Managing Solid Waste
Solid Waste is a huge problem all over the world. Nuisance by waste is more pronounced in developing countries because, well, nobody ever died of waste, and these countries have deeper and more urgent issues to deal with. Despite these handicaps, the respective governments make efforts towards managing waste since it does affect the quality of life.
So, what is Municipal Solid Waste? MSW, as it is referred to, is the excreta that we produce as a society. The issue of MSW management is more pronounced in urban than in rural settings because of the huge population at high densities that is concentrated at these centers causing unprecedented volume and rate of refuse generation.
From source to dump, waste passes through phases that need to be properly managed so that it does not cause environmental and health complications. These phases of the MSW life cycle are generation, collection, storage, segregation, transportation, treatment, and disposal.
Waste has of late been realized to hold value and so we witness a shift from mindless ‘dumping’ to scientific ‘management’ practices across the world. This ‘profitability’ has struck the capitalist fancy and we, therefore, see a more systematic execution of waste management. Everyone is now striving towards sustainable SWM practices such that resources, like material, energy, or nutrients, may be retained within the economy. This giving component of waste however is only a part of the total and hence a key move towards retention is the segregation of waste, whether at source before collection or at processing facilities before disposal. The energy and nutrient resources are best derived from the ‘disposable’ part of waste in waste-to-energy facilities, material resources on the other hand can be extracted from ‘recyclable’ wastes. However dandy this idea may be, the gross quantity of waste generated renders this idea difficult to execute. A few key ways of handling this would be introducing automated segregation. This however would require investment making the service liable to privatization. Another method is employing a huge labor force. This not only uses the manpower available in India thereby generating jobs but also keeps the sector a public enterprise. This opens the doors for health hazards that the workers may be exposed to. It stems more from a lack of management than anything else. If we know anything from this country’s state of affairs, is that however a serious issue this may be, enforcing safety is difficult. Informal ragpickers and scavengers dominate the scene and fall beyond regulation. This leaves us with a solution most used across the world. “Public Participation”. Waste segregation at source is practiced by almost all countries of the ‘developed’ world. For whatever different reasons they may have adopted it, it works for India because it is the best way of ensuring efficient segregation and a safe working environment for sanitation workers. Effectively engineered waste disposal, including landfills, also preserve key environmental resources like ground and surface water quality, soil fertility, air quality, and also in turn protect public health. In India, the local bodies are mostly tasked with waste management on-field. The freedom and authority to demand funds, and plan and manage the overall outcome however change with structure.
A few countries have set brilliant examples when it comes to managing solid waste and they deserve to be studied. Germany for instance has made government owned but privately functioning city cleaning bodies. They provide colour coded bins to every household with separate bin charges associated with each in addition to a basic service fee that is mandatory. Each bin (colour and charge) is intended for a certain kind of waste. There are strict regulations deterring mixing of bins so that everyone is accountable for the kind of waste that they produce. The ‘mixed’ bin for instance has the highest cost assigned to it whereas the ‘organic’ bin is half that. ‘Paper’ and ‘packaging’ wastes do not cost anything to the user and are forwarded to recycling plants and/or returned to manufacturers. Manufacturers are required, on a national scale, to pay for their packaging thereby creating awareness and accountability. ‘Special’, ‘Electric’, ‘Bulk’, or ‘cloth’ wastes require special disposal. Authorities are known to replace the lower costing bins with grey ‘mixed’ bins when users are found flouting the rules. Collection dates are available as a calender, both online and offline, to make the rounds public knowledge. This system takes care of the generation, segregation, storage, collection and transportation phases of the waste life cycle leaving the local bodies with only treatment and disposal which warrants a separate discussion altogether.
Waste Management in Japan on the other hand is highly decentralized, to the point where every municipality has its own requirements, charges, and enforcement tactics. The sorting categories may range from 3–44. With this level of variation, information is key. A Gomi Guide or ‘Garbage Manual’ is available with information on guidelines, sorting categories, collection timings, etc. Because of the limited landmass, segregation is driven by disposal tactics. That is, the basic minimum categories are burnable, non-burnable, and recyclable and all other categories are to further facilitate the process of management.
There are numerous other examples of countries acing the challenge of waste management but they all have something in common. Public Awareness and Participation. The involvement of waste generators in the process of handling and management of their own wastes is important. Consciousness of this issue is essential to drive management practices. This is the most jarring problem with India. The indifference of the greater part of its waste generators towards collection and management, a sense of detachment from the process, a conviction of ‘no responsibility’ beyond the generation stage itself is the leading cause of its problems. This requires a deeper investment than technological and management innovations.