Solid Waste Management

Every day, tonnes of solid waste are disposed of at landfill sites, generated from homes, offices, industries, and a range of agricultural activities. When these landfill sites are not properly stored and treated, they produce foul odours; and when hazardous wastes -- pesticides, batteries containing lead, cadmium, mercury, or zinc, cleaning solvents, radioactive materials, e-waste, and plastics -- get mixed with paper and other scraps and burnt, they produce toxic, carcinogenic gases such as dioxins that pollute surrounding air and groundwater and can seriously harm human, wildlife, and environmental health. Solid waste management is formally defined as the full set of activities and actions required to manage waste from the moment it is generated (its inception) through to its final disposal -- covering collection, transport, treatment, and disposal, together with the monitoring and regulation of the whole process. Ultimately, it is about how solid waste can be converted from a liability into a valuable resource rather than simply buried. The scale of the challenge is illustrated by a real case study: the Corporation of Chennai is responsible for the clearance and management of solid waste across the city, collecting around 5,400 metric tonnes of garbage every single day. Door-to-door collection operates in most zones, alongside street sweeping and storage of waste in designated bins. At present, Chennai's collected garbage …