'Delhi is top solid waste producer'

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FICCI Survey | 24 Aug, 2009
Delhi is the highest municipal solid waste producer in the country followed by Mumbai, according to a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Delhi produces 6,800 tonnes of solid waste a day, while Mumbai generates 6,500 tonnes, the FICCI survey said.

A FICCI survey of 22 cities on the management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) reveals that 14 cities dump 75% of their solid waste, which is as high as 15,785 tonnes per day, indicating a lack of adequate treatment and disposal facilities.

Large metros like Delhi and Mumbai too lack scientific treatment facilities and therefore resort to dumping of waste. In fact, Mumbai sends 100% of its waste to dumpsites while Delhi dumps 94% of its waste. In cities like Delhi, Faridabad, Greater Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Pune and Surat which are at the higher end of the waste generation spectrum, more than 80% of the waste is disposed off in landfills.

The FICCI survey respondents included Municipal Corporations of 17 Class I cities (cities with a population above one million) and 5 Class II cities (population of less than one million).

The survey reveals the enormity of the solid waste problem in urban centres where most of the waste is getting disposed in existing unorganized dumpsites without any scientific treatment. A surprising and at the same time disturbing fact revealed was the absence of designated dumpsites in certain cities which results in the waste lying open in the outskirts of the city centre.

The cities may be classified as those generating large quantum of waste i.e. more than 1000 TPD, followed by those which generate between 500-1000 TPD of waste and finally cities generating less than 500 TPD of waste.

Among the 17 Class I cities, 8 namely Ahmedabad, Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Pune and Surat generate more than 1000 TPD of waste. Of these, the two largest metros - Delhi and Greater Mumbai are the highest generators of MSW at 6800 TPD and 6500 TPD respectively. 3 Class I cities- Indore, Ludhiana and Vadodara generate 500-1000 TPD of waste. The remaining 6 Class I cities out of the 17 surveyed produce comparatively less quantum of waste i.e. < 500 TPD.

The 5 Class II cities generate waste in the range of 65-400 tonnes per day. Shimla is the lowest generator of waste among these cities (65 TPD) and Chandigarh is the highest (400). An interesting observation here is that Chandigarh and Kozhikode, both Class II cities generate 400 and 300 tonnes per day of waste respectively which is more than that generated by Class I cities such as Kochi, Jamshedpur and Asansol and Agartala ( 250, 280, 250 and 200, respectively).

A review of the status of dumpsites shows that, out of the 17 class I cities, 8 have a single dumpsite, 5 have 2 dumpsites, 1 city has 3 dumpsites and 2 have 4 dumpsites. The survey reveals that large cities which generate above 1000 TPD of solid waste – Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Pune have a single dumpsite, whereas cities such as Asansol, Faridabad and Jamshedpur which generate less than 450 TPD of solid waste have 2 dumpsites each. This shows the lack of proper planning in relation to the solid waste status of a city and the need for including treatment and disposal facilities for urban solid waste management as part of a city’s master plan.

Only 6 out of the 22 surveyed cities have sanitary landfills (SLFs), while 10 cities including major waste generators like Delhi, Greater Mumbai and Kanpur do not have sanitary landfills. 3 cities Guwahati, Indore and Jaipur are in the process of constructing SLFs and in Agartala and Lucknow it is under consideration. The absence of sanitary landfills in high waste generating cities like Delhi and Greater Mumbai (6800 and 6500 TPD respectively) further reiterates the lack of initiative and the unsatisfactory state of waste disposal in Indian cities.

It is therefore evident that solid waste management has a long way to go before Indian cities can claim to be environment friendly and clean. It has emerged that waste treatment options such as composting and waste-to-energy plants are not being adequately explored by even those cities which are larger not just in terms of size and population but also generation of waste. The immense scope of treatment is not being exercised due to reasons such as lack of know-how, technical manpower and most importantly financial constraints faced by the Municipal Corporations.

One way of overcoming these constraints could be greater private sector participation in fighting this menace. The private players who have better know how and resources should be roped in to work hand in hand with the authorities to ensure proper waste management in cities. Public Private Partnership mode of functioning can thereby help find appropriate solutions to the long standing problem faced by Indian cities.

The survey also brought to light the immense potential that the surveyed cities have for implementing landfill gas to energy projects. Greater Mumbai is the only city to have conducted a methane feasibility study as well as undertaken the first landfill gas to energy project in India.

Only 5 out of 22 cities have conducted a feasibility study on methane emissions – Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Greater Mumbai and Jamshedpur. Although 16 out of the 22 cities have evinced interest in undertaking landfill gas to energy projects, all of them indicate the need for assistance in conducting studies for estimating waste quantification and methane emissions. 15 cities have indicated that they need assistance from external organisations for technological support, capacity building of officials and imparting knowledge on methane capture and utilization projects. This distinctly reveals the technical skill gap in Municipal Corporations to overcome these barriers.

Delhi, Kanpur, Greater Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune, Surat, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad have been supplying more than 80% of their waste to the dumpsites, therefore revealing the maximum potential for landfill gas to energy projects among the surveyed cities. Greater Mumbai is the only city to have initiated a landfill gas to energy project. Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat and Jamshedpur are the only four other cities (other than Greater Mumbai) that have conducted feasibility studies on methane emissions.

The available estimates state that a tonne of waste produces 55 m3 of gas and further 12000 m3 of gas produces 1 MW power. As per the survey, 16 cities out of 22 have shown interest in implementing landfill gas to energy projects which include cities such as Agartala, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mysore that generate less than 400 TPD of waste as well as cities generating more than 1000 TPD of waste, such as Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Pune. While most of the cities out of the 22 are willing to undertake landfill gas to energy projects, it may be more worthwhile to initiate such projects in cities which send large quantum of waste to dumpsites first. The small waste generators may initially manage their waste through measures like composting and then based on successful models of larger cities may take up landfill gas to energy projects depending on respective requirements if any.

There exists a huge gap between intention and actual implementation of the waste to wealth concept in Indian cities. Concerted efforts need to be put in to overcome barriers such as lack of know-how, technology, trained manpower and finance. Enhanced public private partnership could serve as an effective mechanism for change. The appalling condition is larger cities like Delhi and Greater Mumbai which should ideally have led by example demands immediate attention.

The silver lining is that not all cities are averse to adopting better treatment options, there have been positive efforts made by cities like Kochi which sends only 10% of its total waste (250 TPD) to dumpsites and the balance is utilized for composting. Among the larger cities, Ahmedabad sends 78% of its waste ( 2300 TPD) to dumpsites and treats the remaining amount is sent for composting. There are also plans to take up Waste to Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Waste to Energy projects in the city. Although a very small number, 2 cities – Faridabad and Lucknow – out of the 22, have mentioned that they are developing integrated waste management facilities under JNNURM. It would be interesting to note that as on date Lucknow has no designated dumpsite and disposes off the waste in the outskirts of the city. The city of Jaipur has two dumpsites and one engineered landfill is under construction at one of the dumpsites. The city of Surat has a 400 TPD compost plant which send 15-20% of its waste to the existing engineered landfill and another is under development.