The Hindu : New strategy to tackle garbage disposal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 23, 2003

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New strategy to tackle garbage disposal

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JUNE 22. With land for dumping solid waste fast becoming scarce, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided to opt for a long-term "Zero Waste Management'' strategy to tackle the problem of solid waste in the Capital.

Garbage segregation -- be it at the source, or at dhalao or at some other place -- would be the focal point of this strategy, the Municipal Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta, said. "The Zero Waste Management strategy is very important for the future generations as otherwise garbage would be seen dumped at public places,'' he said.

Delhi, at present, generates 6,000 to 7,000 metric tonnes of garbage per day, which is projected to increase between 17,000 to 20,000 metric by the year 2020. Under the existing policy all the solid waste is taken to the sanitary land fill (SLF) sites. There are, as of now, three SLF sites at Jahangirpuri Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur, all of which are full and on the verge of being closed down.

Though, the MCD is desperately searching for an alternative SLF site both inside and around the Capital, but wherever it is identifying the land, the civic body is facing strong resistance from the local population on account of adverse environmental of a garbage dump being in their vicinity. Neighbouring States have flatly refused the MCD of providing any land for SLF even when the municipality has offered to let their cities also used this facility free of cost.

Asserting that the ultimate solution for garbage management has to be found out by the residents inside the Capital, he said: "We can not hope that other people will accept our garbage. So, moving towards zero waste management seems to be the only way to solve the problem in the long term.''

Mr. Mehta argued that solid waste segregation was the simple and only viable strategy in this regard. Stating that the Capital had a very good tradition of kabadis, he claimed that the garbage going to the SLF sites could be reduced by as many as 40 per cent if recyclable waste was separated from household, factory, market place, garden, hotel and restaurants. "This would automatically increase the life of SLF sites and also give a great boost to the recycling industry. It is possible to separate paper, cardboard, plastic, bottles, glass, batteries, leather and cloth and sell it to the factories for reuse,'' he said.

Further, if bio-degradable waste is stored separately there is a greater scope of converting this into compost and many NGOs are already working in this arena. "This compost can be used to grow vegetable, kitchen gardens and parks. By segregating garbage waste at the household level, people would be contributing to the cleaning and greening of the Capital in an unique way. This would be an effort which will be appreciated world wide,'' he said.

Elaborating out his strategy for "Zero Waste Management'', Mr. Mehta said household would have to adopt the twin bins system -- blue for recyclable waste and the green one for bio-degradable material. While it has already been made compulsory for residents of the Capital from January 1, 2004, the civic body is likely to launch a major mass awareness campaign in this regard involving NGOs and resident welfare associations (RWAs).

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