93
the purpose. 12 articles were later added in a snowball fashion based on citations in
the papers reviewed. At the initial stage, we excluded literature primarily focused on
chemical characteristics of municipal solid wastes as the main focus of the present
study is to assess the problems and issues related to management of solid waste.
Hence, after going through the literature we obtained 56 literatures with a specific
focus on challenges and issues in the operation of waste management system in
various towns and cities for final review. We focused on full papers, retaining those
that investigated case studies through interviews, surveys, participant observation,
focus groups and literature review and pointed out the key findings of those studies
in a worksheet. In addition, 35 literatures including blogs, reports and newspaper
articles were also incorporated using the commercial search engine www.google.
co.in to highlight the latest developments, especially for successful SWM in various
ULBs and economic potential of municipal waste in India. Finally, 91 literatures
were reviewed critically. The literature selection process is illustrated in Fig. 5.1.
This chapter reviewed the problems and issues associated with various stages of
municipal solid waste management reported from different towns and cities from
different regions of India. Moreover, recent initiatives and developments in MSWM
sector have also been discussed with special reference to selected successful case
studies regarding waste management and green marketing startups.
5.3 Municipal Solid Waste Management in India
The management system of solid wastes generally involves activities associated
with generation, storage, collection, transportation and processing and disposal processes. But in India, the system comprises mostly four activities, that is, waste generation, collection, transportation and disposal. Stage-wise evaluation of problems
and issues associated with MSWM has been carried out as following:
5.3.1 Waste Generation and Composition in India
As the quantity and composition of solid waste are determined by the level of economic development, dramatic change in generation of waste in India in terms of
quantity and composition noticed due to population growth and rapid urbanization
(Chattopadhyay et al. 2009). At present, 62 million tonnes of waste is generated
annually in India, out of which 5.6 million tonnes is plastic waste, 0.17 million
tonnes is biomedical waste, hazardous waste generation is 7.90 million tonnes and
1.5 million tonnes is e-waste. It is estimated that waste generation will increase to
about 165 million tonnes from 62 million tonnes in 2030 (MoEF 2016). With more
than 1.8 million tonnes a year, the majority of it is generated from the unorganized
sector; India is the fifth largest e-waste producing country in the world. The problem
of handling of such large and ever-increasing quantity of solid waste has become a
major issue for almost all the ULBs (Reddy 2011), although waste generation rate
5 Environmental Pollution and Municipal Solid Waste Management in India
the purpose. 12 articles were later added in a snowball fashion based on citations in
the papers reviewed. At the initial stage, we excluded literature primarily focused on
chemical characteristics of municipal solid wastes as the main focus of the present
study is to assess the problems and issues related to management of solid waste.
Hence, after going through the literature we obtained 56 literatures with a specific
focus on challenges and issues in the operation of waste management system in
various towns and cities for final review. We focused on full papers, retaining those
that investigated case studies through interviews, surveys, participant observation,
focus groups and literature review and pointed out the key findings of those studies
in a worksheet. In addition, 35 literatures including blogs, reports and newspaper
articles were also incorporated using the commercial search engine www.google.
co.in to highlight the latest developments, especially for successful SWM in various
ULBs and economic potential of municipal waste in India. Finally, 91 literatures
were reviewed critically. The literature selection process is illustrated in Fig. 5.1.
This chapter reviewed the problems and issues associated with various stages of
municipal solid waste management reported from different towns and cities from
different regions of India. Moreover, recent initiatives and developments in MSWM
sector have also been discussed with special reference to selected successful case
studies regarding waste management and green marketing startups.
5.3 Municipal Solid Waste Management in India
The management system of solid wastes generally involves activities associated
with generation, storage, collection, transportation and processing and disposal processes. But in India, the system comprises mostly four activities, that is, waste generation, collection, transportation and disposal. Stage-wise evaluation of problems
and issues associated with MSWM has been carried out as following:
5.3.1 Waste Generation and Composition in India
As the quantity and composition of solid waste are determined by the level of economic development, dramatic change in generation of waste in India in terms of
quantity and composition noticed due to population growth and rapid urbanization
(Chattopadhyay et al. 2009). At present, 62 million tonnes of waste is generated
annually in India, out of which 5.6 million tonnes is plastic waste, 0.17 million
tonnes is biomedical waste, hazardous waste generation is 7.90 million tonnes and
1.5 million tonnes is e-waste. It is estimated that waste generation will increase to
about 165 million tonnes from 62 million tonnes in 2030 (MoEF 2016). With more
than 1.8 million tonnes a year, the majority of it is generated from the unorganized
sector; India is the fifth largest e-waste producing country in the world. The problem
of handling of such large and ever-increasing quantity of solid waste has become a
major issue for almost all the ULBs (Reddy 2011), although waste generation rate
5 Environmental Pollution and Municipal Solid Waste Management in India