Hazardous Industrial Waste Management
Hazardous wastes and their disposal are increasingly becoming a problem globally for various reasons. India is no exception. While all industries generate considerable amount of waste, certain industries generate wastes that are hazardous in nature. Such wastes, because of their characteristic quality of being corrosive, flammable, reactive, toxic or persistent are termed as ‘hazardous wastes’. In spite of new technologies, improved production, waste treatment and management strategies like reduce, reuse and recycle; there is still a certain quantity of waste that needs to be disposed off in a scientific way.
The hazardous waste (HW) generated in the country per annum is estimated to be around 4.4 MTA while as per the estimates of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) derived from correlating HW generation and economic activities, nearly five million tonnes of hazardous waste is being produced in the country annually.
This estimate of around 4.4 million MTA is based on the 18 categories of wastes which appeared in the HWM Rules first published in 1989. Out of this, 38.3% is recyclable, 4.3% is incinerable and the remaining 57.4% is disposable in secured landfills. Twelve states of the country – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan – account for 97% of total hazardous waste generation. The top four waste generating states are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, states such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and all the North-Eastern States excepting Assam, generate less than 20,000 MTA.
Given the wide variations in quantity and nature of waste generated across the States & Union Territories (UTs) and also considering the wide variations in climatic as well as hydro-geological conditions in different regions of the country, the approach to waste management has to be essentially state-specific.
Consequent upon amendments made in the year 2000 and subsequently in 2003, the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) are in the process of re-inventorising HW generated. The current exercise has brought to light the serious shortcomings in the earlier inventorisation.
As a result, the total quantum of waste generated as well as its composition in terms of suitability for landfill or incineration, would undergo substantial changes. Nevertheless, the geographical distribution of waste generated and its distribution amongst the states are unlikely to undergo major changes. It is necessary to prepare a reliable inventory, as this forms the basis for formulating a suitable HW management strategy and developing infrastructure (treatment/disposal facilities) for waste management. While field verification supplemented by stoichiometric assessments would be the ideal way forward; reasonably reliable estimates can be made based on product wise waste streams generated and quantities thereof.
In India, there are over 13,000 industrial units located in 340 districts, out of which nearly all units have been granted authorisation for multiple disposal practices encompassing incineration, storage, land disposal and other disposal (mostly recycle and reuse) options.
The amount of HW generated in this country is quite small in comparison to that of USA, where as much as 275 million tons of HW is generated annually. However, considering the fragile ecosystem that India has, even this low quantum of HW (around 4.4 million MTA) could cause considerable damage to natural resources if untreated before release.
India’s fragile ecosystem could be seen from the following:
- Air pollution in Indian cities is highest amongst the world
- Over 70% of the country’s surface water sources are polluted and, in large stretches of major rivers, water is not even fit for bathing
- India has among the lowest per capita availability of forests in the world, which is 0.11ha as compared to 0.50ha in Thailand and 0.8ha in China
Significance of SMEs in HW generation
Nearly 50% of the total industrial output in India is contributed by the small and medium sited enterprises. These also account for 60-65% of the total industrial pollution. However, most of these industries generate HW, which find their way uncontrolled into the environment. According to the National Productivity Council, New Delhi, there are more than three million small and medium scale industries, which are spread throughout the country in the form of clusters/industrial estates. SMEs in India cannot afford to adopt and maintain adequate HW treatment and disposal technologies. In the absence of common disposal facilities, the waste generators have been accorded temporary permission to store waste in their premises except in areas serviced by common facilities that have come up in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh (where storage period should not exceed more than 90 days).
The lack of common facilities has been a major factor in mushrooming of illegal dump sites since most of the units in the small and medium sector do not have adequate space within their premises to arrange for storage over several years. Therefore, it is urgently required to make available common HW collection facility in the areas in all the states where SMEs are operating
The Karnataka Experience
There are several working Hazardous Waste-Treatment Storage and/or Disposal Facilities (HW-TSDFs) in India.
Karnataka is supported by the Hazardous Waste Management Project (HAWA) in the improvement of HW management system. Proper HW management consists of component segregation and collection in companies, transport to a TSDF, pre-treatment and subsequently, final disposal in a scientifically secured and fully engineered landfill. Thermal pre-treatment of organic/liquid HW is to be done in special rotary kiln incinerators or in the form of co-processing with conventional fuel in cement kilns, after proper blending in specialised plants; thereafter the residual ashes and slag will finally be disposed off in the landfill.
HAWA is a project under the Advisory Services in Environmental Management (ASEM) programme which is a joint programme of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) aiming at environmental improvement and sustainable development.
The GTZ which supports developmental programmes has its presence in more than 120 partner countries. It supports currently 2,700 projects across the world and operates within the scope of the development policy formulated by the Federal German Government on a public-benefit basis, using any surpluses exclusively for development-related purposes.
