Economics of Solid Waste in India

Author(s): M BALASUBRAMANIAN
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 50, No. 25 (JUNE 20, 2015), pp. 17-20
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24481765
Accessed: 14-05-2022 06:52 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Economic and Political Weekly

This content downloaded from 202.43.95.117 on Sat, 14 May 2022 06:52:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 COMMENTARY

rights violations on innocent civilians, strike the rebels on or across the border denies nor owns up to the more than 20
That is why there are few such allega- was taken this time, there have been few transborder strikes by surrogates but
tions of human rights violations in reports of human rights violations in those in the know are aware that the
Tripura, because the whole focus was Chandel after the 4 June ambush. Chief Minister's Medal he conferred on
hitting rebels inside Bangladesh, by But covert operations achieve results a military intelligence officer was to
using surrendered rebels in jungle bases when kept secret. After all, this is not the recognise his stellar role in organising
and using Bangladeshi mafiosi to target first time such operations have hap- such raids. The army recognised this
rebel leaders in safe houses in Dhaka pened. Tiny Tripura and its publicity-shy officer's contributions much later, con
and Chittagong. Since the decision to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar neither ferring a Sena Medal on him.

Economies of Solid Waste point the per capita gdp and emissions
become delinked. Although to our know

in India ledge, there is no research or survey

to validate the environmental Kuznets

curve for solid waste generation in India,

M BALASUBRAMANIAN
This article provides an
overview of the economics of
solid waste, and related issues.
Public attention to solid waste
and recycling has increased in
India. In response, economists
have developed models to help
policymakers choose an efficient
mix of policy levellers to regulate
gaged in research studies related
For many years, solid
to municipal economists en
waste (msw)
were hampered by the general lack of
data. Very few municipal governments
bothered to keep accurate data on the
quantity of waste generated, its compo
sition, information about landfills, and
any data on the economics of msw.
Therefore, India has no time series data
or panel data in connection with solid
a large number of studies had been carried
out in developed countries—Mazzanti
and Zoboli (2009) in Italy, Johnstone
and Labonne (2004) in Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development
(oecd) countries, and Yamamoto and
Ichinoe (2009) in Japan. Most studies on
India carried out only preliminary anal
yses in relation to solid waste manage
ment. There are a large number of issues
such as the difficulties in decision-mak
ing and the problem of cost planning in
India. For example, data unavailability
and the inaccessibility of areas were the

solid waste management and waste. Economists found it very difficult
to gather solid waste generation data.
recycling activities.
For example, there was inadequate data
regarding cost analysis in most muni
cipal governments. It was difficult to
understand the empirical relationship
between costs and the benefits of msw
management policies.
Rapid urbanisation and population
growth increased solid waste generation
in the past decade. Inadequate solid waste
management policy and the absence of
appropriate guidelines led to serious
health and environmental problems all
over India. The Municipal Solid Waste
Management Handling Rules, 2000 indi
cated that all the municipal authorities
should take the responsibility of waste
collection, transportation, disposal, and
segregation of solid waste. But most
most common problems of solid waste
management planners in India.
Solid Waste Disposal and Costs
In India, municipal agencies spend about
5%-25% of their budgets on solid waste
management. Although, most local gov
ernments manage msw collection and
disposal in many parts of Indian states,
many states had inefficient construction
and operation of msw landfills and
incinerators. A review of recent litera
ture on solid waste management in India
point out that institutional and financial
issues are the most important ones
which had shown improvements in solid
waste management.
Very little was known until a few years
ago, about external costs. Economies of
scale for factors for msw since Hirsch

municipality solid waste management (1965), DeGeare and Ongerth (1971),

M Balasubramanian (balasubramanian@
isec.ac.iri) teaches at the Centre for Ecological
Economics and Natural Resources, Institute for
Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru.
practices proved to be highly inefficient.
The "environmental Kuznets curve"
suggests that environmental pollution
would initially increase with per capita
gross domestic product (gdp) and after a
Clark et al (1971), Wilson (1981), Moon
(1994), Fullerton and Kinnaman (1996),
Callan and Thomas (1997), Kinnaman and
Fullerton (2000), and Böhm et al (2010),
have mainly predicted the collection and

