Impact of Solid-Waste Management

  1. Effect on environment: Burning garbage is classified as the third biggest cause of greenhouse emission in India—apart from the impact on human health, the effect on land, water and food pollution is a matter of grave concern.
  2. Effect on waste-picker families: An estimated two million waste-pickers exist in India; these are families that live off dump yards through collection and sale of recyclables from the dumped mixed waste. Around 40% of the waste-pickers are children aged below18 years, living in unhygienic environments, succumbing to malnutrition, extreme poverty, and adverse health infections. With no physical protections, most children scourge for metals with magnets attached to sticks, thus putting their health to extreme risk.

Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)

Recycling: Recycling is when waste is converted into something useful. Upcycling and downcycling are two common words used when it comes to recycling.

  1. “Upcycling” implies upgrading of a commodity by different processes of recycling. Example: making roads out of cheap plastic.
  2. “Downcycling” implies downgrading a commodity by different processes of recycling. Example: breaking down of high quality plastics at high temperature into different lower quality plastics.

Responsibility & stakeholders: SWM is a municipal function and it is the urban local bodies (ULB) that are directly responsible for it. The ULBs are required to plan, design, operate, and maintain the SWM in their respective cities/towns.

Note: Incorrect choice of technology, lack of public participation, financial constraints, institutional weakness, are factors that prevent a ULB from providing satisfactory service. The ULBs need both support and guide to manage the solid waste in a scientific and cost effective manner.

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