A recent World Bank report titled What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 provides regional snapshots of the world, in the form of data related to solid waste generation and management.
In South Asia, 334 million tonnes of waste was generated daily in 2016, at the rate of 0.52 kilogram per capita, including both rural and urban waste. The total waste generation in the region is expected to double by 2050.
Most of the waste generated in the South Asia region is organic. Even though, a large proportion of waste is not classified, it is assumed to be inert. The waste cleaned from drains is often mixed into the solid waste disposed of by municipalities. Although the construction and demolition waste is often included in the data, it will gradually be managed separately as a result of new rules in India established in 2016 (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change 2016).
Waste-collection services in cities are typically door-to-door. In cities like Kota in India, the residents dispose waste at a primary collection point, from where the aggregated waste is then transported to the disposal site. In such a scenario, the designated primary collection sites are open plots of land that eventually become unofficial sites for dumping. In Navi Mumbai, a waste collector usually notifies the residents to bring the waste to the collection vehicle (India, Ministry of Urban Development 2016).
Informal waste collection and recycling is extremely common in South Asia. Delhi has reported 90,000 active waste pickers. They are the most exposed to the hazards of the waste accumulated as they resort to extraction of valuable materials using unsafe methods and often, without any safety gear.
On an average, waste transportation takes places across almost 15 kms between city centres and the final disposal sites. The transportation used in primary collection of waste include three- wheeled push carts, tractors and bicycle rickshaws.
Out of 53 cities, 38 reported aggregating waste at transfer stations or secondary collection points before transporting it to the final sites. Transfer stations may be designated sites with minimal infrastructure or constructed with technologies for automated sorting. Many aggregation centers are simply temporary storage sites and mostly facilitate manual handling of waste.
Open dumping is the most common method of waste disposal and treatment in South Asia. However, most of the landfills that currently exist, lack liners, leachate collection and treatment as well as landfill gas collection.The remediation of dumpsites and construction of formal landfills are actively taking place but, the well-functioning facilities are usually privately owned.
Four out of the eight countries in South Asia recycle 1-13% of the waste, and seven out of the eight countries have begun composting programs to manage organic waste. The potential of waste-to-energy incineration has garnered interest, but results have not yet been proven substantially.
In India, improvement in waste disposal initiatives started in 2014, with the national Swachh Bharat Mission. Indian cities can access the required funds to improve their waste management programs. Many cities are establishing central authorities with the aim to increase the capacity and operations of the waste management sector. The focus lies on the development of locally tailored and cohesive waste disposal strategies that can navigate specific constraints like land, capacity, availability of local operators, financing, alignment of waste technology and composition etc. The consideration of all these factors demands the development and application of more than one solution. Similar interest in other South Asian countries is also growing.
The issue of waste management has increasingly been recognised as a social, health and environment issue, but more importantly, also an economic one, as the judicious waste recovery and land use and can ensure massive financial savings.
India Outbound
December 5, 2018
source https://indiaoutbound.org/south-asia-snapshot-of-solid-waste-management/
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