Target Zero

India's waste will double in the next 25 years. If we are to avoid drowning in garbage, adopting zero waste management is a must.

- Shibu K Nair

INDIA HAS a population of 1.25 billion and generates 47 million tonnes of waste per year. This means less than 100 g of waste per person per day. In comparison, the figure for the US, one of the most developed nations, is a huge 2.17 kg.

Despite producing only a fraction of what the US generates, why are we unable to manage it? The problem has more to do with governance, institutions and infrastructure, than anything else. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, 91 per cent of waste produced in urban India gets collected, but only 27 per cent is treated; the remaining 73 per cent is disposed of in dump yards. As far as rural India is concerned, waste collection is still a dream. The US, on the other hand, recovers 34 per cent of its total waste through composting and recycling; the rest is disposed of in landfills or sent for incineration. In fact, it enacted the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act to govern its waste management way back in 1976—some 24 years before India for the first time framed the Rules of Solid Waste Management, the implementation of which leaves a lot to be desired.

Unlike India, the US has legal frameworks to implement extended producer responsibility (or epr, so that companies that produce packaging or products ensure that the products are properly disposed of when they reach the end of their life), packaging regulations and buyback schemes.