Waste management rules in India are based on the principles of “sustainable development”, “precaution” and “polluter pays”. These principles mandate municipalities and commercial establishments to act in an environmentally accountable and responsible manner—restoring balance, if their actions disrupt it. The increase in waste generation as a by-product of economic development has led to various subordinate legislations for regulating the manner of disposal and dealing with generated waste are made under the umbrella law of Environment Protection Act, 1986 (EPA). Specific forms of waste are the subject matter of separate rules and require separate compliances, mostly in the nature of authorisations, maintenance of records and adequate disposal mechanisms.

India is turning into one big garbage dump. The problem is assuming gigantic proportions and the numbers are staggering. Urban India is the world’s 3rd largest garbage generator and by 2050 waste is expected to rise to 436 million tons up.

Did you know around 10 million tonnes of garbage is generated in just the metropolitan cities alone like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata?

Central Pollution Control Board in its report which was released in 2009 indicates that around 62 million tons of solid waste is produced in our country every year, of which less than 20% or only 12 million tons are treated. This essentially means that the remaining 52 million tons of waste remain ‘untreated’ and contaminate land or make its way into rivers, lakes and wetlands.

Along with this, there is a truth that if the residents of India understand this problem and start to took preventive measures to manage their house wastage, then it will become easier for the government to deal with it. The steps include – Collection | Segregation | Dumping | Composting | Drainage and Treatment of effluents before discharge.

 

Under “World Wide Federation” initiative, we aware people to follow 4 bin system. This means simply segregate your house waste. Put kitchen waste or organic waste in a green bin, Inert waste (waste which is neither chemically or biologically reactive and will not decompose like diapers etc.) in a black bag, a white bin for waste that is recyclable like milk packets, oil, plastics and a black bin for all the hazardous waste materials.

Also we share some tips to control the home wastage specially in terms of food, which not only effects the environment but also waste some life saving resources like water, oil & fuel.