ENVIS Centre, Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India

Printed Date: Friday, March 29, 2024

Waste Management in Tamil Nadu

 
­WASTE MANAGEMENT IN TAMIL NADU
 
WASTE MANAGEMENT
 
Waste refers to lack of use or ‘useless remains’. Waste is a by-product of human activity. Physically, it contains the same materials as are found in useful products, it only differs from useful production by use of value. 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF WASTE
 
            Waste can be classified into five types of waste which is all commonly found around the house. These include liquid waste, Solid waste, Organic waste, recyclable waste and hazardous waste. Source of waste can also be broadly classified into four types-Industrial, Commercial, Domestic and Agricultural.
 
                                 
   
 WASTE MANAGEMENT OF TAMIL NADU
 
      In Tamil Nadu there are 15 Corporations, 152 Municipalities and 561 Town Panchayats. For the best implementation of waste Management the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and all corporations of Tamil Nadu
 
  
BIO-MEDICAL WASTE
 
                     
  
 
Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) is any waste produced during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human or animal research activities pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological or in health camps.
 
The bio-medical waste generator and the operator of the Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment and disposal Facility (CBMWTF) are responsible for safe handling and disposal of the bio-medical wastes. The State Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have to ensure for effective implementation of the said Rules in all the health care facilities.
 
The State Pollution Control Board shall issue authorization to the health care facilities and CBMWTFs. It shall monitor the compliance of various provisions of the Rules. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has implemented online application receipt and processing module on 01.03.2016 for applying and granting authorization. The Board has so far issued authorization to 25190 Private and Government hospitals including bedded hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, dispensaries, veterinary institutions, pathological 50 labs, blood banks, research institutions etc. All these hospitals have executed agreement with the CBMWTFs for the collection, transport, treatment and scientific disposal of the biomedical wastes.
 
The Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment and disposal Facility consists of incinerator, autoclave, shredder and sharp pits for the treatment and disposal of biomedical waste received from the HCFs. In Tamil Nadu, there are 12 Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment and disposal Facility, out of which ten facilities are in operation and two facilities at Ooty and Ramanathapuram have been issued with closure direction by the Board for non compliance of Bio Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
 
  
DISTRICT WISE DAILY AVERAGE GENERATION OF BIO-MEDICAL WASTE
 
S. No
 
District Office
 
Quantity of generation of bio-medical wastes           (kg / day)
 
Chennai Zone
1
Ambattur
342.76
2
Chennai
9671.24
3
Maraimalainagar
2515
4
Sriperumbudur
1096
5
Gummidipoondi
37.5
6
Tiruvallur
537.5
 
Vellore Zone
7
Vellore
3828
8
 Vaniyambadi
476
9
Dharmapuri
237.27
10
Villupuram
795
11
Hosur
245
12
Tiruvannamalai
701
 
Salem Zone
13
Erode
161.30
14
Namakkal
131.40
15
Perundurai
178.70
16
Salem
302.46
17
Karur
145.00
18
Kumarapalayam
93.60
 
Coimbatore Zone
19
Coimbatore South
1550
20
Coimbatore North
1950
21
Tiruppur North
400
22
Tiruppur South
353
23
Ooty
120
 
Trichy Zone
24
Ariyalur & Perambalur
194.2
25
Trichy
855
26
Pudhukottai
108.17
27
Thanjavur
393.86
28
Nagapattinam
224.17
29
Cuddalore
623
 
Madurai Zone
30
Madurai
2406.92
31
Theni
385
32
Sivagangai
153.11
33
Ramanathapuram
230.16
34
Dindigul
421.24
 
Tirunelveli Zone
35
Tirunelveli
1424
36
Thoothukudi
584.33
37
Nagercoil
1069.49
38
Virudhunagar
329.37
 
Total
 
35269.74
 
 Source – Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board - Annual report 2020-2021


 
E-WASTE
 
E-waste is any electrical or electronic equipment that’s been discarded. This includes working and broken items that are thrown in the garbage or donated to a charity reseller like Goodwill. Often, if the item goes unsold in the store, it will be thrown away. E-waste is particularly dangerous due to toxic chemicals that naturally leach from the metals inside when buried.
 
The term ‘e-waste’ is defined in Rule 3 (r) of the E-Waste Management Rules,2016 as electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as waste by the consumer or bulk consumer as well as rejects from manufacturing, refurbishment and repair process.the rules apply to every manufacturer, producer, consumer, bulk consumer, collection centres, dealers, e-retailer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler involved in manufacture, sale, transfer, purchase, collection, storage and processing of e-waste or electrical and electronic equipment.
 
