UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA

SHRI SHIKSHAYATAN COLLEGE

TOPIC: WASTE MANAGEMENT – CASE STUDY AT HOME

OR NEIGHBOURHOOD

NAME OF THE STUDENT: Moumita Singha

DEPARTMENT: Political Science honours (PLS-A)

COLLEGE ROLL NUMBER: 105 (B.A)

UNIVERSITY ROLL NUMBER:202034-11-0182

REGISTRATION NUMBER:034-1211-0210-20

YEAR: 2020-2021
INTRODUCTION:

WASTE MANAGEMENT-

Waste management is managing waste from its origination to the final disposal. This process
involves actions or activities of collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste added
with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process.

Waste can be classified into solid, liquid or gaseous and each of these types include various ways
of disposal and treatment. Waste management deals with all types of wastes - industrial, organic,
household etc. As, waste is the biggest threat to our human health because of its direct and
indirect cause. Directly through the handling of solid waste and indirectly through the hazardous
pollution caused by waste through air, water, soil. Waste management is not constant, it varies
from regions, countries to residential and industrial sectors.

Everything that we discard after it loses its usability is known as solid waste or garbage. The
major causes of improper management of wastes are related to the lack of financial management
and logistics, deficient municipal infrastructures, uneven planning pastures, disregard for basic
aesthetics and industrial and commercial growths as well as the perceptions and sociocultural
practices.

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES: OVERVIEW

Around the world, waste generation rates are

increasing. Every year, 2.01 billion tons of waste is
generated worldwide. This is projected to increase
by 70 percent to reach 3.4 billion tons by 2050 due
to rapid industrialization, urbanization, population
growth and economic development unless urgent
measures are taken. Worldwide waste generated per
person per day averages 0.74 kilograms but ranges
from 0.11 to 4.54 kilograms. Though they only account for 16 percent of the world’s population,
high income countries generate about 34 percent or 683 tons of the world’s waste. About 90
percentage of wastes in low income countries are disposed in unregulated dumps or openly
burned. These practices create serious health, safety and environmental consequences.

Examples of some countries having proper waste management:

A. COLUMBIA’S recycling solutions:

Columbia’s municipalities produce around 28,800 tons of solid waste per day with
10,000 tons of this waste being generated by the main cities of Bogota, Cali etc. To
overcome their serious waste problem, Columbia introduced ECOBOT, a recycling
initiative that promotes the culture of recycling across the country. Its basically Reverse
Vending Machine which is located in shopping malls, public spaces and institutions and
encourages the process of recycling the PET bottles.
B. INDONESIA- people can trade trash for free health care:
A city in Indonesia – Malang generates more than 55,000 tons of waste every day. It was
also a city where majority of people did not have health insurance. Dr. Gamala Albinsaid
created Garbage Clinical Insurance which let people trade garbage for medical services
and medicines. This scheme aims to tackle both poverty and waste in Indonesia.
Moreover, it inspires low-income households to recycle their trash and by doing so they
will be able to finance their health micro-insurance.
C. SWEDEN- showing how to really take out the trash:
Sweden has run out trash and is actually asking other countries for their garbage so as it
can keep its recycling plants running. Less than 1 percent of Sweden’s household waste
goes into landfill dump, the rest is recycled in different ways. The 32 waste management
plants in Sweden today produce heat for 810,000 Swedish households and electricity for
about 250,000 private houses.
D. SEMAKAU LANDFILL: Not just a ‘RUBBISH ISLAND’:
This landfill in Singapore is the first offshore landfill, a bio-diversity hotspot that is home
to flourishing mangroves, rich coral reefs and a capital of birds and marine life.
E. UGANDA – an amusement park from trash:
Ruganzu Bruno has created an amusement park for children living in slums of Kampala
 in Uganda by collecting waste generated by the villagers there and with their help
refashioned the waste to make swings and life-size board games.

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA:

Urban India generates about 62 million tons of waste, and it has been predicted that this will
reach 165 million tons in 2030. 43 million tones of municipal solid waste are collected out of
which 31 million is dumped in landfill sites and just 11.9 million is treated. There are not
enough public bins, most of bins are not covered, causes littering in streets, markets. Indian
ragpickers play a crucial role in segregating and recycling wastes. Sometimes they burn
wastes at landfills to keep themselves warm at night resulting in air pollution. In India today,
what is mostly littered is plastic. The size of landfills in India are constantly increasing and
that is becoming a major concern. Many citizens recklessly litter the streets. In many cases,
waste transporting vehicles are not covered resulting in the littering of the streets.

