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IC201 Environmental Science

Presentation Report

Title : Analysis of Wastes and Solids

Purnanand(11940950), P.Rahul(11940960), Rajat Kumar
Kharwar(11940970),Rajshekhar(11940980)

1) Introduction

Solid waste is the unwanted or useless materials generated from residential, industrial and
commercial activities in a given area. In India every year around 7 million tonnes of solid
waste is collected.

Waste management includes the activities and actions required to manage waste from its
inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of
waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process.

In some cases, waste can pose a threat to human health. Waste is produced by human activity,
for example, the extraction and processing of raw materials. Waste management is intended to
reduce adverse effects of waste on human health, the environment or aesthetics.

2) characteristics of solid waste

Three types of characteristics

Physical characteristics

● This includes the determination of percent contents of various ingredients of the solid
waste
● Function of location,season ,storage time, equipment used processing(compaction
shredding etc)
● Used in volume calculations

Chemical characteristics

● Used primarily for combustion and waste to energy (WTE) calculations but can also
be used to estimate biological and chemical behaviours.
● Waste consists of combustible(i.e.papers) and noncombustible(i.e.glass)

Biological characteristics

● Biodegradability
● Organic fraction often equated with the volatile solids(VS) content of the waste.
● However not all organic materials are easily degradable

3) Solid waste collection

Basically collections were made by

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1.Municipal/District council

● Municipal solid waste includes commercial and domestic wastes generated in

municipal or notified areas in either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial
hazardous wastes but including treated bio-medical wastes.

2. Private firm under the contract

● Some private Corporations in different states plan to sign a new agreement with the
private companies which are treating a portion of the solid wastes generated in the
city.

3.Private firm contract with private residents

● The private sector is most commonly involved through service contracts with
municipal authorities for waste collection, with various structures for performance-
based payments.

4) Major deficiency in collection

Current SWM practice in India can be loosely categorized into 5 steps, where the first step is
Segregation.

1. Segregation is still very unorganized, and sorting takes place under perilous conditions, also
only those things are segregated which can offer higher returns on investment.

2. Same vessels are used for collecting all types of waste, including industrial and household
waste.

3. After collection comes Recycling, an unregulated segregation and collection leads to

minimal possibility of recycling..

4. Transportation systems do not synchronize with storage facilities.

5. Final disposal through dumping and not Secure land filling facilities(SLF).

5) Treatment and disposal

Several methods are used for treatment and disposal. These are:

1.Composting

It is a process in which organic matter of solid waste is decomposed and converted to humus
and minerals compounds .Compost is the end product of composting which used as a fertilizer

Composition techniques :

● Trenching composting

Trenching is a construction method that involves digging a narrow trench in the ground for the
installation, maintenance, or inspection of pipelines, conduits, or cables.

Trenches are 3 - 12 m long, 2 m wide and 1 – 2 deep with spacing of 2 m. In this dry wastes
are filled up in 15 cm .on top of each layer 5 cm thick sandwiching layer of animal dung is
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sprayed in semi liquid form. Biological action starts in 2 – 3 days . Waste stabilizes in 4 – 6
months and is converted in humus.

Each year, over 100 workers are killed and many more are seriously injured in trenching
accidents. Also, trenching and excavation accidents account for some of the largest fines
imposed by OSHA.

● Open windrow composting

Windrow composting is the production of compost by piling organic matter or biodegradable

waste , such as animal manure and crop residues, in long rows (windrows).

Solid waste is dumped on ground in form of piles of 0.6 – 1 m height, 1 – 2 m width and 6 m
of length.Moisture content is maintained at 60% and temperature increases inside the pile.And
this complete process takes time of 4 to 6 weeks.

● Mechanical composting

It requires less area and takes 3 to 6 days for stabilization of waste.

It involves operations like reception of refuse, segregation, shredding, stabilization, marketing

the humus etc.

As part of a program to reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers, the Central Government

Ministries of India awarded nine grants for construction of nine mechanical composting plants
in the 1970s. Studies of these plants, which had closed by the mid to late 1980s, were
conducted by the National Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur.

2.Incineration

It involves the combustion of organic matter present in the waste at high temperature. Waste
converts into ash, flue gas and heat by using incinerators. This type of process happens at high
temperature, the so-called thermal treatment method.

It is the most hygienic method, requires less space and complete destruction of pathogens
happens. No odour trouble occurs and also not affected by weather conditions.Heat generated
can be used for steam power. But it is expensive, care and attention required while combustion
of waste otherwise produces air pollution.

3. Landfilling

A landfill site is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest and simple
form of waste treatment. Historically , landfills have been the most common methods of
organized waste disposal and remains so in many places around the world. The dumping is
done with layers of 1- 2 m. the layer is covered with soil of 20 cm thickness. No residues or
byproduct need to be disposed .Separation of solid waste not required. But large land required
and odor problems occur. In this methane gas release that is used as fuel but proper collection
should be done and also greenhouse problems happen.

4. Pyrolysis
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In this technique we heat wastes at a very high temperature in absence of air . It was carried
out at temperatures around 500 – 1000 C . Gas, liquid and chars are the main by products.

5. Recycling

Process of making new products by waste material. It is the third component of Reduce,Reuse
and Recycle. It reduces consumption of raw material and also reduces energy uses. It is very
helpful in reducing air and water pollution.

6) Conclusion

The aim of the study is to present an overview of Solid waste management system in India and
highlight the important challenges that it is facing. Challenges like lack of awareness,
haphazard planning, underutilization of resources and lack of accountability cripples the
system. A planned and proper SWM is must for sustainable development and can only be
implemented by introducing adequate financial support, better use of data driven approach,
disseminating awareness and proper utilization of resources along with scientific justification.
All these challenges and solutions call for a major overhaul in the current SWM system which
will lead us on the path of development and make us a robust economy.

References

Indian Journals of Environmental protection

● Solid waste disposal and the environment by “ Chakrabarty, P., Srivastava V.K., Chakrabarti,
S.N.,”.1995.
● Indian journal of Environmental Protection by “Ahsan, N”
● Solid waste management in Indian urban centers by “Bhide, A.D., Shekdar, A.V.”
● Delhi municipal solid waste and environment by “Kansal, A., Prasad, R.K., Gupta, S”, 1998.

Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB)

● Management of Municipal Solid Waste,2004.

● Status of Municipal Solid waste Generation, Collection, Treatment and Disposal in Class I
Cities,2000