies with theMoUAE (Ministry of Urban Affairs and Em-ployment). The other ministries involved arethe MoEF and MNES (Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources). The MoUAEplays a coordinating and monitoring role,sponsors research and development projects,and organises training courses and workshopson issues related to solid waste management.

After the MoUAE the second most importantministry involved in waste management is theMoEF. The MNES is currently implementingprojects in areas related to waste and energy.At the local level it is urban local bodies likemunicipal authorities or corporations, whichensures waste collection, transportation anddisposal. The collection, transportation anddisposal of municipal solid waste is regulatedand controlled by Municipal Acts in eachmunicipality. These Acts also deal with envi-ronmental pollution caused by improperdisposal of municipal solid waste.

Policies for municipal solid wastemanagementThe MoEF, Government of India has nowissued the Municipal Solid Wastes (Manage-ment and Handling) Rules in the year 2000.These rules identify the CPCB as the agencythat will monitor the implementation of theserules and municipalities will be required tosubmit annual reports regarding municipalwaste management in their areas to the CPCB.For management of biomedical waste, theMoEF has notified Bio-Medical Waste (Man-agement and Handling) Rules in 1998 undersections 6, 8 and 25 of Environment (Protec-tion) Act of 1986.

Initiatives taken for municipal solidwaste managementApart from notification of rules for manage-ment of municipal solid wastes in 2000 by theMoEF, several attempts are underway toimprove the management of municipal solidwaste. Some of the initiatives taken at thenational level and efforts made by variousministries at the central level are as follows:� NWMC (National Waste Management

Council). The NWMC was constituted in1990 and one of its objectives was munici-pal solid waste management. The council isat present engaged in a survey of 22 mu-nicipalities to estimate the quantity ofrecyclable waste and its fate during waste

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collection, transportation, and disposal.NWMC in 1993 constituted a nationalplastic waste management task force tosuggest measures to minimise the adverseenvironmental and health impacts arisingout of plastic recycling. Based on the rec-ommendations of this task force, the MoEFin 1998, came out with draft RecycledPlastic Usage Rules, 1998 which bansstoring, carrying and packing of food itemsin recycled plastic bags. It also specifies thequality standards for manufacturing recy-cled plastic bags.

� Strategy Paper. The MoUAE engagedNEERI (National Environmental Engineer-ing Research Institute) for formulating astrategy paper on municipal waste manage-ment and also for preparing a manual onsolid waste management. These documentshighlight various critical issues relating tothe management of solid wastes and haveoffered a number of suggestions for improv-ing management practices.

� Policy Paper. The CPHEEO (CentralPublic Health Environmental EngineeringOrganisation) of MoUAE has prepared apolicy paper on promoting the integratedprovisions of water, sanitation, solid wastemanagement and drainage utilities in India.

� Master Plan for MSW. The MoEF andCPCB organised an interaction meet onMarch 1995 with municipal authorities andother concerned ministers to evolve a strat-egy for the management of municipal solidwastes. CPCB also formulated guidelinesfor safe disposal of hospital wastes.

� Realising the potential and the need forproper treatment of wastes and resultantrecovery of energy, the MNES, in June1995, launched a National Programme onEnergy Recovery from urban – municipaland industrial wastes, with a view to pro-moting the adoption of appropriatetechnologies. Various fiscal and financialincentives are offered by the MNES underthis programme for energy recovery fromwastes.

� High Powered Committees: A high pow-ered committee on urban waste wasconstituted by the Government of Indiaduring 1975. The committee, in its reportmade 76 recommendations, covering eightimportant areas of waste management.Another high powered committee wasconstituted in 1995. The committee hasgiven number of recommendationscovering issues like segregation, door-to-door collection, proper handling andtransportation, waste composting andtreatment and use of appropriatetechnologies for waste treatment anddisposal.

Judicial interventionsFailure in implementation of existing legisla-tion to check the environmental damagecaused by non-conforming industrial units hasresulted in issue of directions in the year 1996from Supreme Court (SC) of India orderingclosure/shifting of industrial units using haz-ardous processes and hazardous chemicalsfrom Delhi region to regions identified bygovernment in the National Capital Region. Inaddition, SC has ordered closure of 200 tan-neries in Tamil Nadu, and 35 foundries inBengal.

Policy gapsPolicy gapsPolicy gapsPolicy gapsPolicy gapsHazardous waste management� The rules promulgated by the MoEF in the

year 2000 dealing with hazardous wastemanagement fail to provide any incentivefor waste reduction/minimisation efforts.Industries are therefore reluctant to adoptsuch measures.

� In absence of standards for clean up ofcontaminated sites and limits for disposalof waste on land, those industries whichare causing contamination of land andwater bodies through inappropriate wastedisposal are not legally bound to clean thesite unless ordered by judicial interventionto do so (refer to Box 4 – groundwatercontamination at Village Bichchri).