 IMPOTANCE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA:

In India a proper waste management system is urgent necessary for the following reasons:

a. To control different types of pollution such as soil, water, air etc.

b. To stop the spread of infectious diseases.
c. To conserve all our environmental resources, including forest, minerals, water etc.
d. To recycle hazardous wastes for further production.
e. Moreover, waste management involves processing, disposal and monitoring of different
types of waste materials, which prevents the environment from being harmed.
 IMPROVEMENTS AND MEASURES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT IN
INDIA:

In India, 77 percent waste is disposed of in open dumps, 18 percent is composted and just 5
percentage is recycled. Special measures have been taken by the government, for example-
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan contributed in reduction of wastes through composting. The waste
to compost conversion has been increased to 13.13 lakh tons per year as per the government
statistics 1.5 lakh tons per year. composting can reduce household waste generation by 30
percent. According to reports, Indore ranked top cleanest city in India. Moreover, separation
 of wastes, composting, reduction of plastic use, adopting the 3R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle) are
ways of proper waste management to improve the worsening condition of India.

CASE STUDY:

AREA: BOSE PARA, DIAMOND HARBOUR ROAD, SOUTH 24- PARGANA, KOLKATA-
700008.

The garbage that we generate everyday in our area had not only increased in volume
phenomenally, but has also changed its composition due to changes in our lifestyles and
consumption patterns.

Types of wastes generated are classified into –

a. There is an increasing use of non- biodegradable materials (which cannot be broken

down easily and retain for a long period of time) such as plastics, metals, tin and glass
etc.
b. However, there is use of biodegradable materials (which can be easily broken down by
nature) such as vegetable peels, fruits, tea leaves, paper, wood etc.
c. Technological advancement has further brought in an increasing use of electronic items
and gadgets. These are useful to us, but when discarded known as E-waste comprising
aluminum, cadmium, mercury, complex plastic blends, lead etc. which could bring
serious risk to human health and the environment if not handled properly.

PROCESSING OF WASTES:

Collection of garbage is the responsibility of the

respective municipalities. In our society garbage’s are
segregated in different bags and thrown to different
colored dustbins. For example – green dustbin’s for wet
garbage and blue coloured dustbin’s for dry or solid residuals. Recently, there is an introduction
of red coloured dustbin in our society for e-wastes or plastics. The garbage then collected in a
van from the dustbins, from there it goes through a process of segregation, treatment and final
disposal in the landfills. The process of segregation in our is still done manually by ragpickers. In
this process, materials that can be recycled are separated, while toxic wastes are sorted out and
kept separately. This process of segregation ensures that the amount of solid waste, which is
ultimately disposed of in the landfills, is reduced substantially.

SURVEY REPORT:

I have done the survey of five people staying in my residence. Out of 5 surveys I have
represented two different cases drawn from the survey.

A. CASE – 1(three out of five people belong to this category):

NAME OF THE PERSONS – Rita Mukherjee, Trisha Banerjee, S. Madhu YES NO

1. Do you segregate dry and wet wastes? 

2. Do you dump them together in dustbins provided by municipality? 

3. Are you satisfied with the work of municipality? 

4. Are you aware of the method of 3R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle)? 

5. Do you follow that strategy at home? 

B. CASE – 2(two out of five people belong to this category):

NAME OF THE PERSON- Anima Singha, Aditya Chavan YES NO

1. Do you segregate dry and wet wastes? 

2. Do you dump them together in dustbins provided by municipality? 

3. Are you satisfied with the work of municipality? 

4. Are you aware of the method of 3R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle)? 

 5. Do you follow that strategy at home? 

OBSERVATION AND CONCLUSION DRAWN FROM SURVEY:

From the above CASE-1 of my neighbourhood, it is concluded that most people of our area
are still not aware of the proper waste management process and segregation. They don’t
segregate the dry and wet wastes and dump them in the same dustbins. Due to
the negligence and loss o of aesthetic and civic sense they carelessly litter garbage around
the dustbins, roads etc.

In comparison, Case-2 included people who are aware of the consequences and proper
management of waste. The method of recycling and reusing wastes are also properly done by
them. As a result, they follow the terms and conditions given by the municipality i.e., to
segregate and dump the dry and wet wastes in separate coloured dustbins. Rather, this approach
of our also ease the pressure of those people who collects our door to door garbage’s.

BENEFITS OF WASTE MINIMIZATION:

I. Through efficient production practices, waste minimization can achieve more output of
product per unit of input of raw materials.
II. Economic returns- more efficient use of products means reduced costs of purchasing
new materials, improving the financial performance of a company.
III. Public image – the environment profile of a company is an important part of its overall
reputation and waste minimization reflects a proactive movement towards environment
protection.
IV. Quality of products produced- new innovation and technological practices can reduce
waste generation and improve the quality of the inputs in the production phase.
V. Environmental responsibility- minimizing waste generation makes it easier to meet
targets of environmental regulations, policies, and standards, the environmental impact of
waste will be reduced.

