On March 28, a landfill fire broke out at Ghazipur in New Delhi and could only be completely contained 48 hours later, while plumes of smoke rose from mounds of garbage. In light of this event, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) imposed a fine of Rs. 50 lakh on the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) that manages the landfill. This is one of the many instances surrounding landfill fires that shows a drastic upward trend in recent years – causing direct attention towards the imperative need for effective solid waste management. 

Landfill fires are an ongoing, complex issue that has existed for decades. Landfill fires can have drastic and horrendous ecological, social and even political impacts. Landfill fires emit toxic pollutants into the air, water and soil. Much like the Ghazipur landfills that spread across 70 acres in East Delhi, most landfill sites are not scientifically planned. The Solid Waste Management Rules issued by the MoEFCC in 2016 clearly state that only non-biodegradable, non-recyclable and non-combustible waste should go to a sanitary landfill.

The current process does not efficiently account for the segregation of waste. The dumpsites receive mixed waste along with plastics and ignitable material. Food or biodegradable waste decomposes over time and leads to anaerobic decomposition which generates methane in significant amounts. At a landfill methane production ranges between 3.5% to 13% which makes the dumpsite highly combustible. And hence, it quickly catches fire.

India faces a humongous waste management challenge. Increased waste generation is an after-effect of economic development, urbanisation and industrialisation and the incremental nature of the waste has led to the formation of various legislation and regulations for disposal and treatment of the waste. These regulations fall under the umbrella of Environment Protection Act, 1986 and majorly follow the principles of sustainability, precaution and polluter pays. There are separate laws and compliance for each kind of waste. However, despite it all, experts believe that India follows a flawed system of waste disposal and management.

Solid waste management is an essential service provided by the municipalities to keep the cities clean, however, most of the municipal authorities dump solid waste in and around the population clusters in a haphazard manner. As per the 2014 report by the “Task Force on Waste to Energy,” under the Planning Commission, urban India will generated 2,76,342 tonnes per day (TPD) of waste in 2021; and is estimated to generate 4,50,132 TPD by 2031; and 11,95,000 TPD by 2050. The per capita waste generation is 450 grams per day, and has increased at a rate of 1.3 percent per annum. The amount of waste generated in 84,456 wards varied from 32 MT to 22,080 MT per day, as of January 2020. Maharashtra generates the highest, at 22,080 MT per day (from 7,322 wards), while Sikkim generates the lowest, at 89 MT per day (from 53 wards). Amongst the Union Territories (UTs), Delhi generates the highest amount of waste, at 10,500 MT per day. Overall, Daman & Diu is the lowest waste generator in India. 

The municipal corporation has been unable to tackle the generated waste because of lack of infrastructure, poor loading capacity, absence of engineered landfills and inability to segregate waste at the source. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) recently replaced the 16 year old Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 and notified the new Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016. As per the new law, the waste now is required to be segregated as biodegradable waste, dry waste and domestic hazardous waste before it is handed over to the collector. Hotels and restaurants are also required to separate biodegradable wastes and frame a mechanism of collection of such food items for composting. Similarly, the rules mandate all gated communities and resident welfare associations with an area of above 5,000 sq m to segregate waste at source and hand it over to authorised collectors and waste-pickers.

India is leading the world in e-waste management after mandating legislation in 2016. While most countries are still struggling with policy frameworks, India has one already in place, but the country lacks in its enforcement. Under the aegis of the centre’s flagship Digital India programme, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, began an e-waste awareness programme that aims at educating the public about e-waste recycling and the hazards of disposing it improperly. 

Solid waste management is at a critical juncture in India. There is an increased need to develop infrastructure and facilities for treatment and disposal of vast amounts of municipal solid waste. India’s municipal solid waste management woes can be significantly reduced with an increased adoption of maximum recycling with waste-to-energy technology. One of the major issues is that waste is not considered a resource in India and there is an inherent callous attitude towards it. 

Garbage management strategies need to be reinvented in order to process as much maximum waste as possible rather than dumping them in landfills. Administration in partnership with local bodies should look at developing programmes that aim at changing people’s perception towards waste. In a vast democracy like ours where CSR is mandated by law, the corporations can divert their attention towards waste management and can design social interventions that promote recycling, reuse, waste segregation and composting.