Economie & Political weekly EŒX53 june 20, 2015 vol l no 25 17

This content downloaded from 202.43.95.117 on Sat, 14 May 2022 06:52:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
COMMENTARY J

recycling costs and the future generation specific legislations and standards which The large negative benefit was due to
rates of msw, and provided evidence that should be achieved and by enforcing the fact that the land costs were esti
the procedure could be used as a simple their compliance through the levy of mated to be about Rs 25 crore. Both
planning tool. The works cited in msw penalties. Economic Instruments (eis), biomethanation and sanitary landfill
economic literature focused on specific such as environmental taxes and subsi- systems emit greenhouse gases, the main
regions in the developed world. There dies sought to change the behaviour of difference being that sanitary landfills
seemed to be no efforts made in the cited persons indirectly by changing relative emit some methane (even after the pro
literature at providing generated cost prices (and hence incentives) that indi- vision for gas collection), which is much
functions which were applicable to de- viduals and businesses had to bear. In more detrimental to the environment
veloping countries like India. the context of solid waste management, than carbon dioxide. The benefit to
In India, the cost function of solid it was ineffective in India. Examples of society of Rs 45 crore consisted of not
waste management had not been studied eis that could be used for solid waste only the net social benefits of bio
properly. In Delhi, the per capita expen- management include product and input methanisaiton, but also the costs avert
diture on solid waste management was taxes, deposit-refund schemes, and ed due to the landfill system,
found to differ widely. For example, the quantity-based waste collection charges.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Com- The use of eis increased in developed Waste and Poverty Reduction
merce and Industry estimates costs at countries and they could be effective in At present, new forms of disposal had
Rs 431 per tonne, The National Institute reducing waste generation, diverting arisen in most societies due to the pro
of Urban Affairs (2005) at Rs 135, and waste from disposal to recycling, and by cess of globalisation and other modern
the National Solid Waste Association of converting waste to energy. Till date developments. Cities have an increas
India (2010) puts it at Rs 497. there had been few studies on using ingly important role to play in societies
Landfills become increasingly expen- economic instruments for waste man- as the pace of urbanisation and globali
sive because of rising costs of construe- agement. Das, Birol and Bhattacharya sation becomes more rapid. Cities have
tion and operations. Yet, the available (2008) had studied solid waste manage- to managed more responsibly for their
space for landfills decreased and land ment to improve local environmental dwellers (Lazarev 2008). The New York
prices rose, while the environment had quality and public-health choice in West Times (in a letter it published) re-em
either no price or had non-optimal prices Bengal. They had found that the Indian phasised India's enormous waste prob
assigned to it, which in turn had led to population demanded improved solid lems, with special reference to scaven
overuse or over-exploitation of these waste management services in the study gers and ragpickers. The inefficient
functions and resulted in misallocation of area municipalities and that they were mechanism of waste collection and recy
resource. Therefore, environmental prob- even willing to pay for it. cling by municipalities has led to a grow
lems such as solid waste management are In addition, the polluter pays principle ing informal economy, based on the col
problems of non-optimal pricing and mis- (ppp) could also be invoked. In the con- lection of reusable wastes by ragpickers,
allocation, which means overuse of re- text of solid waste management, ppp im- which amounts to more than $280 mil
sources, and unforeseen externalities. plied that all waste generators, includ- lion annually in economic value (Kapur
In India, urban local bodies spend ing households and companies were 2011). With slow, scattered, and ineffi
around Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per metric responsible for bearing costs associated cient government initiatives to solve
tonne of solid waste, out of which 60% with wastes they had generated. The ppp India's solid waste problems, the country
to 70% is usually spent on collection means that both producers and consum- might find a solution, or a part of the
alone, and 20% to 30% is on transporta- ers should pay in India. Yedla and Parikh solution, in the informal networks that
tion. An improper solid waste manage- (2001) had found that waste disposal ex- currently exist in the country,
ment approach resulted in all types of penses for a tonne of waste by the land- India generates more than 100 million
pollution — air, solid and water — and fill system with gas recovery in Mumbai, tonnes of municipal waste every year,
as much as 95% was discarded as msw. were found to be much less than those of On a per capita basis, this was far lower
Health and safety issues also arise from the existing practices of waste disposal than most developed countries, but the
improper solid waste management which in other areas, and a huge saving of amount of garbage generated has been
increases environmental and health about Rs 6.4 billion per annum was cal- growing fast. The oecd estimated that
costs all over India, and waste workers culated. It was found that a properly only about 60% of the municipal waste
or scavengers, are worst affected due to managed landfill system could even yield in the country is collected and a far
constant exposure and frequent injuries, some good profits. Paul P Appasamy smaller proportion recycled. Martin
(2004), in his study had calculated that Medina, an expert in the management
Economic Instruments biomethanation had high benefits and of the informal waste sector, had esti
Solid waste management had tradition- high costs compared to the sanitary mated that scavengers or ragpickers col
ally been addresse'd with command and landfills approach. The cost of the sanitary lected more than 10,000 tonnes of reus
control (cac) regulations, which regu- landfill was completely dependent on able waste across India every day. The
lated behaviour directly by prescribing the price of the land that was available, informal waste recycling involves the

