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A Review on solid waste Management of Patiala: A Survey

Paramjeet Kaur, Prabhddep Kaur
  ABSTRACT: Solid Wastes are discarded materials disposed of by man, which can neither flow into streams nor escape immediately into the atmosphere Depending upon their origin, the wastes could be classified under four heads namely agricultural wastes, domestic wastes, municipal wastes and industrial waste.the process to diminish these wastes is known as solid waste reduction.The solid waste reduction depend upon 3R theories(recycle ,reduce and reuse
  1. Introduction
Municipal solid waste (MSW) refers to the materials discarded in the urban areas for which municipalities are usually held responsible for collection, transport and final disposal. MSW encompasses household refuse, institutional wastes, street sweepings, commercial wastes, as well as construction and demolition debris. In developing countries, MSW also contains varying amounts of industrial wastes from small industries,as well as dead animals, and fecal matter. Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) encompasses planning, engineering, organization, administration, financial and legal aspects of activities associated with generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes (household garbage and rubbish, street sweepings, construction debris, sanitation residues etc.) in an environmentally compatible manner adopting principles of economy, aesthetics, energy and conservation (Tchobanoglous et al, 1993). The explosion in urban population is changing the nature of solid waste management in
developing countries from mainly a low priority, localized issue to an internationally pervasive social problem. India, the world’s second highest
populated country   with         population exceeding a billion and one of the fastest urbanizing countries, is land of physical, climatic, geographic, ecological, social, cultural and linguistic diversity. The annual rate of growth of urban population in India is 3.09%. The proportion of population living in urban areas has increased from 17.35% in 1951 to 26.15% in 1991(CPCB, 1999). It is interesting to note that as much as 65.2% of the urban population is living in these Class I cities. India has achieved multifaceted socio economic progress during the last 55 years of its independence. However, in spite of heavy expenditure by the Civic bodies, the present level of service in many urban areas is so low that there is a threat to the public health in particular and the environmental quality in general (Supreme Court Committee Report, 1999). Management of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) continues to remain one of the most neglected areas of urban development in India.
1.1 Solid Waste (SW)
Solid Wastes are unwanted materials disposed of by man, which can neither flow into streams nor escape immediately into the atmosphere. These non-gaseous and non-liquid residues result from various human activities. These cause pollution in water, soil and air. Waste is an unavoidable consequence of satisfying man’s needs for food,water, air, space, shelter and mobility. In any material process, by product recovery or recycling can substantially alter waste quantity and quality, but all processes eventually produce some waste. Though generation of SW is not a new phenomenon, it has acquired a danger status of being “third pollution” after air pollution and water pollution with progress in industrialization and population explosion. Earlier the major constituents of SW were domestic wastes and agricultural residues which are both biodegradable. Since there was much fallow land, SW could be conveniently disposed of on ground or in pits covered with layers of earth. However, since 1960s, not only has the quantity of SW increased but its quality has also changed. Though rural wastes continue to be mainly made of domestic and agricultural wastes, wastes from urban areas and the industrial units contain diverse types of materials which include toxic and hazardous materials.
  1. Agricultural Wastes
   In India, the main sources of agricultural wastes are wheat straw, paddy straw,maize straw, sugarcane trash, rice and wheat bran, maize cobs, left over from pulses etc.There has been a great increase in the generation of crop residues and allied wastes. The total production of agro-residues and by products during 1985 was estimated to be 320 million tones.

