Context: Recently, housing and urban development ministry has prepared a report titled ‘Circular Economy in Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste’.

About the report

• It attempts to provide action plan for the management of municipal solid & liquid waste.
• It also aims to promote India’s transition from a linear ‘take-make-waste’ mindset to a multi lifecycle circular approach.
• Need of waste management: Disposing of recyclables in landfills/dump sites not only leads to loss of valued resources but also causes environment pollution.
• It has been divided into five key chapters focusing on dry waste, wet waste, construction and demolition waste, wastewater and municipal sludge.

I. Dry Waste

• India currently generates 1.45 lakh metric tonnes of solid waste per day, 35% of which is dry waste.
• Dry waste is the most valued waste stream in municipal solid waste owing to high economic value of its components.
• It consists of recyclable components like plastic, paper & cardboard, glass & ceramic, metals, textiles, tyres & rubbers, etc.

Challenges

• Lack of comprehensive methods for plastic waste management
• Limited collection & recycling of single use plastic
• Unscientific methods of recycling by informal sector
• Policy & regulatory gaps such as lack of incentives to encourage recycled products and complex Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks.

Key recommendations

• A comprehensive policy on mandatory use of certain percentage of recycled material in lieu of virgin material.
• Expeditious implementation of EPR framework.
• Rebate in tax/GST on recycled products to increase its competitiveness.

II. Wet Waste

• It is a biodegradable waste consisting of cooked and uncooked food, waste from fruits and flowers, fallen leaves.
• Wet waste processing was predominantly aerobic composting.

Challenge

• Advantages of bio-methanation is yet to be leveraged.
• Lack of a conducive market for the usage of end-products of bio methanation.

Recommendations

• Unbundling of sanitary landfills from solid waste management functions.
• Relaxation of environmental clearance for waste processing plants.
• Incentivizing of biogas plants through SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation).

III. Construction and Demolition Waste (C&D)

• C&D waste varies from 5-25% of municipal solid waste generated in Urban areas.
• C&D waste management helps to suppress dust generation, thus significantly reducing air pollution.
• It conserves precious resources and minerals and helps in promoting use of recycled products for construction & other infrastructural projects.

Challenges

• Material value of C&D waste is lost into landfills due to inadequate waste processing facilities, causing huge environmental and economic losses.

Recommendation

• Implement a comprehensive strategy and action plan covering the lifecycle of construction projects, including dismantling phase.
• Reduction in virgin construction raw material usage in different building projects
• Extending tax rebates on recycled C&D products.
• It recycle process is Segregation at source < Storage in separate containers < screening < crushing < Reusing material

IV. Wastewater

• Wastewater recycling offers a reliable, long-term source of water supply to help meet non-potable water demand.
• Challenge: inadequate sewage treatment capacity to meet the requirement of sewage generation in a time-bound manner.

Recommendations

• Preparation of new standards for designated reuse.
• Framing of Wastewater Reuse policy by States/ UTs.
• Creation of institutional mechanism to promote circular economy in wastewater.
• Mandatory use of recycled water in industries, especially in thermal power plants.

V. Municipal Sludge

• Sludge is generated from on-site sanitation systems and on-site sanitation systems.

Challenges

• Sludge utilization is unscientific without adequate regulatory standards, leading to indiscriminate sludge disposal on land and water bodies.
• The by-products of sludge have low market demand due to the lack of awareness.

Recommendations

• Introducing national policy on sludge reuse/ recycle.
• Introducing comprehensive standards on recycle and reuse of processed sludge.
• Incentivising tagging of compost with chemical fertilizers and biogas with SATAT

By: Shubham Tiwari