Challenges of Solid Waste Management in India

Abstract

The Indian Prime Minister got the prestigious Global Goalkeeper Award for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. There is no denying that India has improved its sanitation coverage, but the country’s biggest shortcoming is its poor waste management infrastructure. Available literature shows that India’s informal recycling sector which consists of waste pickers plays a crucial role in segregating and recycling waste, but in most cases, they are not formally trained and at times they burn waste at landfills to keep themselves warm at night and end up setting landfill fires that cause air pollution, and because of inadequate gear, they are also exposed to diseases and injuries. As India continues to rebuild, its citizens should ensure that they avoid reaching the dangerous levels of the average westerner in plastic consumption and waste production because waste reduction is better than any kind of waste management. And India’s traditional wisdom of “Aparigraha” which is very relevant even today can play a key role in achieving that.