Waste Management

Waste Management at WaiWoods

Introduction

This guide intends to provide the basic awareness of waste disposal policies of Central, State and Local Authorities and how we – the WaiWoods residents, are affect by these policies. The guide also attempts to outline our collective approach towards waste management.

The Applicable Rules

For waste management and disposal, we are governed by, Central Government Solid Waste Management Rules, applicable to all the States and Union Territories [1], The rules primarily talk about “scientific disposal of solid waste”. This included segregation, collection and treatment and disposal in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Local authorities have been made responsible for the development of infrastructure for collection, storage, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal of waste.

How does this concern us @WaiWoods

  1. All resident societies and gated communities with an area of over 5,000 square metre have to segregate waste at source. Residential societies are mandated to develop in-house waste handling, and processing arrangements for bio-degradable waste.
  2. This bio-degradable waste produced in residential societies has to be processed, treated and disposed of through composting or bio-methanation within the premises, as far as possible. The residual waste could be given to the waste collectors.
  3. Segregate the waste in the categories, wet, dry and hazardous

 

Segregation Category  What it includes
Wet the waste that is biodegradable i.e. vegetable and fruit peels, for instance
Dry waste materials that are made of plastic, paper, metal, wood, etc
hazardous diapers, napkins, empty containers of cleaning agents, mosquito repellents, etc.
e-waste Computers, TV, Mobile, corded appliances
Construction Debris

 

  1. The common practice of throwing, burning and burying of solid waste on streets, open public spaces drain, or water bodies is prohibited under the rules. Any flouting of the norms will invite penalty.
  2. Every resident will be paying a user fee to the waste collector
  3. The rules talk about spot fine for littering and non-segregation of waste. This has already made this mandatory by municipal authorities.
  4. Rules must be followed if you are organising a large get-together that involves more than 100 people. As specified by the local authority in your area, segregation of waste has to be ensured.
  5. The waste generated in your garden must be disposed according to the directions of the local authority.

 

The waste management hierarchy

The waste management hierarchy indicates an order of preference for action to reduce and manage waste, and is usually presented diagrammatically in the form of a pyramid, shown below:

 

We’ll use this waste management hierarchy as our reference model.

References

  1. Government of India Manual on Municipal Solid Waste Management – 2016
  2. Handbook of Solid Waste Management – Government of Maharashtra
  3. Solid Waste Management Rules
  4. The Zero Waste Philosophy