Recovery of solid waste means using waste material as an input to create new products
Though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is spending thousands of crores on the transport of garbage and scientific disposal of dumping ground, the recovery from solid waste is still a distant dream. The civic body is expecting only 5 per cent of recovery in the current year against the benchmark of 80 per cent.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development had devised benchmarks to be achieved for civic bodies. For solid waste management (SWM) departments in local bodies, MoUD has set eight benchmarks. It includes coverage of door to door collection, the efficiency of collection, segregation, the extent of municipal solid waste recovered (MSW), scientific disposal of waste at the landfill site, efficiency in redressing customer complaints, cost recovery in SWM services and collection of SWM charges.
Though the BMC has achieved success in the door to door collection, efficiency in collection and collection of SWM charges, the recovery of solid waste is still a distant dream. Last year (2017-18) the civic body achieved only 3 per cent against the target of 80 per cent. "In the current financial year (2018-19) it is proposed to increase up to 5 per cent. The expenses of the SWM department is Rs. 2,100 crore and expected revenue are Rs. 100 crore," said an officer from the BMC.
The solid waste management is based on reduce, reuse, recycle and recover formula. Recovery of solid waste means using waste material as an input to create new products. Plastic, paper, metals, glass, even biodegradable waste can be used to create a new product. But the recovery rate is very low as per the civic body's official data, said Rahul Kulkarni, Project officer, Praja foundation who released handbook on solid waste management.
Low values, high transportation cost or lack of market demand for recovered materials particularly for glass, wood, tyres made recovery difficult. The high cost of land and labour cost affect the economic viability of setting up local recycling facilities. Even the civic body could not able to generate revenue through wet waste conversion into manure.
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