'Segregation is the real solution for managing garbage' Part II

Monday, December 15, 2014

'Segregation is the real solution for managing garbage' says N S Ramakanth....Part II tells us how it is done in other places.

"In any civilized society garbage disposal seems easy for individual homes and are sincerely followed. Indians who have lived abroad are used to garbage collection and follow the rules diligently. Sadly it is not the same in India. "

Courtsey Wikipedia.

 I also searched the web for more information. Fortunately I came across a blog on line on waste management in India.
 I quote Antonis Mavropoulos:    
 I would say that from a sustainability point of view, the future of waste management in India is an issue with global importance and impacts, rather than a typical national or local aspect. The same is also true about China,...50% is the increase in MSW generated within a decade since 2001...

Within next ten years India will generate a total of 920 million tons of MSW! Almost 91% of it will be landfilled (hopefully) or driven to dumpsites!

Speaking only for the city of Mumbai, open burning of solid wastes and landfill fires emit nearly 22,000 tons of pollutants per year! Open burning was found to be the largest single polluter in Mumbai!  

So where did I find those impressive figures? ... It is at http://swmindia.blogspot.com/  and I am sure that you will enjoy it.After some days I noticed that Ranjith has uploaded a recent (January 2012) and very well elaborated report with the title “Sustainable Solid Waste Management in India”. ..You can find the whole report at http://www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/wtert/sofos/Sustainable%20Solid%20Waste%20Management%20in%20India_Final.pdf

China also figures in a 2005 study of its situation in solid waste management. 
Introduction: The control of solid waste pollution is an important aspect of environmental protection in China. According to Chinese law, solid waste is classified into three types: industrial solid waste (ISW), municipal solid waste (MSW), and hazardous waste (HW). Along with the recent economic development of China, the quantity of solid waste generated has increased rapidly. This represents a huge challenge for environmental management in China and has exacerbated the problem of solid waste pollution.......
The majority of waste paper, waste metal, waste containers, and waste plastic is separated and sold to private collectors, so the proportion of recoverable materials has not increased.

Many cities have no modern MSW landfill sites because of poor economic conditions, but the MSW produced has to be disposed of every day, so the MSW is dumped at some selected sites. If MSW is dumped at a site appointed by local government, it is called “dumping at an appointed site” and is legal. If MSW is dumped at a site not appointed by the local government, it is called “discharging” and is illegal. Currently, there are 651 disposal facilities for MSW in China, including 528 landfill sites, 78 composting plants, and 45 incineration plants. 2 The majority of incineration plants are located in eastern China. Of the total of 45 incineration plants, 25 are in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, which are the littoral provinces, and possess 80% of the incineration capacity of the whole country. Most composting plants use the static aeration system; dynamic vessel systems with high temperatures are used in about 20% of composting plants. Half of the total 78 composting plants with a capacity of 16000 tons/day are in eastern China.
 Landfill is the main disposal method for MSW in China, but most landfill sites do not satisfy the national pollution standards. .....In addition, there is no landfill gas collection equipment at most landfill sites. Higher requirements have been adopted for newly constructed landfill sites, including being equipped with high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane to prevent leakage, leachate collection and treatment systems, and gas collection and emission systems. These newly constructed landfill sites make up one-third of the total number of land- fill sites. 

There is plenty to read about waste management in the report,  but I would hazard a guess that many positive steps would have been taken to meet the situation in China.

Out of curiosity I checked the website to see how other countries dealt with this situation. In USA waste management is a huge business and one such organisation is covered by wikipedia. The numbers are amazing.
WasteManagement Inc is a Public limited company  with a revenue of US$ 14.4 billion in 2014 with assess at US$ 21.1 billion and had a net income of US$ 953 million and has 43500 employees.. the company has the largest trucking fleet in the waste industry. Together with its competitor Republic Services, Inc, the two handle more than half of all garbage collection in the United States.