Full Paper Presentation

Adequate Ecosystem for Waste Management in Indian Context

Mr. Sandeep Patel(CEO, Nepra Resource Management Private Limited), Ms. Henna Jesingh(Project Coordinator – Impact and Evaluation, Nepra Resource Management Private Limited) 8/31/2015


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Contents

1. List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ 2

2. Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 3

3. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Challenges in the sector ........................................................................................................................ 5

4.1 Service Level Inefficiency .............................................................................................................. 5

4.1.1 Solution ........................................................................................................................................ 5

4.2 No Source Segregation .................................................................................................................. 7

4.2.1 Solution ................................................................................................................................. 7

4.3 Non-Inclusion of the informal sector ............................................................................................ 9

4.3.1 Solution ............................................................................................................................... 10

5. References .......................................................................................................................................... 11

6. Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 11

1. List of Figures

Figure 1: Proposed Collection Approach ...................................................................................................... 6

Figure 2: Proposed Complaint Redressal System ......................................................................................... 6

Figure 3: Process for Tax Rebate in Case of Proper Segregation .................................................................. 8

Figure 4: Ensured Waste Segregation ........................................................................................................... 9


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2. Abstract

India generates over 60 million tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) per annum, almost all of which

is land-filled. Increasing urbanization coupled with changing lifestyles has led to sharp increase in the

recyclables or dry waste (paper, plastic, etc.) components which account for nearly 20-25% of the MSW.

In the absence of segregation, waste management in India is largely in the nature of "lift & shift" which

apart from creating strain on landfills also poses threats to public health, depriving a resource deficit

country like India from being able to effectively recycle the dry waste.

Furthermore, marginalized waste-pickers only tend to salvage some amount of recyclables from

community bins but the unorganized nature of this chain leads to significant exploitation (of waste-

pickers) & value-chain inefficiencies.

The solution would come through an initiative that is focused on an organized and reliable supply chain

for dry waste by linking waste-pickers as well as generators of waste for instance households and

commercial establishments with recyclers of waste in a sustainable manner.

An inclusive model should be prepared that provides improved livelihood opportunities to the

marginalized waste-picker segment besides reducing the amount of waste being landfilled and thus

helping to reduce the life-cycle impact of materials like paper, plastics, metals on public and

environmental health. The key innovation is therefore in a model that leverages knowledge of recyclable

waste and their applications, as well as, technology to drive efficiencies and effectiveness across

collections and processing. Incentivizing people for the behavior change towards waste would bring in

incredible results. It would increase the participation with an attitudinal alteration.

Thus, a collaborative approach of government, general masses and private companies is required to

bring about the desired change in the ecosystem of waste management sector in India. Private waste

management companies can get the infrastructure and technology that would play an essential role in

the theory of change of waste management.


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3. Introduction

India being one of the most populous and most

swiftly developing countries in the world,

generates humongous quantity of waste per

day, be it municipal solid waste, bio-medical

waste, e-waste or hazardous waste. Everyday

urban India alone generates 188,500 tonnes of

municipal solid waste (Annepu).

The Environmental Research and Action Group

of Chintan, waste management NGO in Delhi,

projects that by 2050 the waste generation

would increase to an alarming amount of 150

million tonnes of waste annually. The amount of

waste generation is bound to increase beyond

belief, whereas the landfill space to dispose that

waste off is limited. Apart from posing

environmental and health problems, the

mammoth piles of landfill are a curse for a

resource deficit country like India, where

recyclables are being thrown away. Out of the

total waste generated, 20-23% waste is dry

recyclable waste.

For efficient management of dry waste,

segregation of waste at source is essential.

Though, as per the Ministry of Environment &

Forest Notification 2000(Municipal Waste

Management and Handling Rules 2000), there is

a provision to encourage citizens to segregate

the waste at source into wet and dry waste,

however, only Bangalore Municipal Corporation

and Pune Municipal Corporation have made

waste segregation at source compulsory. Mixed

waste when collected by the Urban Local Body

is disposed of at the landfill. There is no formal

organized approach to segregate the

biodegradable (wet waste) and non-

biodegradable waste (dry waste).

Most of the recyclables (15-20%) is collected by

the informal sector prior to, as well as, after

formal collection by the Urban Local Body

(Gupta), but it is unaccounted. The informal

sector in India includes the waste pickers,

kabadiwalas, sweepers, house-keeping people

at societies and offices and small and medium

waste aggregators. The involvement of the

informal sector but no space in the formal

structure of waste management has made the

sector highly unorganized as well as ambiguous.

