Managing waste in wasted way

Various excuses are served up for India's filth — poverty, over population, illiteracy, corruption, lack of funds, etc. None of these factors, however, can alone explain the grim reality, write Ritu Beri & Sanjiv Bhatia

It is very encouraging to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi use the bully pulpit of his office to address an issue that is a vital cog in the development of India: Cleanliness. India boasts of some of the dirtiest cities in the world. The 2005 flash floods in Mumbai which caused massive economic damage and loss of life, were attributable to clogged drains from garbage that littered the streets. The bubonic plague epidemic that hit Surat in 1994 was a harsh reminder of the results of negligence in the area of waste management. In less than 50 years, the country has managed to pollute its major rivers to stagnant cesspools of garbage with little or no life form, undoing millions of years of nature’s bountiful work.

Rising incomes and increasing urbanisation are exacerbating India’s waste problems. Average waste production per capita has increased by almost 50 per cent in the last decade. It is estimated that India’s 355 Class-1 cities (cities with a population of more than one lakh) currently produce about 1,88,000 tons of municipal solid waste a day. By 2025, this will increase to about 4,40,000 tonnes per day, a roughly three-fold increase in garbage in a country that is so woefully lacking a systematic and sustainable solid waste system today. Most Indian cities lack a systematic programme for managing, recycling and disposing their solid waste. Currently, only 55 per cent of India’s waste is collected. The rest, almost 85,000 tonnes per day or a staggering 31 million tonnes per year, does not get properly collected, recycled, or disposed.

The solid waste management situation in India is one of the most serious problems the country faces. The direct health costs, and the indirect opportunity costs from lost tourism and foreign investment, are estimated to be almost two trillion dollars over the next decade. A 2009 study by the World Bank estimates that poor waste management practices and lack of sanitation costs India 6.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (about $54 billion) in health related costs alone. The World Bank estimates that the economic drag from poor waste management practices in India could be over $500 billion over the next 10 years. In addition, there are significant opportunity costs associated with lost foreign investment and lost tourism, which could add another $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

Various excuses are served up for India’s filth — poverty, over population, illiteracy, corruption, lack of funds, etc. None of these factors, however, can alone explain the reality. Thailand is a poorer country than India, yet Bangkok is cleaner than most Indian cities. Tokyo is more densely populated than Delhi but one can’t compare the two cities in terms of cleanliness. Corruption plagues China too, but its major cities have international standards of cleanliness. And it is not lack of funds, either — municipalities in India spend an average of Rs 2,100 per tonne of waste, compared to Rs 2,050 per tonne in the United Kingdom. It is clear that the Indian MSW system is broken, inefficient, ineffective, and in immediate need of a serious overhaul.

Thankfully, India’s MSW problems are solvable and the solutions are actually quite simple and doable. And they can be solved for half the amount currently allocated in municipal budgets to solid waste management. All that is needed is a good understanding of the solutions:All successful MSW systems have the following characteristics:

• Waste management is treated as a system consisting of collection, transportation, segregation, recycling/reuse, and disposal. A system is the sum of its part and its success depends on each part working properly. If any part of the system is weak it affects the entire system. In India, every part of the MSW system has glaring weaknesses resulting in the sum being worse than the parts. Poor disposal practices affect collection, poor segregation affects recycling, ineffective recycling affects disposal, poor transportation affects collection and disposal, and so on. As is typical of most governmental bodies, local municipalities apply piecemeal fixes to different parts of the system. Almost all municipal tenders are for ‘waste collection’ and not waste management.
• Successful MSW systems are almost always public-private partnerships with private companies being the providers and Municipal bodies acting as enforcers. Modernising India’s antiquated waste management practices is possible only if the private sector becomes the provider, and municipalities act primarily as enforcers. Private companies bring technical expertise, new technologies, modern operating practices, trained manpower, efficiency and cost controls. Cost savings in the few Indian cities that have brought in private companies range from 40 per cent to 70 per cent. Municipalities should not be involved in providing any part of waste management. Instead of being players, their role should be that of umpires — focusing on enforcing anti-littering laws, creating public awareness and levying user/polluter charges. 
• All successful MSW systems are an organised industry using modern technology and mechanised equipment. Successful MSW systems have very high (almost 100 per cent) collection of waste at source with minimal unloading and reloading of garbage in its transportation to final recycling and disposal. This can only be done using highly efficient and automated equipment capable of handling large volumes of waste with minimal manual intervention. In contrast, manually powered tricycles and hand pulled carts still dominate waste collection in India; limiting the volume of waste that can be handled and the distance it can be transported. As a result, much of the waste is either uncollected and finds itself on the street or is dumped randomly in open lots. We cannot manage a 21st century problem with 19th century equipment.
• The hallmark of a successful MSW system is that it is based on ‘polluter pays’ principal. Those responsible for producing garbage are also responsible for paying for its disposal. In India, garbage collection is either a ‘voluntary’ act where someone on a manually powered tri-cycle picks up the garbage for a small fee, or, it is the responsibility of the municipality and an expense item on municipal budgets.  Both these models are unsustainable. The only model that will work is one in which users (households, shops, restaurants, hotels, offices, companies etc.) are required to pay for garbage disposal.

In Indian cities, local municipalities waste substantial resources in providing waste management services, but invest few resources in enforcing anti-littering laws. Signs warning of severe penalties for littering, followed up with actual enforcement and fines, will go a long way in solving India’s waste problems. 

(Beri is president, The Blessed Hearts Foundation, and Bhatia is managing director, Centre for Environmental & Economic Policy)