Solid Waste Management

Solid waste covers everything discarded from homes, offices, shops, schools and hospitals -- municipal solid waste is typically a mix of paper, food waste, plastic, glass, metal, rubber, leather and textiles, collected and disposed of by the local municipality. Waste can be broadly grouped into three categories: biodegradable, recyclable and non-biodegradable. Biodegradable material can be buried in pits for natural decomposition, while non-biodegradable material must be disposed of by other means; India's rag pickers and kabadiwallahs (scrap dealers) do valuable, often overlooked work sorting recyclable material, though the primary goal for every citizen should still be to reduce how much waste is generated in the first place. Burning waste reduces its volume but is rarely complete, so open dumps often become breeding grounds for rats and flies; hospitals in particular generate hazardous biomedical waste containing disinfectants, harmful chemicals and pathogenic microorganisms, which must be disposed of using strict colour-coded protocols.

Sanitary landfills are the preferred substitute for uncontrolled open dumps -- waste is placed in a depression or trench and covered progressively, but landfills near large cities fill up very quickly given the sheer volume of waste generated, and there is a real risk of chemicals percolating down and contaminating groundwater. Irreparable computers, electronics and other electrical goods are classed as e-waste; much of it is either buried or burnt outright, though the recycling process can recover valuable metals such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold. Developed countries generally have proper recycling facilities, but a large share of e-waste generated there is exported to developing countries such as China, India and Pakistan, where recycling often relies on manual labour, exposing workers directly to toxic substances -- e-waste must therefore be handled in an environmentally responsible manner wherever it ends up. …