The producer of the electrical and electronic equipment shall be responsible for collection and channelization of e-waste generated from the end-of-life of their products under Extended Producers Responsibility. Board shall and renew authorization to the manufactures, dismantlers, recyclers and refurbishers. the Board Shall monitor on the compliance of e-waste to ensure environmentally sound management of such waste. the Board shall conduct random inspection of dismantler or recycler or refurbisher, maintain online information regarding authorization granted. Implementation of programme to encourage environmentally sound recycling and action against violations of the rules. The Board has issued authorization for 24 units ( Dismantlers- 22, Recyclers- 1,Refurbishers-1)
 
 

 
 
SUMMARY STATEMENT CODE-WISE OF E-WASTE COLLECTED IN YEAR 2020-2021
 
Electrical and Electronic
 
Equipment Code
 
Quantity of E-Waste  (Ton/Annum)
 
Opening stock as on 31.03.2020
 
202.103
A.Information Technology and Telecommunications equipment
 
ITEW 1
5289.362
 
ITEW 2
1752.009
 
ITEW 3
617.9403
 
ITEW 4
99.154
 
ITEW 5
2.573
 
ITEW 6
1615.627
 
ITEW 7
20.338
 
ITEW 8
77.0602
 
ITEW 9
252.272
 
ITEW 10
1.2
 
ITEW 11
3.37
 
ITEW 12
258.926
 
ITEW 13
3.7
 
ITEW 14
0.396
 
ITEW 15
292.961
 
ITEW 16
2.703
B.Consumer Electrical and Electronics
 
CEEW 1
4009.217
 
CEEW 2
5740.392
 
CEEW 3
4441.07
 
CEEW 4
2511.785
 
CEEW 5
95.7066
C.Others (Telecom items & Packing materials)
 
1016.027
 
Total
 
28305.89
 
(Source-TNPCB)
  
 
HAZARDOUS WASTE
 
 
  
The expression 'hazardous waste' is defined in Rule 3 (1 )(7) of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2016 as any waste which by reason of characteristics such as physical, chemical, biological reactive toxic, flammable, explosive or corrosive causes danger or is likely to cause danger to health or environment, whether alone or in contact with other wastes or substances, and shall include -
 
- waste specified under column (3) of Schedule I
 
- waste having equal to or more than the concentration limits specified for the constituents in class A and class B of Schedule II or any of the characteristics as  specified in class C of Schedule II; and
 
·                 -  wastes specified in Part A of Schedule Ill in respect of import or export of such wastes  or the wastes not specified in Part A but exhibit hazardous characteristics specified in Part C of Schedule III. 
 
The hazardous waste generator shall follow the steps namely prevention, minimization, reuse, recycling, recovery, utilization including co-processing and safe disposal of hazardous waste. SPCB shall grant authorization for handling the hazardous wastes. The Board has identified 4199 industries generating hazardous waste and issued authorization to 4157 industries, as of 31.03.2021. During the period 2020-21, about 7.95 lakhs tons of hazardous waste is generated, in which 0.85 lakhs tons (10.69%) is landfillable, 1.24 lakhs tons (15.59%) is recyclable, 5.76 lakhs tones (72.45%) is utilizable and 0.095 lakhs tons (1.19%) is incinerable. The Board is taking effective steps in handling, management, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste in an environmentally safe manner.
 
SOLID WASTE
 
 
 
The expression 'solid waste' is defined in Rule 3(1 )(46) as and including solid or semi-solid domestic waste, sanitary waste, commercial waste, institutional waste, catering and market waste and other non residential wastes, street sweepings, silt removed or collected from the surface drains, horticulture waste, agriculture and dairy waste, treated bio-medical waste excluding industrial waste, bio-medical waste and e-waste, battery waste, radio-active waste generated in the area under the local authorities and other entities mentioned in rule 2. The Board is the monitoring authority under the said rules and is responsible for granting authorization to local bodies for processing and disposal of solid waste. In total the solid waste generation is 13422 tonnes per day. The Board is advocating the concept of waste segregation at source, waste reduction, recycle and reuse to avoid any environmental issues during handling.       
 
  
PLASTIC WASTE
 
 
The expression 'plastic waste' is any plastic discarded after use or after its intended use is over. The local body shall be responsible for the development and setting up of infrastructure for segregation, collection, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of the plastic waste. In the State of Tamil Nadu, there are 15 Corporations, 121 Municipalities and 528 Town Panchayats. As per the annual report of 2020-21, the estimated plastic waste generated from 15 Corporations, 121 municipalities and 528 Town Panchayats of Tamil Nadu is around 1178 tons/day, out of which 96% is collected and segregated by the respective urban bodies in which the recyclable plastic waste are sold to the recyclers and nonrecyclable plastic waste are sent for co-incineration in cement plants. The Board has issued registration to 29 compostable plastic manufacturing units, 230 plastic waste recycling units.
 
CONCLUSION
 
The Tamil Nadu Government has taken effective steps in managing the environment pollution including waste management. The people in Tamil Nadu should give their helping hands to the Government to keep the places waste free.
 
 
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