Among the many future challenges for India, the management of huge waste is in the category forerunning issues. Household wastes, market wastes, tourist place and market place wastes are posing an environmental problem which needs to be checked as soon as possible. The irony is that this problem has never received so much of attention as other environmental issues like global climate change, water scarcity, ozone depletion, deforestation, etc. The fact is that it can escalate the magnitude of almost all the above mentioned problems and also increase the incidence of communicable diseases. According to a statistic published back in 2013, every person on an average generated 200-870 grams of waste per day in Indian cities adding to about 0.25 million tonnes a day. An estimation has suggested that in the year 2100, India along with other South-Asian countries may be generating around 2 million tonnes of waste per day which is a cause of concern for the environmentalists.
The colossal waste needs to be managed properly.
While following the effective plans of waste management, the stakeholders must keep in mind the six main principles of waste management given in order of preference: Prevention, Minimisation, Reuse, Recycle, Energy Recovery and Disposal. The foremost preference should be given to prevention that means we need to PREVENT the generation of waste. If you are not in position to prevent it or the generation of waste is inevitable, you still ought to try to generate as minimum as possible. The principle of Reuse suggests us that if you are unable to implement the first two principles, you must try to chose and pick up certain articles and things that can be REUSED. RECYCLING involves the re-moulding of processable things into usable forms. Reusing and Recycling are two environmental friendly processes which ensure maximum resource recovery. ENERGY RECOVERY will prove handy when all other principles are either un-implemented or impracticable. The main processes involved therein are pyrolysis leading to the production of liquid fuel among other products, gas recovery in a landfill, thermal treatment/incineration to give heat, ash and gases. Among other benefits like economical, social and environmental, the waste management can also get earth the rid of the enormous non-biodegradable wastes. The last but least preferred principal of waste management is the DISPOSAL of waste in a landfill. However, it is far better than keeping the waste in open.
By Aarif Quadir