The solid waste management system in India is

inefficient and archaic. From the process of

waste collection up to disposal, there is a

dearth of effective planning as well as efficient

technology that can help make them system

more standardized and transparent. This paper

will highlight the current problems in the

system and proposed solution against each

problem.


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4. Challenges in the sector

4.1 Service Level Inefficiency

In majority of Indian cities door to door

collection of mixed municipal solid waste occurs

but only in the limited part of urban population,

the inhabitants those who are left out are from

the lower income groups. Lack of financial

resources, inadequate technology and ever

increasing urban population hampers the

service level of waste collection.

The municipality collects tax for the waste

pickup service that they provide. The tax

payment procedure is cumbersome and

outdated, which gives people an option to shun

the responsibility to pay taxes. In case of

nonpayment of tax the service is cancelled and

the garbage is dumped somewhere outside the

lane which then becomes the breeding ground

for harmful mosquitoes.

Another drawback in the service offered by the

municipality lies in the complaint redressal

system. There is no proper mechanism adopted

for customer feedback and lodging complaints.

At times the complaints lodged are overlooked

rendering the complainant unsatisfied.

The involvement of private players in waste

collection has been initiated. Despite being

successful in short run, the model will not be

sustainable if adequate checks and monitoring

is not done.

4.1.1 Solution

Customer service is not only important for a

successful business but also for changing the

mindset of people towards the governmental

services. It generates positive reputation and an

attitudinal change amongst the citizens, they

start appreciating the efforts and getting

themselves involved in the endeavors taken by

the government. Once the first step towards

improved service is taken, it would be easy to

motivate people to segregate waste at source.

With the advancement of technology, the

comfort level of people with mobile phones and

various applications on them have increased.

Municipalities can take advantage of the

situation by developing an application for the

customers availing collection services and a

software for the internal team.

With the use of software, route planning for

waste collection can be done in a way that

reduces the distance travelled while increasing

the amount of waste being collected. Using the

same software notifications/intimation can be

sent to the concerned person through SMS or

through the app prior to waste collection.

The mobile app can also serve as an essential

tool to lodge their complaint, track the

complaint and pay taxes. Trailing diagrams will

help provide a better understanding of how

technology can be a boon for improving the

service effectiveness and efficiency.


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Figure 1: Proposed Collection Approach

Figure 2: Proposed Complaint Redressal System


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4.2 No Source Segregation

The only solution to sustainable waste

management is waste segregation at source. In

India, waste segregation is an obligation to the

people and not their habit. It is an issue of lack

of awareness and attitude.

Even if the citizens are motivated, there are

other problems to cater to from the

municipality’s side. Although municipalities hold

the primary responsibility for solid waste

management, the key obstacle is inadequate

investment on developing human resources for

its management. Despite existence of home and

community segregation programmes, neither

are the municipal workers trained to collect this

waste separately nor are they properly

motivated to transport or store them

separately. This leads to de-motivation among

citizen groups to segregate their waste at

source. If segregated and stored separately dry

waste and other recyclables can itself lead to

20% of resource recovery from MSW. (Ministry

of Environment and Forests, 2010)

4.2.1 Solution

To achieve waste segregation at source, it is

essential that along with local government and

private entrepreneurs, the state government is

also envisaged to play an important part in

providing the appropriate infrastructure,

policies, and directions for waste segregation.

(Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2010)

Sensitization and training of the collection

executives about waste segregation is the very

first step. They should be taught in detail about

various waste items that fall under wet waste as

well as the items that fall under dry waste.

Incentives to the citizens can be used to

increase the extent of source segregation, both

financial and incentives made to recognize the

efforts of the citizens can serve the purpose.

Positive reinforcement methods such as giving

tax rebate to citizens for waste segregation will

motivate the generators.

State governments have the authority to make

source segregation compulsory and can levy

penalty on the generators who do not perform

the act. The stakeholders involved in the waste

collection process should be vigilant enough to

catch the defaulters. The collection executives

with the help of the hand-held device can click

images of the un-segregated waste and upload

them, the image would then be sent to the

deputy health officer or any concerned person

along with the waste generator, who could be

the chairman of the society or manager of the

corporate house. The image would be followed

by a notification to segregate the waste within

24 hours. Only if the waste segregation occurs

within that duration, will it be collected else

penalty would be imposed on the

society/corporate house.

More responsible citizens, vigilant executives

and standardization of processes using

technology will help make a sustainable model

of waste management.


