Solid waste management in India: options and opportunities

Abstract

In India, the collection, transportation and disposal of MSW are unscientific and chaotic. Uncontrolled dumping of wastes on outskirts of towns and cities has created overflowing landfills, which are not only impossible to reclaim because of the haphazard manner of dumping, but also have serious environmental implications in terms of ground water pollution and contribution to global warming. Burning of waste leads to air pollution in terms of increased TSP and PM10 emissions, which is equivalent to vehicular emissions at times. In the absence of waste segregation practices, recycling has remained to be an informal sector working on outdated technology, but nevertheless thriving owing to waste material availability and market demand of cheaper recycled products. Paper and plastic recycling have been especially growing due to continuously increasing consumption levels of both the commodities. Composting-aerobic and anaerobic, both the options are available to the country for scientific disposal of waste in future. However, country also needs something in terms of policy and guidelines to enable the municipal corporations to run the waste services efficiently.