BEST PRACTICES IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT 2010

Mrs Almitra H Patel, MS MITMember, Supreme Court Committee

For Solid Waste Management

almitrapatel@rediffmail.com0 98443 02914

www.almitrapatel.com

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF MSW RULES 2000

Keep waste off the road, collect door-to-door

Collect wastes Unmixed, ‘wet’ every 24 hrs.

TRANSPORT WASTES UNMIXED:

Wet = Food waste, Dry = Recyclables,

Inerts = Road dust, drain silt, debris

MINIMISE WASTE : Compost wet waste

Landfill only pre- and post- compost rejects,

NOT MIXED WASTE even with soil cover !

SURYAPET, A.P. is the only Zero-Dustbin AND ZERO WASTE TOWN

Got ISO 14000 in 2006. Secret of success: Only Administrative WILL with No Excuses.

TOTAL COMMITMENT to Waste Managementby BOTH Commissioner AND Councillors.

Achieved by Cmr Khadar Saheb in 18 monthsfrom 2002 only with own Mpl labour and

NO State or Central funding,NO user charges to citizens, NO NGO support.

(Suryapet’s Powerpoint available)

Suryapet Waste is TRANSPORTED UNMIXED so citizens cooperate

For 1.03 lakh town in 2002,

8 Self-Help Groups given Transport Contract in own SJSRY Tipper-Tractors.

Stops every few houses to pick up UNMIXED waste. Dry waste compartment was raised with wire-mesh cage for higher volume.

Wet waste tipped out first for stack- and vermi- composting

Dry Waste unloaded next in Mpl shed with sorting bays. Waste-

pickers hired for sorting & baling for sale, net income upto Rs 1 lac pm

Inert waste collected SEPARATELY in afternoon.

½ km drains per man, silt directly into wheely-bins unloaded into truck along with debris, for roadside widening & pot-hole filling.

Senior citizens enjoy evenings on stone benches over odor-free drains now.

Managing construction waste is very important to keep streets

clean. Sweeping should be done by long-handled brooms.

Decentralised waste mgt can use city spaces. Park wastes must be

managed on-site, with once-a-week collection of garden waste.

Market waste is easy to compost or feed to goats/goshala. Can collect stall-to-stall hourly for fresh waste, spotless market.

TRANSPORT SAVINGS EASILY PAY FOR DECENTRALISED BIO-BINS TO

BIOCULTURE-TREAT WET WASTES

Unload handcart drums into covered bio-bins instead of open waste-points or street dustbins or dumper-placers.

Mumbai’s ALMs replaced street open dumps or dumper-placers with bio-bins and pretty plants. Biotreatment services by an NGO.

Bio-bins can be paid for by free advertising rights to sponsors.

Two biobins 6’x3’x2.5’ high serve 1-200 apts.

Waste added daily is sprinkled with bioculture or 5%-cowdung-water or good compost and

turned daily with a three-prong fork

Hand-sieve bio-bin-stabilised compost to beautify street, or sell if there is demand.“Mera Aangan Saaf” policy keeps drains clean, locals happy, less desilting cost.

Every ground-floor occupier must keep clean the open drain and footpath adjoining their frontage.

May need city Rules.

Collect Dry Waste SEPARATELY from Wet waste, at a different time or fixed

day of the week or month. Provide Ward-wise Collection Points or cash

counters to Wastepicker Associations.

Plastic wastes are a major problem in composting and need very costly

machinery to remove

Compost is just well -Stabilised waste, sieved.

After the 1st 8-hour operation of Mysorecompost plant, volumeof thin plastics, right,(only 8% by total weight)was more than volume ofsieved fine compost, on left,awaiting blending and

bagging for sale.

SHREDDED PLASTICS MAKE EXCELLENT BITUMEN ROADS : 1200 km in Tamil Nadu in 1 year!

T N Rural Dev Dept gave plastic shredding machines toself-help groups, purchased itat Rs 12 per kg to replace 10%bitumen by weight, making farbetter roads at no extra cost.

Collect through schools:1 free pencil for 1 kg plastic;

Sell pooled class collection for Eco Club activities.