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Figure 3: Process for Tax Rebate in Case of Proper Segregation

Database of

waste generator

Database will include following details: -

1. Name and Address of the society

2. Corporate code of the society

3. No. of household in the society

4. Approx. No. of persons in society

5. No. of dustbins

6. Name and contact details of Chairman

7. Approx. quantity of segregated waste

generated at society /year

From database, we can

get quantity of

segregated waste

required for tax rebate

for each society

Compare this approx

segregated quantity with

actual quantity of waste

from collection software

for each society

Collection

Software

Condition

of tax

rebate

Society is

eligible for tax

rebate

Society is not

eligible for tax

rebate

Yes No

Condition for tax rebate: -

If actual quantity of waste from collection software is

90% or above of required quantity of segregated waste

from database than that particular waste generator will

be eligible for tax rebate


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Figure 4: Ensured Waste Segregation

4.3 Non-Inclusion of the informal

sector

The International Labor Organization (ILO)

defines informal sector waste workers as

individuals or small and micro-enterprises that

intervene in waste management without being

registered and without being formally charged

for providing waste management services. The

sector is not recognized formally and

acknowledged; still their members provide

waste management services to the citizens.

(Gupta)

They play an important role in the waste

recycling value chain by collecting, sorting and

trading waste. A huge quantity of waste is

recovered by the informal sector. In most

developing countries, 15-20% of the waste

generated is managed by the informal sector,

providing financial and environmental benefits

to municipalities. (Gupta)

Since there aren’t any welfare benefits available

for the waste pickers, they majorly depend on

the local money lenders and intermediaries for

emergent needs. The waste-pickers get trapped

in the loan cycle which adds to their plight.

Another issue is the non-transparent nature of

the informal sector (local kabadiwalas) in

household waste collection as well as trading

the waste to authorized recyclers, cheating in

weight measurement while collecting waste

form households is a common problem that is

encountered in the country.


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4.3.1 Solution

Financial and social integration of the waste

pickers is of prime importance. NGO’s,

international organization, government, and

private organizations have to come together to

bring about a change.

Providing ID cards should be the first step to

boost their confidence and recognize the work

that they do. The next step could be inculcating

the saving habit amongst the waste workers by

providing bank linkage. Since most of them do

not have a legal id proof, private waste

management companies to whom the waste

pickers sell their waste can become the

guarantors or business correspondents.

Engaging waste pickers at the dry waste

facilities of municipalities for waste sorting and

making daily payments can be another essential

move towards formalizing their role in the

waste management sector.

Informal workers can organize in small

enterprises or cooperatives, manage sorting

and recycling centers and provide the local or

international recycling market with valuable

materials. The workers once integrated into

cooperatives would have increased bargaining

power than before.


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5. References

http://www.novonous.com/waste-management-market-india-2014-2025

http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/print/volume-14/issue-6/wmw-special/a-billion-

reasons-for-waste-to-energy-in-india.html

http://www.chintan-india.org/documents/fact_sheets/chintan_waste_tales_fact_sheet.pdf

http://www.moef.nic.in/legis/hsm/mswmhr.html

http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0313/ijsrp-p15129.pdf

http://cma.tn.gov.in/cma/en-

in/Downloads/Improving%20Municipal%20Solid%20Waste%20Management%20in%20India.pdf

http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Roadmap-Mgmt-Waste.pdf

http://www.transwaste.eu/file/001441.pdf

6. Bibliography

Annepu, Ranjith. A billion reason for waste to energy in India.

Gupta, Dr. Sanjay K. Integrating the Informal Sector for Improved Waste Management .

Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi. 2010. Report of the Committee to Evolve Road Map

on Management of Wastes in India. March 2010.

http://www.novonous.com/waste-management-market-india-2014-2025

http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/print/volume-14/issue-6/wmw-special/a-billion-reasons-for-waste-to-energy-in-india.html

http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/print/volume-14/issue-6/wmw-special/a-billion-reasons-for-waste-to-energy-in-india.html

http://www.chintan-india.org/documents/fact_sheets/chintan_waste_tales_fact_sheet.pdf

http://www.moef.nic.in/legis/hsm/mswmhr.html

http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0313/ijsrp-p15129.pdf

http://cma.tn.gov.in/cma/en-in/Downloads/Improving%20Municipal%20Solid%20Waste%20Management%20in%20India.pdf

http://cma.tn.gov.in/cma/en-in/Downloads/Improving%20Municipal%20Solid%20Waste%20Management%20in%20India.pdf

http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Roadmap-Mgmt-Waste.pdf

http://www.transwaste.eu/file/001441.pdf

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