There is not much space left in the cities to dump the solid wastes. The dumps are rising with growing population and changing lifestyles. Especially, in the developing countries like India, the solid waste management technologies have not taking full effect. There are very few examples where options like secured landfills, waste incinerators, common bio-medical waste treatment facilities, hazardous waste management facilities, -e-waste recycling units are working. A lot of work needs to be done to formulate policies and strategies to reduce, reuse, recycle various kinds of wastes.
Municipal Solid Waste
The amount of MSW (municipal solid waste) generated in most Indian cities is rapidly increasing . The per capita waste quantity increases with the size of the city and varying from 0.27 to 0.66 kg per capita per day. In metropolitan cities, values up to 0.61 kg per capita per day have been recorded. Per capita waste generation is also increasing over the years at the rate of 1.33% (CPCB 1999). It is roughly estimated that Indian cities and towns generate about 4000 tonnes of municipal waste every day and almost all the wastes find their way to landfill sites which are not managed in an environmentally acceptable manner. The average waste collection in Indian cities is 72% and only 70% of cities have adequate waste transport facilities.