1. Introduction
According to the Census 2011, the decadal growth of the urban population was higher than the rural population, with 31.2 per cent of the population living in urban areas. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of large cities. As many as 53 cities in India had a million-plus population. These numbers may have increased significantly today. While rapid urbanization brings in new opportunities for growth, it also poses several challenges1 (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs 2022-23).
One such pivotal challenge is Municipal Solid Waste Management in urban areas/cities. With urbanization, there occurs a change in the waste profile. Instead of biodegradable (wet) waste, households in urban areas generate increased quantities of plastics, paper, metals and other non-biodegradable (dry) waste. The quantity of waste (on a per capita basis) increases as well, as wealth increases in society. India has crossed the crux of this waste trajectory in many of its urban areas where waste generation has increased exponentially. It is estimated that urban India generates between 1,30,000 to 1,50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of municipal solid waste every day – some 330-550 gramme per urban inhabitant a day. This adds up to roughly 50 million MT per year; at current rates, this will jump to some 125 million MT a year by 20312 (NITI Aayog and Centre for Science and Environment, Atin Biswas, Subhasish Parida et al. 2021 2021).
Hence, maintaining a sustainable Municipal Solid Waste disposal mechanism in urban cities plays a very important role in ensuring sustainable urban development.
2. Proper Waste Management is an absolute necessary for a Sustainable Environment
Municipal Solid Waste represents a threat to the environment and human health if not handled or disposed of properly. Surface and groundwater contamination takes place when waste reaches water bodies. Residues from the waste can change the water chemistry, which can affect all levels of an ecosystem. The health of animals and human beings are affected when they drink contaminated water. A specific environmental hazardous substance produced by waste is leachate, which is a liquid that forms, as water trickles through the contaminated areas leaching out the chemicals. Movement of leachate from landfills and waste disposal sites may result in hazardous substances entering surface water, groundwater or soil. Emissions from the incinerators or other waste-burning devices and landfills can cause air contamination. Thus, to ensure better human health and safety, there is a need for an effective system for managing solid waste (Comptroller and Auditor General of India 2019).
3. Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The 2030 development agenda of the United Nations also emphasizes the role of sustainable cities in making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. In line with this, SDG 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) aims to encourage countries to take collective action in developing sustainable cities which are resilient and safe for living.
The Global SDG Target 11.6 specifically mentions reducing the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to municipal and other waste management, by 2030. In addition to the global indicator associated with the target- Indicator 11.6.1 Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities, India has two additional parameters- 11.6.4: Percentage of wards with 100 per cent door to door waste collection, and 11.6.5: Percentage of waste processed under the SDG Target 11.6. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is the data source agency with a periodicity of one year for parameters 11.6.4 and 11.6.5 (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation 2021).
4. Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas- India’s Perspective
4.1 Institutional Framework
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is responsible for the formulation of broad policies and programmes and assists State Governments/ Union Territories in providing technical guidelines/financial support with respect to Municipal Solid Waste sectors. The Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation is the Technical Wing of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, dealing with the technical matters related to Solid Waste Management (SWM) in urban areas of the Country. Solid Waste Management is a State subject, and the State Governments/Union Territories and Urban Local Bodies are responsible for providing the services through planning, design, implementation, operation and maintenance. (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs 2022-23).
The Central Pollution Control Board co-ordinates the activities of the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) by providing technical assistance and guidance on Municipal Solid Waste such as Management of sanitary waste and disposal of Legacy Waste (Old Municipal Solid Waste) etc. It also resolves disputes among State Pollution Control Boards and collects necessary information from municipal authorities and provides technical assistance. It has a pivotal role in standard setting, review, monitoring4 (International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development and The Energy and Research Institute 2022).
As per the 74th Amendment of the Constitution (August 1992), Solid Waste Management (SWM) is one of the mandatory functions of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The ULBs shall prepare a Solid Waste Management Plan as per the State Policy and strategy. It is also the responsibility of the municipal authorities to implement laws relating to the collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste in the municipality (Comptroller and Auditor General of India 2019).
4.2 Legislative Framework
In India, the State Governments are entrusted with the responsibility to make such laws related to the issues of public health, sanitation and solid waste management (Article 243W, 12th Schedule of the Constitution of India). Similarly, the Item 6 of List II in the Schedule VII of the Constitution of India provides for the local governments to take measures for the public health.
The National Environment Policy, 2006 also stresses to strengthen the capacities of local bodies for segregation, recycling, and reuse of municipal solid wastes- recognizing inter-alia the positive impacts it may have on the welfare of safai-karamcharis, and setting up and operating sanitary landfills, in particular through competitive outsourcing of solid waste management services (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2003).
The “Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules” were notified in September 2000. The objective of the rules was to develop scientific techniques for the safe dumping of municipal waste. After 16 years, the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling), Rules were revised and renamed as Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The Ministry of Urban Development released the Municipal Solid Waste Management Manual 2016 in alignment with the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. This manual provides guidance to the ULBs on the planning, design, implementation and monitoring of municipal solid waste management systems.
