Solid Waste Management— A Look at Some Technologies of Department of Atomic Energy

Solid waste management is an important component under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) that is being implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development at an estimated cost of `620,090 million, out of which `368,280 million is to be spent on solid waste management alone. Under SBM, Central Government’s assistance for municipal solid waste management projects is `240 per capita for present population for each city/town (i.e., for a city with 0.1 million population, maximum central grant/Viability Gap Funding (VGF) admissible is `24 million). Also, states have to provide at least `80 per capita as their contribution towards the projects. In addition to above, the cost of Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparation is also admissible for each city/town at rate of `12 per capita for present population. One of the critical factors in waste management is selection of technology for processing of waste. Unless we process waste properly, the issue of having mountains of waste in unsanitary landfills would remain unanswered. In India, many technologies have been tried by local bodies—refuse derived fuel (RDF), converting waste into compost, etc. Each technology has issues, as waste in India is not segregated. In fact, if there is a civic movement to segregate at least kitchen waste, small decentralized waste processing plants could be set up in each municipal zone. It could be made mandatory for modern housing complexes and colonies. Each step taken would contribute to minimization of waste. Some technologies that have been developed by the Department of Atomic Energy and pertinent for solid waste management could be explored and adopted by the local bodies under this mission