STEPS TO MINIMIZE WASTE GENERATION:

I. Segregation at Source: This is the most important principle for waste management.
Segregation should be practiced at home, schools, office and markets. Garbage can be
disposed of in separate bins for biodegradable and non- biodegradable wastes. At home,
wet, dry or hazardous waste should be segregated.
II. Reduce: The kitchen wastes such as fruit or vegetable peels, tea leaves etc., forms a total
percentage of waste at home. Compositing is a common method to reduce the volume of
kitchen waste to ‘zero waste’. It is also an effective way through which kitchen waste can
be recycled back into nature.
III. Reuse: It means reusing certain wastes with very little processing. Example- discarded
bottles and containers can be further used for storage.
IV. Recycle: It’s the method to convert the waste materials into products which can be
reused. Recycling is a useful processing into new products. This is an important approach
not only to reduce the load of garbage, but also to conserve natural
resources.
V. Public awareness should be spread among people through waste
collection services, by funding waste management from local
elected officials, by adopting and enforcing of local waste
management policies etc.

CONCLUSION:

IMPOTANCE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT:

Recycling and planning the waste management for all the refusals produced in the country is an
extensive task which regulates both scientific knowledge, manipulation and understanding as to
balance the impact on the environment and the cost of effectiveness of the process. Waste
management companies along with recycling companies are also burdened to carry out their task
in the greenest ways possible. It is important to think of UK’s resources and landfill sites are
restricted and this has a major conduct on the kinds of activities that are accomplished. Waste
management and proper disposal of wastes play an extremely important role in global cleanliness
and sustainability drive, as people’s health and resource conservation are the responsibility of
every government. The importance’s are following –

 As we know, thousands of decades earlier humans buried their wastes and residuary in a
hole. This was a productive method as there was a relatively less population as a result
the amount of waste production was also less as compared to modern humans. Hence,
burying or concealing the wastes would help us to prevent insects and rodents from
spreading annoyance and infectious virus or diseases.
 In this modern era burying all the wastes is not a sustainable solution. While early man
produced small wastes that is easily biodegrade quickly, as compared wastes are of huge
amount and cannot be biodegradable. Hence, collection of waste in a proper manner is
necessary to reduce damage to the soil, ground water and surrounding habitat as well as
to protect the environment.
 However, waste generates air and water pollution. The rotting garbage is known for
producing harmful toxic gases that mix with the air causing air pollution as a result of
breathing problem such as asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer etc. Rotting garbage and
waste emerges a foul smell that can cause nausea and skin related problems of people
who come in contact with it.
 Moreover, industries produce several undesirable products such as chemical residuals etc.
which are disposed off in running water bodies leading to water pollution, such as –
Diarrhea, intestinal worms, hepatitis etc. These organizations should make it a primary
concern to secure their landfill sites so that water bodies are not affected by the garbage
and waste collected from homes and commercial establishments.
 Recycling of wastes and waste product are of utmost importance in conserving our
natural resources but also reduces the cost of production of many products. Products such
 as glass, oil, plastic, paper can be recycled as a result, there will be less pressure on
natural resources to manufacture these products.

VIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS:

According to me, the beauty of this natural planet is getting distorted due to reckless disposal
of waste, fly-tipping and senseless littering. Landscapes can be destroyed through mess up
and tourists can also loose their interest and attraction. Moreover, it’s also a risk for those
people living near areas where collection and proper management of waste is not done. There
are many challenges facing by the waste management and recycling industry.

It is the responsibility of all the citizens to increase public awareness by social participation
of households and proper system of waste systems can be improved through public
information programs. Citizens should be willingness towards the 3R- reduce, recycle and
reuse of waste management. Different colored dustbins should be used for solid and liquid
wastes or biodegradable or non- biodegradable wastes. Natural beauty is a heritage and a
right for our future generations and conserving it, as well as our natural resources, for their
benefit is our responsibility today.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my Environmental Studies teacher-
“DEBARATI DEY” for her able guidance and support in completing my project. This topic
‘waste management’ made me research a lot and I came up with new things which really helped
me in increasing my knowledge and skills.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 Open Text-based Assessment by Central Board of Secondary Education, Shiksha Kendra,
Preet Vihar, Delhi.
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management
 https://byjus.com/biology/solid-waste-management/
 https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/waste-management-and-waste-disposal-
methods.php
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956053X08003371
 https://www.wm.com/location/california/north-county/oceanside/residential/tips.jsp