A Study of Solid Waste Management in India: Recent Scenario Composition, Disposal, Recycling

Industrialization becomes very significant for developing countries like India having large number of population. Rapidly increased development and income per capita lead to high municipal solid waste production rates. In recent years, the use of electronic and other items also contributes significantly to the total waste stream. Such waste will pose a potential risk to human health or the environment if no part of managing solid waste is effectively managed. Solid waste management approach in India remains unscientific. The efficiency of solid waste collection in India is about 70%, while in the developed countries it is nearly 100%. The disposal of waste in many developed and developing countries is a rough and widespread problem in both urban and rural areas. Collection and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the major urban environmental problems today in most countries of the world. Solutions to the management of MSW must be sustainable financially, technically viable, socially, legally and environmentally-friendly. The biggest challenge for authorities in small and large cities is solid waste management. Solid waste management. Evaluating organic food waste is one of the key current areas of research. Conventional waste disposal, incineration, and composting are widely used as advanced waste disposal technologies. Today too, a large proportion of the solid wastes are discarded without prior treatment on the outskirts of towns or cities. That leads to contamination of groundwater and an increase in air pollution caused by percolation of leachate and gas release respectively. Different studies show that 80 percent of total solid waste is recyclable or reusable again. The incorrect segregation of waste and additional factors lead to outdated technology in recycling industries. But the recycling of plastic and paper has increased in particular because the consumption of both commodities continually increases. The current status of the municipal waste management in various regions of India is described in this study. It summarizes a collective, systematic effort to improve the implementation and awareness of the Integrated SWM system by implementing legal framework, institutional arrangements, financial provisions, technology, operational management, developing human resources and public participation.