  1. Industrial Wastes

Huge amount of industrial SW are usually produced by different industries. The estimated SW of industrial origin contribute only 10% of the total wastes generated, the bulk is liquid
  1. Domestic and Municipal Wastes
There are different sources of the Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW):n domestic, market community facilities etc. The amount of MSW generated is dependent on the public- habits which can vary from country to country an even among towns e.g. the per capita production of MSW is much greater in the USA in comparison to other Western countries as well as Asian countries. In India, per capita MSW production in metropolitan cities is significantly high in comparison to the towns and villages
Solid Wastes Produced by Human ActivitiesExample of wastes liberated
AgriculturalPlant remains, processing wastes, animal wastes
DomesticGarbage, rubbish, wastes produced at home from cooking etc
MunicipalStreet sweepings, wastes from schools, offices and other institutions
IndustrialWastes produced by mining operations, manufacturing and construction works
Table 1 Solid Wastes Produced by Human Activities and Examples
1.2 Classification of Solid Wastes:
  1. a) Garbage: decomposable wastes from food, slaughterhouses, canning, and freezing industries.
  1. b) Rubbish: Non-putrescible wastes, either   combustible   or   non com Combustible wastes would include paper, wood, cloth, rubber, leather, and garden wastes.  Non-combustibles would include metals, glass,  ceramics,  stones,  dirt, masonry and some chemicals.
  2. c) Ashes : Residues (such as cinders and fly ash) of the combustion of solid fuels for heating and cooking  or  the  incineration  of  SW  by  municipal,  industrial  and apartment house inciner
  3. d) Large Wastes: Demolition and construction rubble (pipes, plumber, masonry, brick, plastic, roofing  and  insulating material),  automobiles,furniture,refrigeratorand other home appliances, trees, tires et
  4. e) Dead animals: Household pets, birds, rodents, zoo animals, e there are also anatomical and pathological wastes from hospitals.
  5. f) Sewage Treatment Process Solids: screening, settled solids, sludge.
  6. g) Industrial Solid Wastes: Chemicals, paints, sand, explosives etc.
  7. h) Mining Wastes: ‘Tailings’, slag heaps, culm piles at coal mines etc.
  8. i) Agricultural Wastes: Farm animal manure, crop residues et
  9. Solid Waste Management (SWM):
Rotting organic refuse is not only aesthetically unpleasant but attracts predators, and carried by these, bacteria thrive in warm, moist, rotting garbage smalaria, viral fever (dengue), plague etc. The incident of plague in Oct, 1994 in Surat city pressed everyone to think over SW problem. If this problem is not tackled within preventive time, it may create other dreadful, hazardous and incurable problems. The proper disposal of SW
derived from any source is dependent on management practices. A management system must be developed and described that incorporates many diverse factors. Those factors considered may include, engineering, land use ordinances, environmental regulations, geography and sociology.
  Fig 1 Solid Waste management System
SWM involves interplay of six functional elements- generation of wastes, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, recovery and disposal in a manner that is in accord with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics and other environment considerations and that also is responsive to public attitude. Over 90% of SW is disposed of in landfill sites. Sanitary landfilling is the main method used in the West but crude dumping is very common in developing countries. Landfilling leads to contamination of ground water eventually Source Collection and transport Processing and Utilization Disposal because of leachates. Many countries will have to suffer from existing landfillling practice in the near future. By 2010, almost all of England will be suffering from a landfill shortage. Another widely used method of disposal is incineration but it often results in air pollution and thus loses out preference. The commonest method adopted in India is dumping- either in ponds or on land. A practice of Collection, Transport and Disposal (CTD) is followed by municipalities. SW is stored till a sizable amount accumulates which may be transported using vehicle of suitable size.
2.1 Objectives of Study:

The study has following main objectives:
1) Characterization of solid waste
2)  To study the present status of Solid Waste Management in Patiala
3)  Solid waste reduction methods
2.2  Solid waste management on Patiala city:
Total population in patiala is 200000. Total waste generated in patiala on an average 50000kg/day. Three workers and a driver load the waste on trolley. Waste is not collected on Sunday and public holidays and a backlog is created on the next working day. This waste (other than grasses) is finally dumped at Sanauri Adda (outer of the city). This open dumping site does not follow any criteria or specification provided by CPCB or SPCB for Solid Waste (Management and Handling rule) 2000. Total amount of news paper supplied by the supplier is about 150000 copies. These news papers after reading become a waste and are sold to market. The news papers after reading independently collect and get back for recycling. The quality and quantity of the paper waste depend on the living style (higher income group to lower income group). The waste generated in the campus includes vegetable wastes, fruit peels, plastics and other packaging materials. The process of grass cutting takes place in campus. In the campus grasses is cut by lawn mover. These grass waste is (purely biodegradable) collected, loaded on tricycles and trolley and finally goes to NEEM plant near sports ground where it is allowed for composting along with yard wastes (plants and trees leaves) in pits and after composting it is sold to formers). The process of transportation of wastes takes place by tractors. There are restaurants,
fruit corners, coffee shop, shop Photostat; gift shop and last one is of general store at every corner of city. They dump their packaging material into bins which is transferred daily to collection site for dumping. No hazardous waste was found anywhere during survey or analysis.The wastes produced from houses mainly include food wastes and vegetable cuts. The process of collecting, loading and dumping of wastes mentioned in pictures.
These wastes are finally dumped to Sanauri Adda, outer of Patiala city. Here open dumping takes place which do not follow any standards or specification provided SPCB or CPCB.
2.3.1 Drawbacks in the Present System:
1) No Storage of Waste at Source in segregated way: There is no practice of storing the waste at source in a scientifically segregated way. Residents store their house hold waste in plastic bags or in plastic tub and they dump to waste in mixed form into well made of concrete and bricks up to 4 meter depth
2) Irregular Street Sweeping: Even street sweeping is not carried out on a day to-day in Patiala. Generally important roads are prioritized and rest of the streets is swept occasionally. Generally, no sweeping is done on Sundays and public holidays.
3) Waste Storage Depots: As waste is collected through tractors/tricycles that can carry only a small quantity of waste at a time, there is a practice to set up depots for temporary storage of waste to facilitate transportation through motorized vehicles. Generally, open sites or round cement concrete bins, masonry bins or concrete structures are used for temporary
bulk storage, which necessitates multiple handling of waste. Waste often spills over, which is both unsightly as well as unhygienic.
4) Transportation of Waste: Transportation of waste from the waste storage depots to the disposal site is done through tractors. They are usually loaded manually. There are no provisions for safety of workers.
5) Disposal of Waste: The waste loaded on tractor and finally dumped to Sanauri Adda disposal point on outskirts of the city. Here open dumping takes place which does not follow any rules or Standards provided by CPCB. Disposal of waste is the most neglected area of SWM services and the current practices are grossly unscientific. Almost all municipal authorities deposit solid waste at a dump-yard situated within or outside the city haphazardly and do not bother to spread and cover the waste with inert material.
6) Lack of Awareness: Although there are bins at every place e.g., in institutional, residential and commercial areas (shops on the campus) to store the waste and also colour



