Infrastructure deficits and deprivation in Indian cities related to water and power supply, as well as waste management, persist. Several studies have noted structural dysfunctionalities, like non-revenue water, low-level of metering and below-cost pricing, as barriers to both public and private investment. The government has been concerned with these deficits and has attempted to address them under JnNURM, and has mounted a concerted effort via its recently launched missions which include Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, and Clean India Mission. Several good practices involving the private sector are cited as examples for replication
Urban development is a State subject under India’s federal structure. State governments define state-specific urban development policies, establish institutions including local governments for advancing the urban policy agenda, and design and implement urban development programs and projects. The role of the central government is to define an overall approach to urban development, compatible with macroeconomic parameters. As cities have acquired increasing importance in the national economy, the central government has, in partnership with the state and local governments, introduced a slew of initiatives to enable the participation of local governments in nation-building agenda, making urban development a shared responsibility.
Urban local governments are central to the implementation of urban development agenda. The purpose underlying the 74th constitutional amendment (1992), which is built on the principle of subsidiarity, is to empower urban local governments across the political, functional, and financial spectrum; the progress in this direction is being accelerated by redefining the relationships between urban local governments and other institutions and stakeholders.
Attributes of Integrated Solid Waste Management Framework
- Reduction at source (waste prevention)
- Environmentally suitable reuse, recycle & treatment and
- Disposal in properly designed, and managed landfills
Status of Solid Waste Management in India
As per functions listed in the 12thSchedule of the Constitution, the management and disposal of solid waste generated in Indian cities is the responsibility of the Urban Local Bodies. The Municipal Solid Waste Rules were put in place in the year 2000. The revised rules have been notified in 2016. Besides municipal bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community based or¬ganisations (CBOs) and private companies are usually involved in the collection of solid waste.
Managing Municipal Solid Waste
Solid Waste Management in India is a major issue. Total solid waste generated in urban India is 38 million MT per year (0.13 MT/d). Over all collection efficiency is about 70 per cent. For major metro cities it ranges from 70-90 per cent and in several smaller cities it is below 50 per cent. Only 13 per cent of the collected waste is processed and disposed. ULBs spend Rs 500-1500 per ton of MSW. 60-70 per cent expenditure is on street sweeping; 20-30 per cent on transportation and less than 5 per cent on processing & disposal.Main challenges of SWM in India are:
(a) Poor collection efficiency
(b) No waste segregation
(c) Inadequate processing & disposal
(d) Lack of scientific landfill sites
(e) Reclamation of exiting landfills
As per estimates, 115,000 tons of municipal solid waste is generated per day in India. It is estimated that solid waste generated in small, medium and large cities and towns in India is about 0.1 kg, 0.3– 0.4 kg and 0.5 kg per capita per day respectively. The estimated annual increase in per capita waste quantity is about 1.33 per cent per year (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute).
- A significant outlay has been allocated for SWM proj¬ects in the country over the years. Rs2500crore (US $397 million) is allocated as grants-in-aid to states and ULBs, specifically for SWM through public-private partnerships (PPP).
- The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified the SWM Rules, 2016. This document gives a step-by-step guide (segregation, transporta-tion, treatment, and disposal) for waste management.
- Amendment of Bio-Medical Waste (Man¬agement and Handling) Rules and Plastic Waste Management Rules is underway.
- The Environment Ministry has notified e-Waste Management Rules, 2016. The new rules have provisions for financial penalty for damage caused to ecology and any third party due to improper manage¬ment of e-waste.
- The government is planning to ensure recognition and registration of workers involved in dismantling and recycling of solid waste under the state labour de¬partment. The process of dismantling and recycling has been simplified by the Central Pollution Control Board giving a single authorisation throughout the country.
Statutory Obligations and Regulatory Drivers
National Level Regulatory Mechanism/Act and Rules for Solid Waste Management
- The Environment (Protection), 1986
- EPA- Rule and implementation information for standards of performance for municipal waste landfills
- EPA Non-hazardous waste regulations
- The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991
- The National Environmental Tribunal Act 1995
- The National Environmental Appellate Authority Act, 1997
- The Bio Medical Waste (Management and Handling Rules), 2016
- Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001
- E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2016
- Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016
- Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2016
- IS 16557: 2016 Solid Waste Management Segregation, Collection and Utilisation at Household/Community Level — Guidelines
- Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016
- National Green Tribunal order regarding solid waste management dated December 22, 2016
Recent initiatives by the Government provide opportunities for urban rejuvenation: Smart Cities Mission (SCM)is a holistic city rejuvenation program for 100 cities in India. The SCM initially covers five years (2015-16 to 2019-20) and may be continued thereafter based on an evaluation. Under the SCM, the core infrastructure elements in a smart city include: i) adequate water supply, ii) assured electricity supply, iii) sanitation, including solid waste management, iv) efficient urban mobility and public transport, v) affordable housing, especially for the poor, vi) robust IT connectivity and digitalisation, vii) good governance, especially e-governance and citizen participation, viii) sustainable environment, ix) safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and x) health and education. The strategic components of area-based development in the SCM are city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (Greenfield development) plus a pan-city initiative in which smart solutions are applied covering larger parts of the city.
Swachh Bharat Mission includes elimination of open defecation, conversion of unsanitary toilets to pour flush toilets, eradication ofmanual scavenging, municipal solid waste management and bringing about a behavioural change in people regardinghealthy sanitation practices. Under the solid waste management state/cities are being encouraged to come out withinnovative solutions and MoUD supports them technically and financially. Some of the initiatives being taken arewaste to energy, composting plants and capping of the dumpsites. All the initiatives are being supported by capacitybuilding efforts to empower the municipal authorities to carry out their functions properly.
