India is facing a huge waste management crisis. Due to solid waste, it has been facing various hindrances to its development. Waste Management rules in India are based on principles of “sustainable development”, “precaution” and “polluter pays”. These principles direct municipalities and commercial establishments to act in an environmentally-friendly and responsible manner. Many developed countries are searching for ready-made solutions for waste management whereas there are many waste management companies in Delhi that help in converting garden waste, Mandir waste, kitchen waste, and mandi waste into organic compost and liquid fuel.

With the rapid development of the country, the country is facing a massive waste challenge. About 377 million urban people live in 7,935 towns in which 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per annum is generated from household and commercial activities. From 62 million tonnes of solid waste, only 43 million tonnes of waste is collected, 11.9 million is treated and 31 million tonnes is dumped in landfill sites. Solid waste management is one of the basic essential services provided by municipal authorities in the country to keep the cities clean. Therefore, all municipal authorities collect solid waste from the dump yard.

Despite having a separate cleanliness program launch by PM Narendra Modi which is called Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan for clean and smart Indians.  Experts believe that India has an inaccurate system of managing and disposing of waste. There are some aspects that include challenges and solutions which will help in moving towards sustainable development.

Challenges

Here are some obstructions in the management of waste:

• Segregation of Waste

There is no organized and planned way of segregation of solid waste at the household level. Segregation and sorting of waste take place under very unsafe and hazardous conditions. The main problem in the country is the lack of awareness among people regarding the segregation of household waste or kitchen waste. Therefore, it becomes very difficult for municipalities to segregate waste at the destination.

• Collection, Transfer, and Transport

Waste produced by houses is usually collected by street sweepers which usually transfers the waste into communal bins. These community waste bins are used by other neighboring commercial sectors. The Indian municipalities do not collect waste frequently. The most challenging is a door to door collection and keeping a check for every house is difficult.

• Lack of Political Will

Indian Government does not have an adequate national policy for waste management.  Not having a policy for waste management leads to serious health and environmental issues across India. The Municipal Solid Waste Management Handling Rules, 2000 Act indicates municipal authorities should take responsibility for the collection, transportation, disposal, and segregation of solid waste. The Swachh Bharat Initiative raised some hopes through its plan but,  the municipal bodies are struggling due to a lack of financial budget.

• Lack of responsibility towards Environment

People in India do not have a sense of maintaining hygiene and maintaining ethics. They have habits of littering the garbage in the open. There are many open drains in major cities that are clogged with garbage which results in the spreading of epidemics like Chikungunya, Malaria, etc.

• Inadequate Infrastructure and Budget

With the growth in population, it is important to provide Infrastructure. The landfill site is important because most of the sites are working beyond their capacities in urban cities. Due to the financial crunch, urban local bodies do not have adequate infrastructure to provide a solution for waste management. There are many waste management companies that convert waste into organic compost and liquid fuel.

Solutions

Here are some obstructions that India has to face for efficient management of waste:

Spreading Awareness to Enhance Segregation

The IEC (Information, Education, and Communication) Technique should be used to make citizens aware to segregate the waste. This makes the process of managing waste at a face pace and thus builds their team efficiency. In India, there are many places where there is no segregated garbage bins are provided. Thus, it makes the process of segregation difficult. Due to lack of coordination among the residents and lack of planned cities in India, the residents throw garbage improperly. We need to educate the general public on how to segregate household waste. Education to the public can be imparted by displaying posters with pictorial representation in many languages across the country.

Achieve Resistance Towards New Landfill Site

The governments should achieve resistance towards new landfill sites because the selection towards the new sites is difficult and all sites are running beyond their capacity.

Aim to Achieve Coordination between the Centre and State

Their state and central government should have communication and coordination. Proper coordination results in inappropriate strategy formulation and implementation by urban local bodies. Establishing proper coordination between the two governments ensures a proper hygiene system in the cities.

There are various other challenges like establishing a proper awareness system, develop policies related to the throwing of waste, and many others. Despite their inability to properly manage wastes, the majority of municipal officials consider waste as “wealth” when approached by private partners. There are some the ventures like Clean India Ventures who are helping to make the environment better with their organic waste converter processor which has been designed to reduce and recycle organic waste and convert it into organic compost and liquid fuel. They have machines for processing kitchen waste, temple waste, mandir waste into organic compost.