l8 JUNE 20, 2015 vol L NO 25 1333 Economic & Political weekly

This content downloaded from 202.43.95.117 on Sat, 14 May 2022 06:52:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 : COMMENTARY

urban poor and marginalised social processed waste materials and made national level and it will contribute to

groups that engage themselves in waste consumer products out of them. The the fight against climate change.
picking as a source of income, and of- economic impact of these activities had
ten, as their only survival strategy. In an been estimated at $600 million to 1 billion REFERENCES

unequal society, however, informal a year (Medina 2007). For example, Appasamy, Paul P (2004): "Economic Benefit-Cost
Analysis of a Proposed Solid Waste Resource
waste recycling would continue in the Madurai has more than 500 waste pick
Recovery Plant," Kopal Kadaikodi fed), Envi
foreseeable future also. ers engaged in waste collection. I spent a ronmental Economics in Practice, Oxford Uni
versity Press, pp 268-91.
Many thousands of people in develop- month with waste pickers in the village
Böhm, Robert A, David H Folz, Thomas Kinnaman
ing cities depended on the recycling of of Vellakkal (solid waste dumping area and Michael J Podolsky (2010): "The Costs of
materials collected from waste for their in the Madurai District). One respondent, Municipal Waste and Recycling Programs,"
Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol 54,
livelihood. With the focus of the Millen- Periya Mariyappan, who was about 62 No 11, pp 864-71.
nium Development Goals on poverty years old has been in collecting garbage Callan, S and J Thomas (1997): "The Impact of
State and Local Policies on the Recycling Ef
reduction and of waste management in the area for more than three and half
fort," Eastern Economic Journal, Vol 23, No 4,
strategies for improving recycling rates, decades with his wife Palaniyammal pp 441-23
one of the major challenges in develop- who was about 51 years old. Both of Clark, R M, B L Grupenhoff, G A Garland and
A J Klee (1971): "Cost of Residential Solid Waste
ing countries is about how best to work them said they now earned more than Collection," Journal of the Sanitary Engineer
in this informal sector to improve liveli- Rs 500 a day. Another waste picker ing Division, Vol 97, No 5, pp'563-68.
Das, S, Ekin Birol and Rabindra N Bhattacharya
hoods, working conditions, and effi- name Veerammal, who was about 48
(2008): "Informing Efficient and Effective Sol
ciency of recycling (Wilson, Velis and years old, had been working more than id Waste Management to Improve Local Envi
Cheeseman 2006). two decades in waste collection. She ronmental Quality and Public Health: Applica
tion of the Choice Experiment Method in West
Worldwide, more than 15 million said this work was of huge help to her Bengal, India," Discussion Paper, University of
people make a living in the informal col- family and she had been for earning Cambridge, No 33, pp 1-25.
DeGeare, Jr T V and J E Ongerth (1971): "Emprical
lection, recycling, and handling of solid Rs 250 per day, and had saved more than
Analysis of Commercial Solid Waste," Journal
waste. Informal refuse collection could be Rs 45,000 for her daughter's wedding to of the Sanitary and Engineering Division,
Vol 97, No 6, pp 843-50.
a profitable activity. The informal refuse be celebrated next year. Waste pickers
Fullerton, D and T C Kinnaman (1996): "House
collectors of Cairo, popularly known as were important in the waste recycling hold Responses to Pricing Garbage by the
Zabbaleen, earn about three times the process, but they are not recognised for Bag/'American Economic Review, Vol 86, No 4,
pp 971-84
city's minimum wage. A research study mally and they face several problems Hirsch, W Z (1965): "Cost Functions of an Urban
had found that informal refuse collec- every day in the course of their work, Government Services: Refuse Collection,"
Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol 47, No 1,
tors operating in the Mexican city of the
pp 87-92.
Nuevo Laredo, on the tax border, had Conclusions Johnstone, Nick and Julien Labonne (2004): "Gen
earned five times that of the minimum The external costs of waste should be eration Household Solid Waste in OECD Coun
tries: An Empirical Analysis Using Macroeco
wage putting them in the top 3% of estimated in every municipality in India, nomic Data," Land Economics, Vol 80, No 4,
income earners in that city (Medina As noted earlier, very few economic PP 529-38.
Kapur, A (2011): "Indian Scavengers Doing
2008). In Brazil, for example, waste analyses have been conducted and What Officials Can't," The New York Times,
picking had been recognised as an or- hence further research around solid 19 January.