2.4 Solid waste reduction:
  Solid Waste Reduction is defined as any change in the design,manufacture, purchase, or use of materials or products (including packaging) to reduce their volume and amount of toxicity before they become municipal solid waste. Source reduction also refers to the reuse or recycling of products or materials. Focusing on source reduction is an attempt to move away from making all of these changes the responsibility of LAs. Waste prevention, also known as 'source reduction', is the practice of designing, manufacturing, purchasing or using materials (such as products and packaging) in ways that reduce the amount or toxicity of trash created. Reusing items is another way to stop waste at the source because it delays or avoids that item's entry into the waste collection and disposal system. Source reduction, including reuse, can help reduce waste disposal and handling costs, because it avoids the costs of collection, transport, recycling, municipal composting, disposal sites and combustion. Source reduction also conserves resources and reduces pollution, including greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
1) Reduce
2)  Reuse
3)  Recycle
2.4.1 Points that make solid waste reduction successful
1) Public Participation: One of the main reasons for failure of many SWM initiatives in India is lack of community participation. Increasing public participation requires establishing and maintaining an effective public-LA communication system. This involves the LA reaching consensus and clearly deciding what the LA should do and what the public should do. It is a two way process – the public must do what it is asked to do (improved public participation) and the LA must do what it says it is going to do (improved LA performance). It is a common complaint from LAs that the public throw trash everywhere instead of confining disposal to the assigned places for collection. Only a few LAs have taken the time to inform the public of 'proper' ways to dispose of trash or about the collection schedule for each particular area/place
2) Education: A successful waste management program requires widespread public participation. Such participation can best be obtained through early and effective public education programs, which must continue even after the program is in full swing. A successful educational campaign should include strategies that are easy to implement.
3) Technical Assistance: Businesses and residents can be provided technical and informational assistance by conducting workshops, seminars, and public demonstrations focusing on source reduction and on-site recycling
.
4) Social Marketing: LA-based social marketing techniques include identifying barriers and benefits to sustainable behavior, such as waste prevention; designing a strategy that uses behavior
change tools, such as pledges or commitments from a resident or business; implementing a pilot program; and evaluating the pilot program to determine the costs and benefits of implementing the program throughout the LA. Information gathered from social marketing techniques is used to refine marketing strategies and will provide information to justify continued funding for a project
.
5) Public Recognition: Voluntary source reduction activities can be documented and publicly recognized through the establishment of an awards program, such as WRAP (Waste Reduction Awards Program). A model source reduction recycling awards program would recognize businesses, LA organizations, schools, or individuals that demonstrate 'model' source reduction/recycling behaviour through in-house activities or through public outreach and education.
Conclusion:
The waste characteristics in developing nations vary considerably from that in developed countries. The United States, with only 4.6% of the world’s population, produces about 33% of the world’s SW. About 1/5 of India’s total population lives in urban agglomerations and generates approximately 15 million tones of SW every year. The density of SW in India is very high (300- 560 kg/ cubic m.). The metal content is less than 1%. The average calorific value of urban SW is low (1500 kcal/ kg). The per capita generation of SW in Indian cities ranges from 0.15 to 0.25 kg/day.
  • Reusing items or making them with less material decreases waste dramatically. Ultimately, fewer materials will need to be recycled or collected and sent to disposal sites or waste combustion facilities.
  • The benefits of preventing waste go beyond reducing reliance on other forms of waste disposal. Preventing waste can also mean economic savings for LAs, businesses, schools and individual consumers. In most LAs in India, it is estimated that 15 - 25 % of the annual budget is utilized for SWM, out of which 60 – 70 % is spent on collection and transport of waste. By reducing the amount of waste to be collected, LAs could use savings to expand or improve these services.
  • Industry also has an economic incentive to practice source reduction. When businesses manufacture their products with less packaging, they are buying fewer raw materials. A decrease in manufacturing costs can mean a larger profit margin, with
Savings that can be passed on to the consumer.
References:

  • Akolkar, A.B. (2005). Status of Solid Waste Management in India,Implementation Status of Municipal Solid Wastes, Management and Handling Rules 2000, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi.
  • Asnani, P.U. (2004). United States Asia Environmental Partnership Report, United States Agency for International Development, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad.(2005). Technical Committee Report, West Bengal SWM Mission 2005, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata.
  • CPCB (2000). Status of Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Collection Treatment, and Disposal in Class 1 Cities, Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests,Government of India, New Delhi.
  • GOI (2003). Report of the Technology Advisory Group on Solid Waste Management, Government of India Publications, New Delhi
  • MOUDPA (2000).Manual on Solid Waste Management, Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Government of India Publications, New Delhi. (2003).
  • SC (1999). Report of the Supreme Court Appointed Committee on Solid Waste Management in Class I Cities in India, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi.
  • NEERI (1995). ‘Strategy Paper on SWM in India’, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur.

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