By Aditi Gupta

Abstract

This article addresses the critical issue of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in India, where rapid urbanisation and changing consumption patterns due to its burgeoning middle class and urban sprawl have significantly increased waste generation. The inefficient waste collection and management system exacerbates environmental and health hazards, exemplified by incidents like the Ghazipur landfill fire, which emitted toxic gases and compromised air quality in Delhi. Despite regulatory frameworks and policies aimed at mitigating these issues, inadequate infrastructure, low awareness and poor enforcement persist as major challenges. Moreover, the informal waste sector, predominantly comprising marginalised groups, faces health risks and social marginalisation. Financial sustainability remains a hurdle, requiring substantial investment in infrastructure and technology, alongside enhanced public-private partnerships. The transformation of waste management systems presents challenges and opportunities to enhance public health, environmental sustainability and socioeconomic equity in urban India.

Introduction

Approximately 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) is produced annually worldwide and individuals generate a global average of 0.7 kilograms of waste daily. Daily waste comprises discarded articles as a residue of our activities. India as a middle-income country is catching up with developed nations in the quantity of waste generated. This is due to the emergence of a strong middle class and is accompanied by changing consumption patterns as the rich throw more garbage and more non-biodegradable garbage than the poor. Higher consumption translates into more waste and is exacerbated by rising affordability, increase in population, sprawling of metropolitan and urban centres, development and economic progress, and improper waste management starting with insufficiency in the collection. The re-utilisation of waste is so low due to the lack of segregation during waste collection primarily by the people and then the garbage collectors who often mix even segregated trash. People and households fuss over removing garbage from their homes every day(cite) as they wish to remove the stench from inside their houses. However, it ends up only some tens of kilometres away from their homes. On average, more than half the waste collected in middle-income countries is dumped in a landfill and only 13.5 per cent of the collected is recycled while 11.1 per cent is incinerated. This article explores the ill-managed waste collection system that dumps most of our solid waste at landfills, the environmental impact of toxic gases emitted and the subsequent impacts on the health of workers and residents.

The Case of Ghazipur: Breathing-in Fumes

Ghazipur landfill is Delhi’s largest landfill which caught fire on April 22, 2024 and emitted heat and toxic carcinogenic gases such as methane, dioxins, furons, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, benzene, ethyl benzene and toluene and Hex-1-ene. The fire blazed for three days before it was extinguished, increasing the Air Quality Index (AQI) and aggravating the climate control challenges faced by the National Capital Region. Residents of nearby areas complained about throat and eye irritation even days after the fire. Landfills and open dumps lead to degraded quality of life, unsanitary living conditions and cause drops in the valuation of real estate with fluctuations in price per mile from the sites. Moreover, contamination of natural resources persists as a serious threat to the environment as 5 per cent of greenhouse gases are emitted from post-consumption waste alone. It remains unknown how the fire was initiated, however, the presence of degrading waste continuously emits combustible gases which can catch fire from a small spark or a burning cigarette, “India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat [Emission Monitoring Service], which monitors emissions via satellites”. Incidents such as Ghazipur occur all the time and all over the country, but they happen daily in our localities when people burn their waste in heaps. Waste is utilised primarily in high-capacity, high-income and land-constrained countries while about 11% of waste is incinerated, 19% is recycled and 31% in open dumps/landfills. Incineration leads to emission but its health risks are not a high priority for the handlers. MSW incineration is a non-point source of greenhouse gas emissions which is a great concern in cities.

Financing Waste Management Systems

There is at first a waste problem created by human behaviour which is further heightened by inappropriate management of MSW and continues to remain a significant flaw of central and local authorities. The lack of infrastructure in India starts from waste collection, “[m]unicipal collection efficiency is 70‒90 per cent in major metro cities and is below 50 per cent in small cities. Of this incomplete collection, only 10 per cent goes for treatment and a remarkable 90 per cent is dumped in the landfill without any treatment”. Government policies and regulations exist and the burning of MSW is legally banned in India. However, awareness is low among handlers and households while action and implementation by law enforcement is even worse. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India (MOEFCC) implemented the Environment Protection Act 1986, perceived as a response to the Bhopal gas tragedy, prescribing responsibility to citizens for the protection of forests, water bodies and wildlife. The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 holds households, street vendors, gated communities, restaurants and hotels as entities that are responsible for disposal and segregation of their waste at source and hand it over to the municipal authorities. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Board (SPCBs) or the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) are responsible for exercising legislation to prevent and control environmental pollution. The Nation Green Tribunal (NGT) was established in 2010 and is a judicial body that works to resolve environmental disputes, enforce environmental laws and promote sustainable development. Direct services for waste control and control are not provided from the centre and are instead locally handled. Due to a lack of centralisation, the services provided are woven with regulatory oversight. The introduction of efficient technology and increased public-private partnerships are some of the most popular ways forward for financing solid waste management. Financing waste management systems require investment in expensive capital and comes with high operational costs since the waste handled is labour-intensive and transportation is crucial. Although local and government bodies bear half the costs, much of the responsibility can be placed on households and enterprises such that they are increasingly utilised for recovering the costs of waste services. Apart from cost recovery, the consumers should not bear a higher burden as systematic changes need to come from enterprises and law enforcement. Moreover, waste is a potential source of energy as we have witnessed with the growth of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and biofuels, hence harnessing waste’s energy generation capabilities needs to start with proper segregation of waste.

Impact of Waste at its Worst

The waste-pickers are categorised in the informal sector and the majority of those employed in this line of work consists of women and children, they are illiterate, unskilled, lowest in the caste hierarchy and migrant workers. Another section of waste-pickers is roadside pickers who receive compensation for picking recyclable waste off the roads, highways and residential communities. Due to the work environment, they face health problems like respiratory ailments and skeletal abnormalities. They regularly face harassment from the local police and municipal authorities while trying to earn a living which is also uncertain of proper compensation. Moreover, with the increase of electronic waste, incidents of thermal runaway in batteries that can cause fires and explosions, and spill of toxic chemicals harmful to health and the environment must be taken cognisance of. E-waste lacks initiative in recycling as it is not a widespread practice for citizens to segregate their batteries and wires from plastic waste which are precious materials that have high recyclable value.

Despite the challenges, there are lessons to be learned from the current situation, while waste might be useless for most it is an important resource that can be turned into beneficial and valuable products. Waste for one, might be gold for another such as its energy generation potential as well as a source of income for waste pickers. Moreover, there must be growth in civic sense and awareness for the utilisation of waste into manure and recyclable plastics. Citizens have the main role in segregating at the source, consuming consciously to reduce waste, stopping waste fires, avoiding dumping their waste outside and instead disposing at waste collection sites. Open dumps, especially those close to societies and residential areas must be decreased. India has made progress in waste collection but segregation is the next step which has to be taught and followed by citizens and waste-pickers without enforcement from law, their combined efforts in both social and infrastructural systems are crucial for the society to move ahead. More informal restrictions can be imposed in communities by residents and neighbourhood associations at present till the same becomes common practice. Furthermore, waste-to-revenue is an approach that can elevate recycling, segregation and all further processes to help decrease waste piled at landfills today. Within this model, only some common wastes such as bio-medical waste, construction waste and chemical waste exist with no revenue generation possibilities.

About the Author:

Aditi Gupta is a graduate of B.A. (Hons.) Liberal Arts and Humanities with a major in Political Science and International Relations. She is interested in pursuing further studies in international relations, environment and economics.

Image Source: Aditi Gupta