A Review : Sustainability from Waste

Author(s):  
Kriti Jain ◽  
Chirag Shah

The increasing volume and complexity of waste associated with the modern economy as due to the ranging population, is posing a serious risk to ecosystems and human health. Every year, an estimated 11.2 billion tonnes of solid waste is collected worldwide and decay of the organic proportion of solid waste is contributing about 5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (UNEP). Poor waste management - ranging from non-existing collection systems to ineffective disposal causes air pollution, water and soil contamination. Open and unsanitary landfills contribute to contamination of drinking water and can cause infection and transmit diseases. The dispersal of debris pollutes ecosystems and dangerous substances from waste or garbage puts a strain on the health of urban dwellers and the environment. India, being second most populated country of the world that too with the lesser land area comparatively, faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Population explosion, coupled with improved life style of people, results in increased generation of solid wastes in urban as well as rural areas of the country. The challenges and barriers are significant, but so are the opportunities. A priority is to move from reliance on waste dumps that offer no environmental protection, to waste management systems that retain useful resources within the economy [2]. Waste segregation at source and use of specialized waste processing facilities to separate recyclable materials has a key role. Disposal of residual waste after extraction of material resources needs engineered landfill sites and/or investment in waste-to-energy facilities. This study focusses on the minimization of the waste and gives the brief about the various initiations for proper waste management system. Hence moving towards the alternatives is the way to deal with these basic problems. This paper outlines various advances in the area of waste management. It focuses on current practices related to waste management initiatives taken by India. The purpose of this article put a light on various initiatives in the country and locates the scope for improvement in the management of waste which will also clean up the unemployment.

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 160764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar ◽  
Stephen R. Smith ◽  
Geoff Fowler ◽  
Costas Velis ◽  
S. Jyoti Kumar ◽  
...  

India faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Current systems in India cannot cope with the volumes of waste generated by an increasing urban population, and this impacts on the environment and public health. The challenges and barriers are significant, but so are the opportunities. This paper reports on an international seminar on ‘Sustainable solid waste management for cities: opportunities in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries’ organized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and the Royal Society. A priority is to move from reliance on waste dumps that offer no environmental protection, to waste management systems that retain useful resources within the economy. Waste segregation at source and use of specialized waste processing facilities to separate recyclable materials has a key role. Disposal of residual waste after extraction of material resources needs engineered landfill sites and/or investment in waste-to-energy facilities. The potential for energy generation from landfill via methane extraction or thermal treatment is a major opportunity, but a key barrier is the shortage of qualified engineers and environmental professionals with the experience to deliver improved waste management systems in India.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 592-598
Author(s):  
Ankur Rajpal ◽  
Absar Ahmad Kazmi ◽  
Vinay Kumar Tyagi

The solid waste found in rural areas can be used as a soil conditioner providing essential nutrients to crops and enhancing agricultural productivity. It is an eco-friendly and economic preference for Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSW). This study investigates the solid waste management scenario in rural areas along the river Ganga and proposes a sustainable waste management solution. Waste quantification and composition were determined in the five villages (rural areas) viz. Sajanpur, Shyampur, Kangri, Bhogpur and Dummanpuri of district Haridwar in Uttarakhand and their waste management and disposal systems were evaluated. Findings revealed that the average daily waste generation was 0.665 kg/day and per capita generation of household waste was around 0.16 kg/person/day. Major fraction of household waste was bio-degradable (74.14%) and remaining fraction comprised of paper (6.62%), polythene (2.82%), textile (2.52%), plastic (1.15%), glass (0.61%), metal (0.60%), rubber (0.35%), and inert (5.01%). The average bulk density of household waste was 460 kg/m3, whereas cattle waste bulk density was 834 kg/m3. Other waste characteristics included moisture content (60%), organic carbon (40%), nitrogen (1.7%), phosphorus (0.9%) and ash (31%). The calorific value of household waste (biodegradable) was 937.6 kcal/kg (dry basis). Since most of the waste was biodegradable, hence co-composting with cattle waste is recommended. The dry waste can be separated and stored for further processing and transported to nearby waste to energy-producing plants. The main hurdle to the program of waste recycling was the unsegregated collection of waste in rural areas. Hence, separation at the source comprised biodegradable waste, dried waste (paper, plastic, and metal) and other components are essential for the future solid waste management program.