DO NOT WAIT FOR PERFECT SOLUTIONS!

STOP dumping of mixed waste at once!

Stop ’dozing & levelling untreated wastes.

In the same spot, unload waste in rows, use JCB to form wind-rows (long heaps)and spray with composting bio-cultures.

This BIO – STABILISING reduces volume fast,controls odour and flies, and reducesoffensive liquid leachate formation .

Heap gets very warm, this kills pathogens.

To bio-stabilise waste, first unload it in 2-meter-high long heaps called wind-rows, with space between for

air and 4-6 weekly turnings

Spray heaps with bioculture before and after forming a new heap

After spraying, shape the heaps into windrows 2 meters high.

Turn heaps weekly by hand or JCB, and spray with water if it is too dry. It is ready for sieving after 4-6 weeks.

Use simple mechanical sieves to sieve matured heaps for sale as compost,

which farmers badly need today.

20-yr Dryland Millet yields decline without Farm Yard Manure:

Millet Yield

0500

1000150020002500300035004000

1979-83

1986-90

1993-97

Year

Yie

ld k

g/h

a

FYM10t/ha+100%NPK

FYM10t/ha+50%NPK

FYM 10t/ha

Recommended NPK

Control

Paddy, 6 wks after transplanting. City compost used on left-side

plot

Sona Masuri paddy benefited from compost use AT NO EXTRA COST:

With Mysore city compost Without compost0.5t city compost = Rs 1750 015th day DAP 100 kg Rs 800 200 kg Rs 160035th “ 19:19:19 100kg 800 200 kg 160055th day urea 50 kg 230 100 kg 460 potash 75kg 350 150 kg 700 Total Cost = Rs 3,930 Rs 4,360

Bellary photo March 2004 Bellary and data from Vennar Organics.City compost used from next year on 60 acres after this 1 acre trial.

IPNM = COMBINED USE OF CITY COMPOST & CHEMICAL FERTILISER

BENEFITS: Humus helps retain Soil Moisture

Avoids re-sowing if rains delayed. Less wilting.

4-5 waterings per crop instead of 6-7.

MICROBES HELP FERTILISER UPTAKE :

Urea absorption 40% goes up to ~ 90%

STRONG ROOT SYSTEM=HEALTHY PLANT:

Less pesticide required, less flower drop.

Better size, colour, flavour, shelf life in fruits vegetables and flowers.

Compost also helps saline soils (top)to grow crops again (below, after 1 year)

OLD OPEN DUMPS MUST BE IMPROVED

For small scattered heaps, make them convex to prevent rainwater pools on top and percolation, forming leachate.

Make diversion drains on uphill side to keep out groundwater flow. Collection drain on downhill side.

‘BIO-MINING’ is best for larger heaps, successfully done at 6 locations, being started at many more. It removes

90% of waste to almost-level ground, no pollution.

Do not use soil cover as leachate and methane will still form underneath.

Do not use plastic Capping for unlined open dumps. It makes them an environmental time-bomb as at Malad, Mumbai. Methane escapes from sides into nearby bldgs.

HOW TO BIO-MINE OLD OPEN DUMPS

30-cm layers of waste are loosened and shaved off the top of old open dumps

Bulky waste is hand-picked and sold or land-filled

Composting bio-culture is sprayed on this, along with odour-control bio-cultures if required

Then it is moistened & shaped into normal 2m high

aerobic windrows, and turned weekly, 4 times.

Temperatures reach 60-70oC, volumes reduce by 40%. Resultant “bio-earth is used in parks or to cover road/rail embankments for revegetation

BENEFITS of GARBAGE BIO-MINING:RECYCLING OF LAND SPACE

Clear old dumpsites rapidly to almost ground level and reuse for waste stabilising or as landfills for stabilised or inert wastes.

Useful recycling of organics for use on road/rail embankments or to blend with fresh compost.

Drastic volume reduction of waste needing

landfilling. Extend life of precious site, no objections.

Inner-city land is levelled, with near-zero emissions of leachate and methane, so can use at once for parks or playgrounds.