For the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is responsible for overall monitoring of the implementation of these rules in the country. It constitutes a Central Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. This Central Monitoring Committee shall meet at least once a year to monitor and review the implementation of these rules. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs coordinates with State Governments and Union territory (Central Pollution Control Board 2021).
4.3 Initiatives by India for Sustainable Waste Management in Urban Areas
4.3.1 Initiatives at National Front
Various government schemes and strategies have been formulated for achieving targets enlisted under SDG11. The Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) on 2nd October 2014 and with this, the governance of Municipal Solid Waste Management sector of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) came to the forefront. The Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) on October 2, 2014, with the objective to scientifically process all the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the country. To carry forward the progress made, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U) 2.0 has been launched on October 1, 2021 for a period of five years, up to October 1, 2026, with a vision of achieving Garbage Free Status for all cities through 100 per cent source segregation, door to door collection and scientific management of all fractions of waste, including safe disposal in scientific landfills. It is also aimed at remediation of all legacy dumpsites and converting them into green zones.
Various steps have been taken by the Government to guide the States on efficient Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) Processing, inter-alia:
- The State Governments/ Union Territory (UT) Administrations submit their component-wise City Solid Waste Action Plans (CSWAP) based on which, Central Assistance under Solid Waste management (SWM) component is released.
- Various manuals and advisories have been brought out covering all aspects of SWM including planning, designing and operation and maintenance.
- Garbage Free Star Rating Protocol to assess the City’s Municipal Solid Waste Management by third party verification.
- Various capacity building & Information, Education and Communication (IEC) initiatives have been rolled out. (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs 2023)
- Solid Waste Management (SWM) component of SBM-U 2.0 allows setting up of waste processing facilities such as Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Transfer Stations, Composting Plants, Bio-methanation Plants, Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) Processing Facilities, Plastic Waste Processing Facilities, Waste to Electricity Plants, Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Plants, Sanitary Landfill, Mechanized Sweeping Equipment and Bio-remediation/ capping of all legacy dumpsites in all ULBs.
- ‘Swachhata Startup Challenge’ launched in collaboration with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to promote an enabling environment for development startups and entrepreneurs in the waste management sector.
- SBM-U 2.0 Guidelines encourages adoption of locally innovated, cost-effective technology solutions and business models in sanitation and solid waste management by startups, through investment in Research & Design (R&D) and facilitation in Government-e-Market (GeM) portal. CITATION Min2310 \l 1033 (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs 2023).
4.3.2 Initiatives for Major Coastal Cities
Fast growing urban cities near the coastline also pose an immediate threat to the marine ecosystems due to dumping of waste which is primarily generated within the urban areas. Marine Plastic Litter is one such important sector which has been dealt by India through the implementation of various schemes such as Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar, Swachhata Action Plan, Coastal Clean Sas, Suchitwa Sagaram, Swachh-Nirmal Tat Abhiyan, Blue Flag Certification, etc. (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Environment of Japan 2023).
The Swachh Survekshan, is conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) since 2016 and is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey. It has been instrumental in fostering a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens and towards creating cleaner cities. The primary goal of Swachh Survekshan is to encourage large scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in. Conducted under the ambit of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), the annual survey has managed to mobilise people, resources and authorities in an effort to prove that their city, of all cities in India, is the cleanest and that sustainable practices, both by citizens and ULBs, are being encouraged and promulgated CITATION Gov \l 1033 (Government of India n.d.).
The state of Indore has conquered the top spot alone for seven consecutive years. Through source segregation, participation of a wide array of stakeholders and good governance, the city has become a champion of waste management CITATION NIT21 \l 1033 (NITI Aayog and Centre for Science and Environment, Atin Biswas, Subhasish Parida et al. 2021 2021).
4.3.3 Commitment at International Front
Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT-LEDS)
India submitted its Long-Term Low Carbon Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) on November 14, 2022, at COP 27. The salient features of LT-LEDS included climate-resilient urban development driven by smart city initiatives, integrated planning of cities for mainstreaming adaptation and enhancing energy and resource efficiency, effective green building codes and developments in innovative solid and liquid waste management.
4.3.4 Other Notable Initiatives
- States/UTs have constituted a Special Task Force for eliminating single-use plastics and effectively implementing Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. A National Level Taskforce has been formed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to make coordinated efforts to eliminate identified single-use plastic items and effective implementation of Plastic Waste.
- The Government published the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, on August 24, 2022, to ensure environmentally sound management of waste batteries.
- The Government notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, on November 2, 2022, launching a new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime for e-waste recycling (Ministry of Finance 2023).
5. Initiatives by SAI India in Auditing Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas
The Comptroller and Auditor General(C&AG) of India has played a formidable role in drawing the attention of the Government of India/State Governments to critical issues of urban Solid Waste Management.
