1. MANAGING KERALA’s WASTE
Mrs Almitra H Patel , Member Supreme Court Committee on Solid Waste Management

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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!

10. 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.

11. USE SHREDDED PLASTIC IN TAR ROADS FOR DOUBLED LIFE
See CPCB’s manuals on this:
PROBES/101/ for how to use, +
PROBES/122/ 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

12. 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 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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 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.

17. 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.

18. 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