Author(s):  
Maria Manzoor ◽  
Iram Gul ◽  
Irum Iqrar ◽  
Muhammad Arshad

This chapter covers different aspects of solid waste management (SWM) in Pakistan. Being a developing country, Pakistan is facing serious environmental issue as a result of improper and limited SWM practices. The current status of waste generation is far high than waste management operation working in the country. Detailed information has been provided on account of waste generation per capita, waste composition and types, current status of waste management practices, policy and legislations on solid waste management. Furthermore, particular challenges in local setups for achieving waste management goals have been highlighted. There is urgent need to look into the various options to deal with proper management of solid waste in the country. In this regard, various projects by governmental and private sector have been initiated. Particularly, projects related to waste to energy (WTE) have been planned and operational in certain parts of the country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-60
Author(s):  
Saumya Singh ◽  
Jeeoot Singh

In India, rate of waste generation varies from 0.12-0.60 kg/capita/day. This paper lists established solid waste management practices in India by providing the latest factual data from various reports and surveys being conducted in India in the period 2016 and beyond. This paper also gives an insight into some of the recent studies that have been in India related to solid waste and waste to energy technologies by describing their study area along with mentioning their critical observations.


Author(s):  
Perinaz Bhada ◽  
Nickolas J. Themelis

The city of Mumbai (Bombay), India is facing a solid waste management crisis. The infrastructure has been unable to keep pace with economic development and population growth, resulting in insufficient collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) and over-burdened dumps. Improper disposal of solid wastes over several decades and open burning of garbage have led to serious environmental pollution and health problems. This study examined the solid waste management process in Mumbai and the potential for implementation of waste-to-energy facilities. Mumbai’s average per capita waste generation rate is 0.18 tonnes per person. Although the reported collection efficiency of MSW is 90%, almost half of the city’s 12 million people live in slums, some of which do not have access to solid waste services. The most pressing problem is the acute shortage of space for landfilling. When the present waste dumps were constructed they were at the outskirts of the city, but now they are surrounded by housing colonies, thus exposing millions of people to daily inconveniences such as odors, traffic congestion, and to more serious problems associated with air, land, and water pollution and the spread of diseases from rodents and mosquitoes. Mumbai is the financial center of India and has the highest potential for energy generation from the controlled combustion of solid wastes. The lower heating value of MSW is estimated in this study to be 9 MJ/kg, which is slightly lower than the average MSW combusted in the E.U. (10 MJ/kg). The land for the first WTE in Mumbai would be provided by the City and there is a market for the electricity generated by the WTE facility. The main problem to overcome is the source of capital since the present “tipping fees” are very low and inadequate to make the operation profitable and thus attract private investors. Therefore, the only hope is for the local government and one or more philanthropists in Mumbai to team up in financing the first WTE in India as a beacon that improves living conditions in Mumbai, reduces the City’s dependence on the import of fossil fuels, and lights the way for other cities in India to follow.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Di Foggia ◽  
Massimo Beccarello