A snap-shot of some recent findings are illustrated in the following paragraphs:
5.1 The Performance Audit on Waste Management in Urban Local Bodies Report No. 9 of 2022 - Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Government of Kerala revealed that there was a delay in the preparation of the State Policy and the formulation of State Strategy on waste management. The ULBs did not prepare short-term or long-term plans. Byelaws were either not prepared or not approved by the Government. The audit noticed rampant use of banned plastic carry bags and low utilization of shredded plastic in road construction works. Material Collection Facilities and Resource Recovery Facilities were either not installed or non-functional. Non-integration of informal waste collectors/waste pickers was noticed. Low priority was accorded to Information, Education and Communication activities. Incomplete segregation of waste at source and secondary levels resulted in a flow of mixed waste to processing sites. Colour-coded bins were not provided to households in all test-checked ULBs. The ULBs used open vehicles or vehicles without partitions for waste transportation, which was against the Rules. Accumulation of wastes in the Centralised processing plants, non-functioning of the Leachate treatment plants, non-collection of e-waste to authorized dismantlers/recyclers and absence of a system for accounting, collecting and disposing of Construction and Demolition waste are other notable issues raised by the audit.
5.2 The Performance Audit of Solid Waste Management Report no. 2 of 2019 - Social, Economic (other than PSUs), Economic (PSUs), Revenue and General Sectors Government of Manipur found that there was a lack of planning for the management of solid waste in the sampled Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The ULBs did not prepare separate budgets for meeting the expenditure of solid waste management and did not prepare plans which limited the effective execution of waste management activities. There was a gap between the quantum of waste generated and disposed of. Most of the waste was disposed of as mixed waste without processing as per existing norms, thereby creating a threat to the environment and health of the public. There were instances of burning of waste disposed at the disposal sites owned by the municipalities. There were no facilities for the disposal of domestic hazardous waste which resulted in the mixing up of such hazardous waste with other wastes. The landfills maintained in the sampled ULBs had not adhered to the conditions specified in the relevant Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The ULBs were not submitting annual reports containing basic information on the progress of solid waste management. The State Pollution Control Board did not conduct monitoring of environmental standards and adherence to conditions for waste processing and disposal sites which resulted in non-assessment of the environmental impact of the Plant.
5.3 During the Performance audit of Solid Waste Management in Urban Local Bodies- Report No. 4 of the year 2018- Government of Karnataka, the audit highlighted that the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities did not specifically focus on segregation of special waste and did not emphasise ‘not to bury’ and ‘not to burn’ waste. Segregation of waste at different levels was either absent or partial and the ward-wise collection of waste was absent. There was a shortage of primary waste collection vehicles and open vehicles and vehicles without necessary partition were used for transportation of waste. The ULBs were operating disposal facilities without valid authorisation from the State Pollution Control Board and necessary environmental clearance. The absence of proper segregation of waste led to mixing of MSW with plastic waste, bio-medical waste, e-waste and slaughterhouse waste. The ULBs did not collect and channelise e-waste to authorised dismantlers/recyclers and e-waste was found mixed with MSW. The above lapses indicate lack of basic monitoring by ULBs and district /State level authorities to ensure compliance to statutory requirements and posed a serious threat to the environment besides leading to health hazards.
6 The Way Forward
Solid Waste Management in urban areas has emerged as one of the biggest challenges that any country faces today. The situation is aggravated by rapid urbanisation. Inadequate management of waste has significant negative externalities in terms of public health and environmental outcomes. Besides, it has an adverse impact on the aesthetic appearance of the surroundings. The following are some key issues that can be addressed by the governing bodies to ensure sustainable waste management in urban areas.
- Scientific quantification and composition of urban waste to ensure adequate treatment and disposal and to identify and plan for innovative and efficient treatment technologies.
- Adequate promotion of sustainable waste management through Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns by ULBs to create public awareness, minimise waste generation, re-use waste to the extent possible, practise segregation of waste and desist from littering in public spaces.
- Adoption of effective strategies for segregation of waste at various levels, viz. source/ household, centralised sorting facility and waste processing sites, door-to-door collection of domestic hazardous waste and sanitary waste and providing separate colour coded bins at public places to enable effective segregation and collection of waste.
- Implementation of source-level treatment facilities for processing of biodegradable waste and handhold households/institutions for effective utilisation of these facilities.
- Ensuring that mixed waste generated gets segregated at source points itself and setting up Leachate treatment plants to treat the leachate generated, thereby preventing pollution of nearby water bodies and farmlands.
- Establishment of an effective mechanism for monitoring the performance of solid waste management system, complying with extant Rules. Authorities may also operationalise a computerised Management Information System (MIS) and resort to stringent action to curb instances of violation of Waste Management Rules.
- Incentivizing good performance by agencies and institutional mechanisms in urban areas in solid waste management based on citizen feedback/satisfaction surveys.
Selected Bibliography:
Bibliography
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Comptroller and Auditor General of India. 2019. "Report No 2 of 2019-Performance Audit of Solid Waste Management (Government of Manipur)."
Government of India. n.d. myGOV. https://www.mygov.in/mygov-survey/swachh-survekshan-2023/
International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development and The Energy and Research Institute. 2022. Municipal Solid Waste Management. Jaipur: iCED.
Ministry of Environment and Forests. 2003. National Enviornment Policy 2006. Government of India.
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1 Annual Report 2022-23-Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
2 Waste Wise Cities- NITI Aayog and CSE
3 Report No 2 of 2019-Performance Audit of Solid Waste Management (Government of Manipur)
4 Municipal Solid Waste Management in India- A Compendium Report