ganised sector, and workers enter into waste management has to be carried Kinnaman, T C and D Fullerton (2000): "Garbage
and Recycling with Endogenous Local Policy,"
informal agreements or even formal out. The government aims to consider Journal of Urban Economics, Vol 48, No 3,
contracts with business, industry, and environmental protection with the mar pp 419-42.
Lazarev, S (2008): "For an Inclusive Urban Com
with neighbourhood associations to ket activating both preventive tools to
munity through Inter-Cultural and Inter
gain access to recyclable materials or to asses and reduce damage to the environ Ethnic-Dialogue: International Coalition of
Cities against Racism," paper presented at the
sell materials or manufacturing items, ment and mechanisms to enhance good
conference of sustainable cities and local gov
In a survey conducted in six Latin Amer- market functioning. New solid waste ernments for a sustainable world. United cities

ican countries, more than 90% of waste plans acquire management features and Local Governments (UCLG), Pattaya,
Thailand, July, pp 15-28.
pickers had reported that they liked the rather than following the previous logic Mazzanti, Massiliano and Roberto Zoboli (2009):
job that they did and considered it a de- based on final elimination of goods dis "Municipal Waste Kuznets Curves, Evidence
on Socio-Economic Drivers and Policy Effec
cent job (Medina 2008). Recycling by carded. The polluter pay principles ex
tiveness from the European Union," Environ
waste pickers saved municipalities much tends to all actors: producers, consum mental and Resource Economics, Vol 44, No 2,

money while reducing the volume of ers and institutions. There is a need to pp 203-30.
Medina, Martin (2007): The World's Scavengers,
waste that had to be collected, trans- evaluate, in advance, the impact of the Scavenging for Sustainable Consumption and
ported, and disposed. targets set by the laws for recycling by Production Lanham, MD, AltaMira Press.
— (2008): "The Informal Recycling Sector in Devel
In Mumbai, more than 30,000 waste taking into consideration region-specific
oping Countries," Gridlines, World Bank, Wash
pickers had recovered reusable items needs, so that proper polices are deve ington, DC. © World Bank, https://openknowl
edge.w0rldbank.0rg/handle/10986/10586
that could be recycled from the stream loped for all actors. Recycling chains
Moon, H (1994): "Solid Waste Management in
of waste. Waste pickers had created could benefit thousands of low-income Ohio," The Professional Geography, Vol 40,
more than 400 micro enterprises that and vulnerable sections of people at the No 2, pp 191-98.

Economie & Political weekly EEE3 june 20, 2015 vol l no 25 A"