In light of the organizational dynamics of services of economic interest, the regulation of municipal solid waste management is a critical issue to deal with so as to achieve sustainability goals in the coming decades. The European circular economy targets limit the share of municipal waste in landfills to a maximum of 10% by 2035. Consequently, waste-to-energy plants may temporarily become the primary option for residual unsorted waste. The municipal waste management chain comprises two consequential stages: collection and transport, and the treatment and disposal stage, which characterizes as an oligopolistic market structure. After defining the relevant market and calculating market concentration measures, we analyze market power in the treatment and disposal of non-recyclable mixed waste, also known as residual waste. Our analyses are based on empirical data using well-known market concentration indices such as the Herfindahl–Hirschman index and concentration ratios. We report the results of three different market concentration scenarios based on alternative geographic and product market definitions. Considering only waste-to-energy as a product market, we present a situation of moderate concentration, typically involving the attention of competition authorities. On the contrary, considering both options as a single product market, no relevant evidence emerges due to the significant share of waste sent to landfills in 2019, i.e., 20.1% of the total municipal solid waste generated in Italy. Implications for future studies consist of new detailed information on the municipal waste treatment market structure in one of the leading European countries that may prompt comparative studies. Policy implications are derived from the possibility of taking cues from this paper to envisage appropriate regulatory models for an evolving sector in which market spaces are increasing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-45
Author(s):  
Maimoona Khalil ◽  
Nausheen Mazhar ◽  
Dania Amjad

Solid waste management in any large urban city like Lahore requires special disposal measures. In thisregard, Lakhodair landfill and Mehmood booti dump sites collect and handle major bulk of all the solid waste comingfrom ten towns of Lahore, with the city’s waste generation rate of being 0.84kg/capita per day. Spatial expanse of boththe sites was calculated in Arc GIS 10.3 system. The findings clearly showed that the extent of both these dump siteshad increased during 2006-2016 due to an enormous rise in solid waste generation. During 2006, the area of MehmoodBooti dump site and Lakhodair Landfill site was only 15 hectares and 17 hectares respectively. By 2016, this area hadincreased to 32 hectares and 52 hectares respectively. The mapping of these two sites can help in future researchesbased on investigating the disease patterns among people residing around these sites and by determining methaneemissions in the study area.


Earth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1046-1058
Author(s):  
Ngo Phuong ◽  
Helmut Yabar ◽  
Takeshi Mizunoya

A survey on household solid waste generation and physical composition was conducted in Hanoi City, the capital of Vietnam. The study sampled 110 households in specific areas with different population density and household scale. Household solid waste was classified into 13 main categories and 25 sub-categories. The results showed that average generation rate of waste in Hanoi City is 0.63 kg per person per day with a slightly higher rate in rural areas than urban ones. The largest proportion was food and garden waste at 78.9% followed by plastic and paper. Plastic waste was segregated into plastic and nylon, and nylon was double that of plastics in household solid waste. Compared to previous studies, this study found a higher portion of organic matter in the waste characterization that could be attributed to the changes in lifestyle patterns associated with COVID-19. This situation provides challenges and opportunities for introducing biomass technology to recover energy.


Author(s):  
Mani Nepal ◽  
Apsara Karki Nepal ◽  
Madan S. Khadayat ◽  
Rajesh K. Rai ◽  
Priya Shyamsundar ◽  
...  

AbstractMany cities in developing countries lack adequate drainage and waste management infrastructure. Consequently, city residents face economic and health impacts from flooding and waterlogging, which are aggravated by solid waste infiltrating and blocking drains. City governments have recourse to two strategies to address these problems: a) ‘hard’ infrastructure-related interventions through investment in the expansion of drainage and waste transportation networks; and/or, b) ‘soft’, low-cost behavioural interventions that encourage city residents to change waste disposal practices. This research examines whether behavioural interventions, such as information and awareness raising alongside provision of inexpensive street waste bins, can improve waste management in the city. We undertook a cluster randomized controlled trial study in Bharatpur, Nepal, where one group of households was treated with a soft, low-cost intervention (information and street waste bins) while the control group of households did not receive the intervention. We econometrically compared baseline indicators – perceived neighbourhood cleanliness, household waste disposal methods, and at-source waste segregation – from a pre-intervention survey with data from two rounds of post-intervention surveys. Results from analysing household panel data indicate that the intervention increased neighbourhood cleanliness and motivated the treated households to dispose their waste properly through waste collectors. The intervention, however, did not increase household waste segregation at source, which is possibly because of municipal waste collectors mixing segregated and non-segregated waste during collection. At-source segregation, a pre-requisite for efficiently managing municipal solid waste, may improve if municipalities arrange to collect and manage degradable and non-degradable waste separately.


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