For years, our thinking about waste management is reflected in the thought ?out of sight, out of mind?, with our sole emphasis being on removal of waste matter from the proximity of our habitations and dumping it at vacant locations or ?dump sites?. Each city has at least one such site, so the total number would easily cross 5,000 (5,161 cities as per the 2001 Census). This activity is a municipal mandate. The urban local bodies (ULBs) have been imparted a booster dose of devolution of power through the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act in 1992. Clear directions have been provided to the sector by the applicable rule? ?Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000?. But the ground situation is far from desirable.
There are umpteen number of issues in this sector for a country of our size with a huge population from a diverse socio-cultural matrix. There are failed and closed compost plants due to marketing or quality problems. Huge quantity of construction and demolition debris is obstructing traffic, spoiling organic waste or using up land space at dump sites without any gainful use. There are some of rays of hope too, where initiatives from the community, the ULB, NGOs and the private sector have demonstrated laudable and replicable examples.
Community involvement: It is crucial for success of this activity, particularly with attempts to reduce and reuse by way of our traditional thrift and segregation at source. The last named, combined with doorstep collection, can bring about considerable improvement in the whole chain of waste management activity. Though the general scenario appears to be disappointing, there are bright examples from different parts of the country, which have demonstrated the benefits of a participatory approach and involvement of an empowered community. For example, Kanchrapara (North 24 Pargana district, West Bengal) and Suryapet (Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh) started these exercises at the turn of this century. Solid waste management committees were formed at municipal and ward levels at Kanchrapara.
The empowered ward committees took responsibility of doorstep collection, source segregation, hiring of waste workers at local level and collection of service charge and the community felt involved. This has made a lasting change. At Suryapet, the ULB took all the responsibilities, but deeply involved the citizenry through sustained awareness and health education and the municipal staff through training. In both towns, part of the bio-degradable waste is processed through composting/vermi-composting.
Though there are weaknesses in the processing and ultimate disposal, these models show the effectiveness of community involvement and advocacy in improving collection and segregation at source.
Reviving failed compost plants: A facility for composting 150 tonnes per day of municipal solid waste was set up by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 1981. Compared to contemporary mechanical compost plants of those days, this plant was simpler and robust. But the plant could not survive quality, pricing and marketing problems and was closed. Most of the mechanical compost plants of that time were closed within a couple of years of commissioning. Many of the later generation of compost plants commissioned around or after 1995 also met with the same fate.
Meanwhile, quality norms for compost were notified in the form of MSW 2000 Rules and subsequently FCO 2006 (Amended 2009). So the combined challenge is about producing quality compost from mixed municipal garbage at a marketable cost and also storing the same during off-season. Let us not forget that for producing quality compost on a sustained basis and maintaining good environmental standard, considerable capital investment is required. The amortised cost plus operation and maintenance cost pushes the production cost up. Fortunately, carbon revenue has breathed fresh life in this asphyxiated business environment.
In 2007, MCD wanted to revive this compost plant through PSP (private sector participation) without any cost to the corporation. The plant was re-designed with capacity enhanced to 200 tonnes per day input garbage. A pre-sorting line was introduced for improvement in quality and removing contaminants before the material is composted. The plant was registered for clean development mechanism (CDM) revenue. At the same time, the marketing issue was taken up.
Taking a leaf from the report of the ?Inter-Ministerial Task Force on IPNM using City Compost?, continued effort was made to co-market organic city compost with chemical fertilisers. Continued efforts through these years have resulted in client confidence and tie-ups. Apart from this plant, IL&FS Waste Management and Urban Services Ltd has taken up other plants on lease and turned them around. Reviving such processing facilities would serve a great national cause by saving a lot of resources.
Remediation of old dump-sites: The garbage dump is a potential source of water pollution and vector-borne diseases, air pollution, dust and smoke. They need to be remedied through scientific closure. The lone example in the country has been executed at Gorai in Mumbai. This huge dump by the side of Gorai creek was actually rolling down garbage into the creek along with copious streams of leachate. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai had taken up this initiative on PPP mode.
After thorough hydrological and geo-technical analyses, a suitable design was worked out with provisions for an under-water concrete barrier, leachate collection, compaction and slope stabilisation and construction of gas wells. A top barrier was designed with geo-membrane, laid over gravel layers for diffusion of gas and a top vegetation layer. Lighting has been provided along walkways and a garden has been laid. Post-closure care for 15 years has been mandated in the concession agreement to check any subsiding spots, repair them, collect leachate and remove it to sewer facility. The project has got registered for CDM and has already got some advance. The inhabitants living around the famous dump are happy, as their property values have increased substantially.
Construction and demolition debris: There is a steady increase in construction activities across the country but no organised way to tackle it. In Delhi and Mumbai, this waste is collected separately and taken to the landfill. The fine portion is used as cover material these days but the bulk eats into landfill space or is dumped along carriageways.
The MCD took an initiative and allotted a pilot project through PSP. The project envisages arrangement for storage, collection from identified spots, transport to the processing plant with a capacity to receive 500 tonnes per day and processing. The processed waste is being used for two purposes?making of road sub-base and making of pavement blocks and curb stones.
Two stretches of internal roads have been built using construction debris. These are being used regularly for incoming loaded vehicles. A third road is an experimental stretch where widening of an existing road is being carried out in technical collaboration with the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI). The design and equipment is indigenous.
Replication of these best practices will surely have positive impacts on waste management in the country.
?The writer is senior technical adviser, IL&FS Waste Management & Urban Services Ltd and RETA consultant, ADB