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Municipal waste management� Though draft rules for the management of

municipal waste were notified as early as1998, the final rules could be notified onlyin the year 2000. These rules along withrules for biomedical waste management donot clearly identify the role and responsi-bilities to be undertaken by the CPCB andSPCBs.

Knowledge/inforKnowledge/inforKnowledge/inforKnowledge/inforKnowledge/information/data gapsmation/data gapsmation/data gapsmation/data gapsmation/data gapsHazardous waste management� The hazardous waste inventory carried out

by different states has been a one-timeexercise. But since the growth of the indus-trial sector is dynamic in the country, thereis a need to constantly update this wasteinventory so that appropriate waste man-agement strategies can be incorporated inwaste management plans.

� In absence of a reliable waste inventory,there is very little practice at present forusing tools such as EIA for hazardous wasteproblems. This has led to very little researchon exploring the risks and health impacts ofhazardous waste disposal on surroundingecosystem and communities.

� Apart from some dedicated facilities atlarge chemical industries, India lacks thesort of infrastructure that is required forproper treatment and disposal of hazardouswaste largely due to the inability of regula-tory authorities to achieve strictenforcement of rules. This is also partly dueto inadequate infrastructure including staffin different SPCBs assigned for hazardouswaste management in the state.

Municipal waste management� Although attempts have been made at the

city level in some selected pockets of thecountry to identify and quantify municipalwaste and biomedical waste, there are nostate/nation-wide waste inventories availablein both the cases. It becomes very difficultin the absence of such an inventory toprepare waste management plans.

� Most of the waste whether municipal orbiomedical, is at present dumped in openlow lying areas with no provisions for liners,leachate collection and treatment system orgas collection system.

� In absence of segregation of waste atsource, waste treatment alternatives such asrecycling, waste-to-energy projects and orcomposting become uneconomical tooperate.

� Most infectious biomedical waste segre-gated at the source of generation getsdisposed at municipal waste dumpsites inabsence of dedicated waste disposal facili-ties for biomedical waste generators.

Policy rPolicy rPolicy rPolicy rPolicy recommendationsecommendationsecommendationsecommendationsecommendationsIndustrial and hazardous waste man-agement� The strategy required to ensure scientific

management of hazardous waste, which isexpected to increase over the years due toour liberalised economic policies and re-lated growth in industry should encompassall the aspects of waste management cyclesstarting from generation of waste to itshandling, segregation, transportation, treat-ment, and disposal.

� In addition, the strategy should also targetwaste minimisation/ reduction as its pri-mary focus. This becomes particularlyimportant in view of stricter environmentalstandards being enforced on industries.This results in increased cost of treatmentand disposal to meet the stricter standards.Any waste minimisation/reduction effortwould thus result in less waste generationand lesser waste to be managed thusreducing the cost of waste management. Inaddition, any recycle/reuse effort may infact earn net revenue on the wastegeneration.

� Although the Government of India recog-nises the localised nature of hazardouswaste generators and while significantprogress has been made in identifying largeconcentrations of hazardous waste, further

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efforts are required to quantify and charac-terise the volume of waste residuesgenerated by industries. As discussedabove, there is need to constantly upgradethis waste inventory so that appropriatewaste management strategies can be incor-porated in waste management plans.

� Although substantial progress has beenmade in imparting training and capacitybuilding to SPCB officials, additionalcapacity at SPCB is needed to deal withanalytical and monitoring requirementsregarding tracking of hazardous wastemovement and management. In additiontraining is also required for critical indus-trial sectors generating hazardous waste toaddress their responsibility in handling,storage, transportation, treatment anddisposal of hazardous waste. This becomesparticularly important in light of newamended hazardous waste rules introducedin country in January 2000. The amendedhazardous waste rules expand the definitionof hazardous waste from previous oneincorporating the hazardous waste streamsidentified in Basel Convention.

� It is suggested to incorporate comprehen-sive approaches such as EIA to carry outenvironmental and social assessments ofhazardous waste management operations.This will help us assessing the risks andhealth impacts of inappropriate disposal ofhazardous waste on surrounding ecosystemand communities.

� Environmental emergencies and accidentalspillage or indiscriminate disposal of chemi-cals or waste on land causes contaminationof soil and groundwater. Use of any treat-ment or cleanup option requires cleaning ofsoil and groundwater to some acceptablelevel of contaminants. Most of the time, indealing with contaminated soil orgroundwater, it is neither economically nortechnologically feasible to achieve the zerolevel of cleanup. It is, therefore, necessaryfor the Government to set standards notonly for disposal of waste on land but also

for clean up of contaminated soils andgroundwater.

� Apart from some dedicated facilities atlarge chemical industries, India lacks thesort of infrastructure that is required forproper treatment and disposal ofhazardous waste. Opportunity of settingsuch facility at the state level, addressingthe willingness-to-pay issue byparticipating industries, type of ownership,financial mechanisms to finance suchventures and extent of private sectorparticipation need to be addressed/explored to ensure that such facilities comeinto existence.

