MANAGING KERALA’s WASTE Mrs Almitra H Patel , Member Supreme Court Committee on Solid Waste Management almitrapatel@rediffmail.com www.almitrapatel.com 98443 02914

PARADISE HAS A PRICE BEAUTIFUL KERALA HAS SPECIAL PROBLEMS MANAGING WASTE: Heavy and prolonged rainfall Water, water everywhere in coastal towns Growing cities without open spaces Continuous towns : ‘Outside’ one area is ‘Inside’ the next-door area

SPECIAL PROBLEMS NEED SPECIAL SOLUTIONS MSW Rules 2000 Sch. II 5 requires “ Municipal authorities to… MAKE USE OF WASTES SO AS TO MINIMISE BURDEN ON LANDFILL”. This is most important for cities like Kochi. Brahmapuram is overfull and unsuitably located in wetland. No Keralite should ever again be asked to sacrifice their lovely homes and green life.

KOCHI HAS THE ANSWERS: DECENTRALISED COMPOSTING The MSW Rules require food wastes to be ‘stabilised’, so that they do not produce leachate, smoke or smell and pollution. The rules DO NOT insist on centralised plants to produce and sell compost. Biobins in apartments are a great solution.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY IS BEST, AS WAS OUR TRADITION 6-7 years of experience in 4 cities has proved that biobin composting is do-able and viable in all apartments, everywhere. Farmhouses and garden bungalows use food waste to lovingly grow trees & plants Or use home biogas units for cooking gas. Low-income homes waste very little food. They can use home compost-pots or take their little waste to a shared biobin or collection point.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE Instal biobins or biogas units for canteens in High Court, all Municipal offices, PSUs. Require all Bulk Generators like Colleges, Clubs, Hotels, Marriage Halls to manage their food waste onsite. You lawyers can help the State draft and enforce defensible by-laws for this.

SET CITY TARGETS: 20% REDUCTION OF WASTE TO LANDFILL ANNUALLY This annual target can & should be a city-wide mission, despite population increase: 20% reduction target to every city Zone = 20% waste reduction in every Ward, = 20% reduction from every Club or Residents Assn or street. 20% annual reduction in commercial areas

SEPARATE at SOURCE! WHY? Mysore plant : compost (left), plastics (at right) after its first shift of operations: PLASTICS are ~7% BY W EIGHT but over 55% BY VOLUME!

COLLECT PLASTICS SEPARATELY, ALL KINDS Each of you here begin at home: Keep all plastics in one large plastic bag, for a week or even a month. If collected thru schools, a free pencil for 1 kg plastic works wonders. Have a SEPARATE WEEKLY COLLECTION FOR PLASTICS NO DAILY COLLECTION OF PLASTICS, that will never change people’s habits.

USE SHREDDED PLASTIC IN TAR ROADS FOR DOUBLED LIFE See CPCB’s manuals on this: PROBES/101/2005-06 for how to use, + PROBES/122/2008-09 for how much better. Update the very old law requiring city roads to follow PWD guidelines, so that cities can use their waste plastic in roads even if PWD does not for inter-city roads. H.P. since July ’10 has all-State plastic rds

PLASTIC ROADS ARE A GREAT IDEA. TN has laid 1200 km, in every habitat PLASTIC ROADS ARE A GREAT IDEA ! TN has laid 1200 km, in every habitat. 8% replacement of now-costly bitumen with SJSRY-shredded plastic @ Rs 12/kg makes economic sense & stronger roads. Heat stones to minimum 120oC, empty into the mixing chamber, sprinkle on shredded thin-film plastic, mix for 30 seconds to form a melt-on primer coat of plastic, & add bitumen as usual. No PET or PVC.

MORE WAYS TO REDUCE WASTE 25% waste reduction is possible if recyclables are kept out of garbage. Set up buy-back & sorting centres in unused city spaces in Every Ward for all dry wastes like Tetrapak etc. 30% city waste is inerts:s debris, road dust, drain silt. Clean inerts are useful and saleable.

PREVENT BURNING OF WASTE AND LEAVES Burning is against MSW Rules Sch II 1(1)(vii) and must be STRICTLY ENFORCED : Personal penalties to supervisors and officers of beats where burn marks are always seen. COMPOST LEAF & GARDEN WASTE in PARKS. Collect garden waste 1 day a week. HORTICULTURE DEPT MUST USE CITY COMPOST wherever it is produced.

PREVENT AVOIDABLE WASTE Pass bye-laws to eco-tax, penalise or ban thermocole packaging, promote recyclable options like papier-mache or bubble-wrap. Give tax breaks for reusable mineral-water bottles, eco-tax mini-bottles. Give tax breaks for avoiding plastic wrapping for bread, toilet paper etc. Ban plastic table-cloths and plate-bags at parties. Eco-tax disposable cups & plates.

CORRUPTION IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN IMPLEMENTING MSW RULES Be vigilant. Monitor and question city policies ! Fuel theft from city vehicles and corruption in transport contracts are a major hurdle to city cleanliness. Transport payments by weight encourage mixing of inerts in garbage. Pay for max 0.6 tons per cubic meter of any lorry capacity. Now corruption has crept upward to affect decisions on choice of technology. Beware of unviable waste-to-energy projects. No ‘Tipping Fees’ for composting as it earns income. Allow maximum Rs 50-100 per ton of waste to landfill, for max 20% of raw waste. No approval of new plant or vehicles without third-party audit of money spent on earlier purchases, badly misused like rotting tractors etc. No new compost plant UNTIL YARD MANAGEMENT IS IMPROVED, as well-stabilised composted waste can be auctioned to farmers, without need of sieving-bagging-enriching-branding-selling.

LACK OF FUNDS IS NO EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO PERFORM OBLIGATORY DUTIES Remember the landmark “Ratlam Case” judg- ment by Supreme Court (AIR 1980 SC 1622; 1980 Criminal Law Journal 1075):“The plea that financial inability exonerates [a local body] from statutory liability has no juridical basis”. 20% Annual Reduction in waste transported will itself pay for huge improvements in decentralised composting, recycling and biomining to reclaim and re-use existing waste sites to avoid creating new ones.

USE RTI. SEEK REFERENDUMS. Critically review new Government and City Plans. Let this Federation of Women Lawyers and Kerala State Legal Services Authority awaken Kerala’s hugely literate citizens to their RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES under Art 51A : It shall be the duty of every citizen of India … (f) To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture (g) To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers & wildlife and have compassion for living creatures