Sr. Advisor, Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC)
Since municipal solid waste originates in our homes, offices and commercial establishments, it is from the hazardous household products that contaminants enter the municipal solid waste, then soil and ground water through decomposing organic material and leachate in the dumpsites.
Domestic Hazardous Waste (DHW) often contains a wide variety of hazardous ingredients, including solvents, heavy metals, acids, bases, oxidizers, reactive chemicals, chlorofluorocarbons, poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, and other toxins. DHW is released to the environment during transportation, disposal, sewage treatment systems (STSs) or mere dumping, damaging solid waste handling equipment resulting in environmental damage and injury to all those who encounter it.
There is currently ample evidence that concentrations of Mercury in samples of solid waste and concentrations of Lead and Cadmium in leachate from municipal dumpsites in India exceed the Indian standards by 5-11 times (Ferronato, 2019). The source of this contamination is the municipal solid waste, where along with household waste, we also discard hazardous substances. This mixed waste reaches the dumpsites and emits dangerous fumes, when the waste burns due to formation of methane. It further contaminates the surface and ground water when it rains and the chemicals leach through the dumpsite and percolates into the soil (Samal, 2020).
To minimize and mitigate the risks posed by DHW, we must implement programmes to identify the hazardous contents, collect and manage it, educate the public about the risks, encourage them to use less hazardous products and pursue policies to minimize hazardous waste.
As of today, the above category of waste, along with wet biodegradable and dry non-recyclable waste is being dumped in unlined landfills in the outskirts of our cities. As per our study, an average home in Delhi generates approximately 0.03 Kg of domestic hazardous waste per day, while wet waste generated from each home is 0.5 kg per day. When improperly disposed of, the mixture of both these wastes is a potential risk to people and the environment.
Currently the fused CFL bulbs which were widely used in the city containing mercury are not being collected since ‘there is no forward linkage’ at present. Many people are not aware that CFLs and Mercury Tube lights have been shifted to the e-waste category. Instead of discarding them in the garbage, they can bring it to the e-waste collection centres or camps organized periodically by Residents’ associations or give them to E-waste recyclers themselves.
Batteries used for domestic electronic products commonly the alkaline batteries and carbon zinc batteries are currently being disposed of in the dry waste bins which ultimately end up in the landfill. Regulations on batteries mostly focus on the large lead-acid ones but the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016 recognize the small batteries as domestic hazardous waste. Ni-Cad and Ni-Cr batteries are extremely hazardous and must be disposed only in TSDFs, which would have to be organized by the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) since Nickel, Cadmium and Chromium are all toxic heavy metals and will lead to contamination of soil, water and the food chain if dumped with mixed waste.
The commonly identified chemical waste group emanating from households in urban settings include paint drums, insecticides, pesticides, sanitizers in plastic or metal jars and sprays. It is also identified that the containers of the commonly used chemical waste in the domestic setting need to be managed and characterized for its chemical nature separately. The estimation of the quantum of wastes and its separate management systems for this needs to be thoroughly considered.
Pune has been able to institute a well-managed segregation system for the sanitary napkins and other sanitary waste such as condoms and adult diapers at the household level. The collection amount is about 40-50 tonnes a month. The RED DOT campaign started at Pune recommends households to send the waste in separate liners and hand it over to the waste workers with a red dot to mark its distinction from other waste. Currently the sanitary waste collected in the city of Pune is either going to the Padcare plant where the plastics and pulp are separated, treated, and utilized or to a pilot P&G plant and those that do not reach either of these plants are being dumped in the landfills. In Delhi NCR too, most of the sanitary waste is landing in dumpsites although in the SWM Rules 2016, it is recommended that it should be sent to Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities (CBWTFs).
During the COVID pandemic, several collection points were identified for the home quarantine waste were coming to the healthcare facilities or through the ULBs who sought assistance from NGOs to establish a system for registered pick-up points including hotels that were repurposed for quarantining patients. Post pandemic, pilot initiatives have been carried out to continue a model to systematically collect the home healthcare waste. However, very few, if any are functioning. It is reported that the waste is at present being sporadically dropped off at the facility and the problem of mixing the various biomedical categories persist. Also, efforts need to made to make this system sustained and widespread. Currently, individuals who come to the drop-off facilities are usually the ones who are informed about the system or are aware of this system by the virtue of their association with certain networks.
There is a global rise in the growth of the pharmaceutical industry. Indiscriminate use of over-the-counter and prescription drugs is common. Various reasons such as easy availability, affordability and self- medication are responsible for this trend. This indiscriminate purchase by households is responsible for an increase in pharmaceutical waste generation. It is observed that pharmaceutical waste created at households are either expired, unwanted or damaged drugs.
As per survey conducted in 100 households, 100 % households discard their medicine waste either in garbage or flush it. Expired drugs have ingredients which are active even 10 yrs beyond its expiry (Ponoth, n.d.). Hence unsafe disposal from households may lead to accidental poisoning, spurious drugs, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental pollution.
One of the main threats is discharging antibiotics into the environment, which promote the natural development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that are harder to treat. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health and development threat. WHO has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.
Pune follows an awareness-based model where extensive awareness campaigns are conducted to motivate the citizens into action. Once segregation is facilitated, collection is done through the SWaCH PMC workers. Like our stakeholders in Indore, which also operates on the awareness model, any chemicals/containers that are contaminated because of storing these chemicals are encouraged to be segregated and handed over separately. An estimation of containers used for storing the various chemicals must be done by the ULB to be able to establish a segregated management system. Bangalore generates about 40 tonnes per day as reported during an interview, and this is sent to the Transport, Storage, Disposal Facility (TSDF) where it treated as per protocol.
- Kitchen cleaning products comprising detergents and stain removers, relatively less hazardous, mostly abrasive, or corrosive.
- Furniture maintenance products comprising varnishes, paints, thinners etc., which are hazardous, flammable and toxic and are likely to interact with the plastic of the container.
- Toilet cleaning products are toxic, corrosive and reactive but may not interact with plastic and hence processes for neutralizing and rinsing the residual content and using the cleaned containers for recycling into structural can be worked out.
- Household utility products such as glass cleaners or pesticides, mobile oils, fertilizers etc. are toxic, hazardous, flammable and could interact with the plastic containers and hence these may have to be sent to the TSDF for neutralization and encapsulation.
Therefore, containers of a and c above can be emptied, thoroughly cleaned and recycled but for making structural plastics and not for storing food or beverages.
Containers of b & d, on the other hand would be contaminated with the contents, which are toxic and hazardous and hence can be either shredded and used for road making or should be sent to the TSDF for treatment and disposal in secured landfills.
- Batteries, CFLs, Tubelights and other e-waste like automotive / inverter batteries and other batteries used in EVs like Ni-Cad batteries should be collected separately through NGOs such thrift centres, authorised NGOs collecting e-waste and channelized to authorised battery recyclers and e-waste recyclers or collected by the ULB and taken directly to the TSDF facility since the waste contains heavy metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which are highly hazardous.
- For Home Healthcare waste, PMC must organize education among citizens for segregation, safe storage, separate collection and dropping off at designated healthcare facilities and pick up by CBWTFs with associated costs and fees. The residues from CBWTFs, treated and non-recyclable waste including ash from incinerator, sludge Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) must be taken to the TSDF for further neutralization and secured landfilling.
Thus, although the percentage of DHW may be small compared to the rest of solid waste discarded from our homes and other domestic areas, the toxicity and hazard from them is high especially when they interact with wet waste and other non-recyclable waste in dumpsites and poison our environment. Hence, segregation and management of waste at source is the best solution.