Municipal Solid Waste
According to the U.N. World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report, nearly 34% of India's population lives in the urban area which is increasing by 3 percentage since 2011. Although, the growth in the megacities remain constant, while the smaller urban centers have been emerging at a faster rate.
With the growing population, disposal of waste has become a major issue. At present, per capita daily municipal waste generation is of 450 gm. out of 72 million tons of waste generated annually. The urban Centre treats only 22-28% of waste and 72-78% are dumped at landfill sites. In megacities, lands are getting scarce and costly, also, there is no room for disposal of extra municipal waste. To avoid this issue, proper segregation, processing, capacity building of citizens and waste handlers, and a strong regulatory system is required.
Hazardous waste
The Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimates that nearly 74.6 lakh tons of hazardous waste (Industrial, plastic, and e-waste) from more than 44000 industries is generated every year. Out of which 34.1 lakh tones i.e. 46 percent disposed of in landfills and only 45 percent (i.e. 33.5 lakh tones) consists of recyclable and only 9 (i.e. 7 lakh tons) percent hazardous waste gets incinerate. Rapid industrialization, specifically in developing countries like India, generates sizable volumes of hazardous waste. The approach towards hazardous waste management needs to be improved with the implementation of existing and new regulations to help industries to shift their focus towards recycling and resource recovery and offer incentives to industries using sustainable manufacturing technologies.
Waste Recycling
India has the great potential for reuse and recycle products like industrial, municipal, agricultural, construction and demolition (C&D) and other processes, therefore a more comprehensive policy and regulation is required for recyclers.
As material demand will be increased by 2025, the recycling industry needs to offer a workable and sustainable solution for meeting the country’s growing demand. However, present recycling rate in India is low as compared to countries like South Korea, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia US, and European countries.
Waste-to-energy potential
As per the Task Force of the erstwhile Planning Commission Report, there is an untapped potential of generating 439 MW of power from 32,890 tons per day of combustible wastes including Refused Derived Fuel (RDF), 1.3 million cubic meter of biogas per day, or 72 MW of electricity from biogas and 5.4 million metric tons of compost annually to support agriculture. Indian municipal solid waste market is anticipated to witness a growth of 7-7.5% by 2025 hence, there will be a great scope for Waste to Energy generation. The government has three-year agenda 2017-20 to develop Waste to Energy Plant to clean the mounting garbage in major cities.