The main objective of Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) is to make the country clean and litter free with scientific solid-waste management in all 4,041 statutory towns covering a population of 306 million; aims at constructing 10.4 million individual household toilets and 0.5 million community and public toilets. Under Swachh Bharat Mission during 2014–15, 100 percent door-to-door waste collection and transportation was achieved in 329 cities. In 2015-16, the programme proposed to implement 100 per cent door-to-door waste collection and transportation of waste in 1,000 cities. The initiatives towards implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission are as follows:
- Improving marketability of city compost.
- Tariff fixation for waste to energy plants.
- Nomination of Swachh Bharat Ambassadors.
- DGS & D rate for procurement of MSW equipment.
- Model requests for proposals (RFPs) and tender documents.
- Handholding and interfacing support to big cities and state capital cities.
- Showcasing the success stories through learning portals.
- Independent surveys (Swachh Survekshan) for 74 cities on Swachhata.
- Swachh Bharat thematic drives.
Under Waste to Energy Programme, the government is encouraging conversion of waste to compost by linking it with sale of fertilizers and providing market-development assistance. Waste-to-energy interventions include incineration and biomethanation as the most common technologies; pyrolysis and gasification are also emerging as preferred options. 24 waste-to-energy projects to produce 233 MW are currently in different stages of construction and five projects of 79 MW have already been tendered, adding up to a total of 312 MW. Once all this capacity comes on stream, India’s waste-to-energy capacity will go up by six-fold from the current 53 MW produced from five such projects. The central government has allocated Rs15000crore to municipal corporations over the next three years under the Swachh Bharat Mission for cleanliness, waste management and waste-to-energy projects.In January 2016, Government has amended the National Tariff Policy for electricity. The tariff policy amendment has a focus on the environmental aspect with provisions which inter alia includes procurement of 100 per cent power produced from waste-to energy plants.
Given the size of India and the amount of garbage being produced, waste management could be even a $100 billion industry by 2020, provided we build the business around Swachh Bharat. There is a need to give a business vision to Swachh Bharat. According to business organisations dealing in waste management, India has big business potential
Waste Management – an untapped $13 billion industry in India
As per official estimates, India produces 62 million tons of solid waste every year. This figure is expected to rise to 436 million tons by 2050. Of the 62 million tons of waste, only 43 million tons is collected, of which 12 million tons is treated and the rest is dumped. Around 4.5 million tons is hazardous waste that includes bio-medical waste. 3 million tons in plastic and 3.2 million tons of e-waste are generated annually in India.
A study undertaken by a business research organisation NOVONOUS indicates that the waste management market is expected to be worth $13.62 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 7.17 percent. According to this study, the e-waste management market, which is better regulated compared to other solid waste, is expected to grow at 10.03 percent and the bio-medical waste management market is expected to grow at 8.41 percent during the same period. As per the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the e-waste market is expected to grow at 30.6 percent during 2014-19.
Given the size of India and the amount of garbage being produced, waste management could be even a $100 billion industry by 2020, provided we build the business around Swachh Bharat. There is a need to give a business vision to Swachh Bharat. According to business organisations dealing in waste management, waste management industry in India has big business potential; it’s all set to become a $13 billion industry by 2025.
Waste management in India is governed by various legislations rolled out by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in association with state pollution control boards, state governments and municipalities. Entrepreneurs are now urging the government to franchise the ‘fragmented’ waste management industry and give it an industrial status so as to explore the sector in an organised manner. There is a huge opportunity in waste management and a lot of work is required to make it an industry. But things are not clear as waste management happens at the local government or municipal level, which is incapable to handle the present recycling requirements. Municipality is the main stakeholder and it needs to open up. It requires well-defined hand holding, collection mechanism and revenue generation. Waste management is a completely untapped industry or rather an opportunity.
Swachh Bharat is a great initiative but there are not enough businesses to back it up. At present, businesses are fragmented. They are either startups or SMEs, very few corporates and largely coming from overseas. That is not exactly an industry. A sector becomes an industry when professionalism and big funding comes, partnership happens at very large levels. Social enterprises are great but unless they make profit, they can’t sustain for a very long time. There is a need for an ‘army of waste managers’ to achieve success in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
According to BK Soni of Eco Recycling Ltd (EcoReco), India’s first professional e-waste management company, 50 percent of expensive e-waste goes out of India every year to extract gold, silver, platinum and other expensive materials out of it which is sold back to India at 50 percent higher rates. Around 39 million people — around three percent of India’s population — are involved in manual scavenging, e-waste or other waste management. Those working in this fragmented industry have a life expectancy of 45 years and 30 percent of their income goes towards medicine,” he said. Given an industrial status, rag-pickers would get a blue collar job. It’s important to uplift them by making them more professional.The government should at least work to give waste management an industry status.
Once it becomes that, everything that’s working individually or at NGO level would come under one roof. Then things get regularised, people want to do jobs together. Today no one wants to work in waste management because there is lack of professionalism. The environment ministry on April 5, 2016, had announced regularisation of manual scavengers. This however is yet to be implemented. However, according to the Government of India, waste management is already working as an industry at the local level. We make legislation and the state governments, pollution control boards and municipalities apply it. There are initiatives already going on. If demands like giving waste management an industrial status are coming up, then perhaps business houses or entrepreneurs are expecting support from the government like loans or land allotments.