Waste Management

Overflowing dustbins, irregular collection of garbage and mounds of unsegregated mixed wastes -- these are the stuff that every Chennaiite's nightmares are made up of. But thanks to the efforts of the Chennai Corporation, civic activists and citizens, the city had made significant positive strides in solid waste management before the onset of the pandemic.  The city corporation decentralised waste collection and segregation. Through the Zero Waste initiative, the civic body set up a system where collection and segregation took place at various points at the zonal level, with subsequent processing at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and Micro Composting…

Thirty-year-old Raghu Kamble has been working as a garbage picker for high rises in Chembur, Tilak Nagar and surrounding areas for three years now. For him, every morning is the same. He routinely visits the  residential buildings at 9 AM — accompanied by nothing but a flimsy surgical mask for protection from the deadly virus looming over Mumbai city.  According to statistics released by Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, over 6,500 contract workers in sanitation have been working throughout the pandemic without safety gear like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or hazard pay. By mid-May, Maharashtra had seen no less than 30,000 new…

Every Indian city has at least one man-made mountain where ‘waste’ generated in our homes and businesses end up. About 90% of the staggering 150,000 metric ton of urban solid wastes generated everyday make their way to such locations. Called dump yards, landfills or garbage mountains, these toxic sites are the dark underbelly of India’s bustling, glittering cities and are home and workplace for tens of thousands of people. Swacch Bharat Mission-Urban’s 2021-22 budget of INR 1,41,678 crore indicates India’s desire for cleaner cities. The budget encourages garbage free cities but makes no specific provision to improve conditions for disadvantaged communities near landfills.…

The second wave is not just more widespread and alarming, it has completely disrupted systems, and has put pressure on existing waste management operations. Volunteers are stretched chasing beds, ambulances, plasma and more. And the last thing on everyone’s mind is waste management.  News of housekeeping staff, sanitary workers and other informal waste workers testing positive are on the rise. As frontline workers, they are often at the receiving end, sometimes because of how we dispose of waste and sometimes because we don’t care what we dispose of. But in the current situation, there is the added risk of the…

Our new refrigerator is arriving, and with it we can be sure of something else – Thermocol as voluminous as the fridge itself. Not so long ago, lunch at the food court meant eating off a Styrofoam plate. What really is Thermocol and Styrofoam? What is Thermocol and Styrofoam? Thermocol and Styrofoam are brand names – the former by BASF and the latter by Dow Chemicals. Thermocol is an EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) and Styrofoam is an XPS (Extruded Polystyrene). Both these polystyrene products are derived from petroleum, just like plastic. Thermocol is so popular that any EPS/XPS is generically called…

On November 20, 2020, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) issued a notification to increase the annual CFO (Consent For Operation) charges steeply.  This notification is applicable to all Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), including the ones operated by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and the private ones operated by the apartments, hospitals, malls, office complexes, IT parks, and others.  There are major issues with increasing the annual CFO charges. Here are some of the issues listed: 1. KSPCB levies CFO charges only from 40 per cent of the public who treat their sewage in their own STP…

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) released a guideline for Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) design and location on March 1, 2021. This article, the second in a three-part series, analyses the provisions of this guideline. In a nutshell, the guideline is riddled with technically wrong, poor recommendations. If this guideline is forced on builders and STP manufacturers, they will end up producing substandard STPs that will be too expensive for users to run, and their frequent failures will result in even more expenses for builders and RWAs alike. This will also create huge friction between builders and RWAs about…

On March 1, 2021, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) issued a new guideline for Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) design and location. It will have a major impact on all STPs, including those of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), municipalities, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), residential apartments, commercial complexes, IT parks, educational institutions, railway stations, airports, etc. Although the document is a guideline, some aspects are mandatory. We will be analysing these new guidelines in a three-part series. This first part analyses real-time probes, which requires installation of sensors for all STPs. Here are eight compelling reasons…

Translated by Sandhya Raju “உலர் கழிவு மேலாண்மை பணியில் நீண்ட காலமாக உள்ளோம் ஆனால் எங்களுக்கு ஊதியமோ மரியாதையோ இல்லை" என்கிறார் வேளாச்சேரியில் கழிவுகளை சேகரிக்கும் நயன் முஹமத். அந்தந்த பகுதிகளில் கழிவு அப்புறப்படுத்தலில் மிக முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கும் இவர்கள் நீண்ட காலமாக புறக்கணிக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். எந்தவொரு பாதுகாப்புமின்றி அவர்கள் பணி முறைபடுத்த வாய்ப்புகளின்றி தொடர்ந்து பணியில் ஈடுபட்டுவருகின்றனர். இந்தோ-ஸ்பானிஷ் கூட்டு முயற்சியில் "அர்பேசர்-சுமீத்" நிறுவனம் கழிவு மேலாண்மை ஒப்பந்தத்தை பெற்றதையடுத்து, இந்த முறையும், நகரத்தின் பல பகுதிகளில் உள்ள கழிவு சேகரிப்பவர்கள் நிராகரிப்பை எதிர்கொள்கின்றனர். புதிய கழிவு மேலாண்மை ஒப்பந்தம் பரவலாக்கப்பட்ட கழிவு மேலாண்மை என்ற அடிப்படையில் 2020 ஆம் ஆண்டு அக்டோபர் மாதம், ஏழு மண்டலங்களில் கழிவு மேலாண்மையை இந்த நிறுவனம் பெற்றது. மக்கும் கழிவுகள் (காய்கள், மீந்த உணவு போன்றவை), மக்காத கழிவுகள் (பிளாஸ்டிக், பால் கவர், பேனா போன்றவை) மற்றும் அபாயகரமான வீட்டு கழிவுகள்…

In 2016, the Government of India (GOI) launched a policy for city waste management. The plan was simple yet innovative − to convert the organic kitchen waste into manure for farmers. However, four years later, the project seems to be falling out of place with little progress. India tops the world chart for producing the maximum waste. Every day, 1.3 billion people produce about 150,000 (1.5 lakh) tonnes of solid waste. With 25% of global food production, India is the largest food producer in the world and consumes about 27% of agricultural produce.  Reports suggest that developing countries like India produce more wet and organic waste.…