Dealing with India’s Trash Mountains

In the absence of deep-tech solutions to upcycle legacy waste, biomining and bioremediation can help tackle a growing landfill crisis.

For the residents of Mankhurd, a Mumbai suburb in the vicinity of Deonar, India’s oldest and Asia’s biggest landfill, it was a hard-earned victory. They had been inhaling toxic fumes from the city’s only biomedical waste plant for months. Based on their repeated complaints, the Mumbai Pollution Control Board recently sent a notice to the waste incinerator to stop polluting the environment or risk legal action.?

Uncertainty continues over the shifting of the plant even though there is ample proof that the facility poses a major health hazard for the local public.?

Life expectancy in Mumbai’s M-east municipal ward where Deonar is situated is a mere 39 years as opposed to the urban life expectancy in Maharashtra of 73.5. Respiratory problems and tuberculosis are common in the neighbourhood, while the monsoons bring in Leptospirosis.??

Deonar’s impact on the environment goes far beyond its precincts. In 2016, a landfill fire had raged on for days, creating a thick cloud of smoke over parts of the city. The 132-hectare dump yard receives 6,500 metric tonne of waste that Mumbai generates daily. Indiscriminate dumping since 1927 has given rise to trash mountains as high as 120 ft.

Precarious State of Dump Yards?

Deonar is just one story in India’s waste epic. A Centre for Science and Environment report, titled Clean it Right: Dumpsite Management in India, states that the country has 3,159 active landfills.?

The quantum of waste generated every year is no less intimidating. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), “urban India produces about 42.0 million tons of municipal solid waste annually, ie, 1.15 lakh metric tons per day(TPD), out of which 83,378 TPD is generated in 423 Class-I cities”.

With an ever-growing population, increasing urbanisation and changing consumption patterns, the volume of waste will increase to 150 million tonnes by 2030.

“Landfill waste has tremendous impact on human health and the environment. Methane emissions from rotten garbage and other greenhouse gases caused by garbage-burning and chemical reactions at the site are major contributors of climate change. Leachate from decomposed organic waste, containing heavy metals and toxic liquid, poisons the soil and contaminates groundwater,” says Madhushree Narayan, the custodian of Social Alpha’s Legacy Waste thesis.??

“Most of our landfills have exceeded their capacity. There are layers of trash accumulating over the years, which haven’t decomposed. We need to put systems in place to treat this waste even as we grapple with new waste coming into landfills every day,” says Madhushree.

Government Push?

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, the government has sharpened its focus on biomining and bioremediation of legacy waste. The new rules mandate “100% scientific management of all fractions of waste, including safe disposal in scientific landfills”, as well as “all legacy dumpsites remediated and converted into green zones”.

SBM-U2 reinforces the principles of Solid Waste Management that emphasise segregation of waste at source – a key component in the strategy to eliminate landfills in India.?

Biomining is a scientific process involving excavation, segregation, and treatment of legacy waste to create reusable resources and reclaim the land buried under years of trash. The waste, a mix of organic matter, recyclables, metals, and scrap, is dug up, sorted and spread out on the surface for stabilisation. The decomposition of the organic part is accelerated through microorganisms in a process called bioremediation. The recyclables, high on calorific value, are sent to brick kilns and for road-building while the organic portions could be sold as manure to farmers. Biomining and remediation are carried out as per the guidelines set by the Central Pollution Control Board.

All Hands on Deck?

“Though incineration of dry waste is not an ideal solution, it’s the best we can do at this point, given the size and urgency of the landfill crisis,” says Madhushree, adding that biomining is op-ex heavy and time-consuming and can only be initiated through government support.??

The good thing is the process has been set in motion across the country with states like Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra registering progress.?

“One needs to remember that biomining cannot happen in isolation. All the different layers of the government need to work in tandem to enforce decentralised waste management solutions at the source or closer to the source to make sure that only a minimal amount of waste ends up in landfill,” she says. “Alongside, the government needs to ensure guaranteed procurement of compost and recyclables to incentivise the people working at landfills to follow due processes,” adds Madhushree.?

The other option of setting up scientific landfills is also an expensive proposition. As of now, India has only one scientific landfill -- in Delhi's Narela-Bawana – “that can treat 2,000 tonnes of waste every day and generate 24 MW of electricity”. Scientific landfills are equipped with systems and devices to prevent methane emissions and leachate contamination.

Ecosystem for Deep-tech Solutions?

One is hopeful that the deep science and technology ecosystem will be able to create advanced upcycling technologies for different streams of waste coming from the landfills in the next 5-10 years.

“Most of the solutions are at the research and development stage and need to be first pilot tested to draw interest of the stakeholders. Without a conducive environment that offers patient capital, incubation services, and a wide market (not just landfills but industrial and commercial applications as well), such solutions may not be sustainable. It will require participation from both government and industry,” says Madhushree.?

An end to landfills seems like an impossible aspiration – one that demands a complete overhaul of the waste management sector, behavioural change of stakeholders, citizen engagement, tech innovations and services and policy-level directions. We are at the tip of the ‘waste-berg’.?

About the Author

A journalist for 20 years handling multiple roles on the field and at the desk, Pratik Ghosh takes abiding interest in social, economic and political issues. He calls himself a?Content Farmer, cultivating Social Alpha’s deep engagement with science and tech startups that are striving to solve India’s stubborn developmental challenges at the grassroots.