Where is Indore’s waste disappearing?
By Sophia Thomas
Rapid urbanization is a by-product of economic development, this also means a huge amount of waste has been accumulating and the solution to this challenge is still in question. Waste segregation for the longest time is a task that the human race has been trying to deal with, especially when it comes to climate change. Studies show that in 2001, India contributed 46 million tonnes of waste. By 2048, India is said to top the charts by 125 million tonnes.
For a long time, providing waste bins were the answer to this problem. Eventually leading to landfills which were hazardous to the well-being of the citizens as well as the environment. This led to an umbrella law of Environment Protection Act of 1986 followed by the Solid Waste Management Rules in 2016. These include
· Segregation of waste.
· Responsibility of bulk generators of waste to manage their own waste
· Brand owners were obliged to manage waste during packaging
· Augment Waste- to- energy plant to produce compost
· Local bodies were authorized to charge waste generators
These measures were undertaken without any form of penalization. Such a system has only incentivized waste dumping and landfills rather than reprocess the garbage.
One city in India, which has topped the charts in terms of waste management in the past 4 years in Indore. To begin within the year 2014, the city was ranked on 149th in the cleanliness index, 5th in 2015 and since 2016 placed 1st. In 2014, the city like any other in India was troubled by 1100 tonnes of waste generated every day and the landfills that had been accumulated over the last 40–50 years. Seeing this lapse, the Indore Municipal Corporation installed Bins and soon found that the solution to this was not bins but the lack of public participation.
Soon Indore shifted from Bin to a bin-less city and removed over 1400 bins, focused on technological advancement and more importantly- public participation because of which half the work was done. This started with Door-to-door collection from each household. Residents were asked to segregate wet and dry waste which initially received reluctance because of the extra effort that one had to put in. daily, 2–4 times a truck would come to each lane clear the trash and collect waste at the same time. These vehicles were provided with GPS which was connected to a control room for efficient supervision.
The plan ensured 100% processing because of which the garbage from the household did not get dumped anywhere else in the city. Apart from this, the process designed in a way that human intervention was minimum and on automated mode.
Initially, the dry waste was segregated manually, but a 100% waste segregation was impossible. Therefore, IMC established a mechanical plant that facilitated segregation for 300 tonnes. This is further segregated into 27 categories and then sent to market for trade. Besides another plant was established to generate diesel from plastic. Likewise, the wet waste is converted to compost or methane.
Indore is the first city to separate the three gases — methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. Once they are separated, Methane is cleaned, purified and compressed which then is used as BIO-CNG for the city buses. Similarly, the compost is used to develop the green areas that have been reclaimed after clearing up the landfills. It is said that land worth Rs400 crores have been reclaimed for golf course and horticulture.
It is noteworthy to point out the price of being the cleanest city. The initial problem was the cost of clearing which was a financial burden to a city like Indore. Private agencies had undertaken the task and were paid Rs475 per cubic meter( Rs 60–65crore/month), this was not just expensive but also took an over a long time. This model was replaced by a rental system, the machines required for segregation and cleaning were leased for Rs 7lakhs/month. Within a period of 6months the entire process- the landfills were cleared; waste was segregated on a daily basis- all of this charged for Rs 10 crore.
Therefore it is important to understand that no short cuts and quick fixes would have led to the city’s success and it’s definitely a long and laborious task. The result is the Green that overshadowed the trash produced on a daily basis making Indore, the cleanest city in Indore for the last 3 consecutive years.