This content downloaded from 202.43.95.117 on Sat, 14 May 2022 06:52:22 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
COMMENTARY :
National Institute of Urban Affairs (2005): "Status
of Water Supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste
Management in Urban Areas," Research Study
Series No 88, National Institute of Urban
Affairs, New Delhi.
National Solid Waste Association of India (2010):
"Economics of Solid Waste Management,"
ENVIS, March.
Reschovsky, J D and S E Stone (1994): "Market
Incentives to Encourage Household Waste
Engaging Rawls and Dhasal
Imagining Justice
RAHUL SONPIMPLE, PRACHI PATIL
Theory and poetry speak to us in
ways different from each other. It
is in this sense that John Rawls
and Namdeo Dhasal have to be
understood when they speak
about the idea of justice. This
article engages with the
theoretical schemes of Rawls's
Theory of Justice built on the
social contract tradition,
comparing it with the
revolutionary agenda of Dhasal, a
peoples' poet, who seeks social
justice in his brutal, fiery, yet
unique poetic panache through his
verse Man, You Should Explode.
The authors are indebted to the referee whose
critical comments and insights have enriched
the article.
Rahul Sonpimple (rahulsonpimple@gmail.com)
is Academic Associate at the Institute for Rural
Management Anand, Gujarat. Prachi Patil
(mailprachi.br@gmail.com) is a PhD scholar
at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
20 June 20, 2015 vol L no 25 Q3S3 Economic & Political weekly
This content downloaded from 202.43.95.117 on Sat, 14 May 2022 06:52:22 UTC
Recycling: Paying for What You Throw Away,"
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management,
Vol 13, No 1, pp 120-39.
Wilson, David (1981): Waste Management, Plan
ning, Evaluation, Technologies, Oxford Univer
sity Press.
Wilson, David, Costas Velis and Chris Cheeseman
(2006): "Role of Informal Sector Recycling,"
Habitat International, Vol 30, No 4, pp 797-808.
Yamamoto, Masashi and Daiskue Ichinoe (2009):
enjoyed at large by the dominant ele
In today's
ments ofscenario
society, where impunity
the triad of ideas is
that encapsulate the definition of social
justice—equality, liberty and fraternity—
is frequently challenged. The idea of jus
tice has unparalleled significance in the
context of Indian society that is ruptured
along lines of caste, patriarchy, and
communalism. These fissures in the
social fabric create walls and barriers
based on superiority and inferiority.
This complex matrix of social relations
between man and woman, rich and
poor, the haves and the have-nots, and
upper castes and lower castes, has been
often analysed through the prism of so
cial justice and articulated using the me
dium of theory and literature. Justice
being a multidimensional concept has
interested scholars of law, philosophy
and political science differently. The
poetic approach to justice has given
birth to the Ambedkari Jalsas; the
Bidesiya tradition by Bhikari Thakur,
the songs of separation sung by women
who question migration, poverty, and
displacement; and the Vidrohi form of
poetry in India.
This article engages with the theoreti
cal schemes of John Rawls's Theory
of Justice, built on the social contract
tradition, comparing it with the revolu
tionary agenda of Namdeo Dhasal, a
peoples' poet, who seeks social justice
in his brutal, fiery, yet unique poetic
panache through his verse Man, You
Should Explode from his anthology
Golpitha. This article reproduces certain
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
"Reexamining the Waste — Income Relation
ship: Evidence from Japan," Working Paper,
Department of Economics, University of
Toyama.
Yedla, Sudhakar and Jyoti K Parikh (2001): "Analy
sis that the Economic Evaluation of a Landfill
System with Gas Recovery for Municipal Solid
Waste Management: A Case Study," Inter
national Journal of Environment and Pollution,
Vol 15, No 4, pp 433-47
fragments of the poem for analysis. The
connecting thread between the theorist
and the poet is their conception of a "hy
pothetical" situation, which they use to
eventually arrive at justice. Interesting
ly, both Rawls and Dhasal came in the
limelight and became subjects of de
bates and discussions around the same
time: early 1970s. Rawls published his
Theory of Justice in 1971, and Dhasal's
Golpitha, a collection of poems, was
published in 1972. While comparing
their ideas on justice, this article also at
tempts to trace their lives, their ideologi
cal journey, and the early influences on
their ideas of justice.
Laying the Context
John Rawls was born on 21 February
1921 to William Lee Rawls and Anna
Abell Stump Rawls in Baltimore, the us.
His father was a successful and influen
tial lawyer and his mother was actively
involved in women's suffrage rights.
Rawls came from an affluent family,
which provided him decent comforts of
life. He was educated in the finest
schools. Even then, young Rawls noticed
the differences in quality of lives of the
African Americans, the fisherfolk, and
the labourers. He was particularly influ
enced by the ideals of his mother and,
later, his wife, on women's equality and
rights (Pogge 2007). In 1943, Rawls
joined the army in World War 11, and left
in 1946. Though Rawls once wanted to
dedicate his life to the Church, the war
had slowly eroded his faith in religion
and god. The war years also seem to
have shaped his concept of justice.
After leaving the army, Rawls studied
philosophy at Princeton University. He
took to teaching as his profession. He
taught philosophy at Cornell University
and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology (mit) for short periods until he
received an offer from Harvard University.