Municipal solid waste managementIn order to have a satisfactory, efficient, and asustainable system of solid waste management,proper planning, implementation, and man-agement systems must be incorporated inframing the national policy for solid wastemanagement for the country. Present andfuture ways to manage solid waste stream needconsideration of the following aspects.� Setting targets for waste reduction. Reduc-

tion at source can be accomplished in threeways (1) fees and tax incentives to promotemarket mechanisms to effect source reduc-tion, (2) mandatory standards and regulation,and (3) education and voluntary compliancewith policies by business and consumers,(Marcin, Durbak, and Ince 1994). However,these strategies need to be sensitive to theconcerns of possible loss of business and jobsin affected industries. Reduction in the quan-tity of municipal solid waste could affectemployment, taxes/revenues, and economicactivity in unpredictable ways (Marcin,Durbak, and Ince 1994).

� Technological interventions. India haslagged behind in adopting technologies forsolid waste management. In particular,three technical components, collection,transportation, and treatment and disposalof waste need urgent attention.

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• Collection of waste. One immediatemeasure to revamp the existing collectionservice structure is to provide commu-nity waste bins conveniently placed forthe people to deposit domestic waste. Asa first step, this will ensure that peopledo not throw their garbage on the roadsand hence do not create open dumpsites.The second measure should entail sepa-ration of waste at source intobiodegradable and non-biodegradablecomponents.

• Transportation of waste. Waste shouldbe carried in covered vehicles. For thenarrow lanes in the congested Old Citywhere a dumper placer cannot move andwhere the waste has to be carried longerthan 1 km to the nearest municipal bin,small, covered vehicles built over athree-wheeler scooter, preferably with atipping arrangement, may be used.Infectious and hazardous waste fromhealth care facilities should be carriedstrictly in separate covered vehicles.Hospital waste of some categories, e.g.biomedical waste consisting of humanbody parts, body fluids, etc., has to beincinerated but for other categories ofwaste, methods likemicrowaving and autoclaving are possible.

• Treatment and disposal. Proper segrega-tion would lead to better options andopportunities for scientific disposal ofwaste. Recyclables could be straightawaytransported to recycling units, which, inturn, would pay the corporations for it,thereby adding to their income. Theorganic matter could be disposed ofeither by aerobic composting, anaerobicdigestion or sanitary landfilling. Depend-ing upon land availability and financialresources, either of these methods couldbe adopted. However, it appears thatlandfilling would continue to be themost widely adopted practice in India inthe coming few years, in which casecertain improvements will have to be

done to ensure that it is sanitarylandfilling and not merely dumping ofwaste.

� Institutional and regulatory reforms. Themunicipalities are the primary institutionsresponsible for solid waste management inIndia, but most of the urban local bodies,barring a few progressive ones, are unableto provide the desirable level of conservancyservices. The 12th Schedule in 74thAmendment Act 1992, (Entry 6 in Sched-ule 12 (Article 243-W) empowers the localbodies by giving them independence, au-thority, and power to impose taxes, duties,tolls, and fees for services including publichealth, sanitation, conservancy, and solidwaste management.

References

Agarwal, R. (1998) ‘India: the World’s finaldumpyard’. Basel Action News 1(l): 1998

Anjello, R.; Ranawana, A. (1996) ‘Death in SlowMotion- India has become the dumping groundfor the west’s toxic waste’. Asiaweek 1996

Bhattacharya, A; Shrivastava, R. (1994) ‘The night airturned poisonous’. Down to Earth, December 1994

Bhide, A.D.; Sundaresan, B.B. (1983) Solid WasteManagement in Developing Countries. New Delhi:Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre,222 pp.

CPCB (2000a) Management of Municipal SolidWaste. Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board

CPCB (2000b) Manual on Hospital Waste Manage-ment. Delhi: Central Pollution Control Board

EPTRI (1995) Status of Solid Waste Disposal in Me-tropolis Hyderabad. Hyderabad: EnvironmentalProtection Training and Research Institute. 46 pp.

Greenpeace (1997) The Waste Invasion. http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/no.nukes/p970131.html

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Greenpeace (1998) Dutch PVC Waste Still Exported toAsia: call for an end to delayed dumping. http://www.greenpeace.org/pressrelease/toxics/1998feb4.html

Marcin, T.C.; Durbak, I.A.; Ince, P.J. (1994)‘Source reduction strategy and technologicalchange affecting demand for pulp and paper inNorth America’. Centre for International Trade inForeign Products (Proceedings), pp.146–164.Seattle: Third International Symposium,September 13-14, 1994

MoEF (2000) Draft on Status of Implementation ofthe Hazardous Waste Rules, 1989. New Delhi:Ministry of Environment and Forests

NIUA (1989) Upgrading municipal services: normsand financial implications. New Delhi: National