Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 18
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 20
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1. Introduction
T
he present human population of India is around 100 millions and that of
the world is around 6 billion. Human beings produce wastes at all levels of
accepted by the nature in consuming the food particles by the animals and the other
materials incorporating into soil. As the population keeps increasing more people move to
cities. But the increase in population density in urban areas through industrial revolution
has altered the character of wastes in line with rising living standards. These added new
sources of wastes from domestic, industrial, agricultural, mining, and health care. Thus
increased urbanization generates more ravage per square kilometer and the disposal of the
same is becoming a global problem. Rapid industrialization and urbanization without due
The raw materials consumed during these activities result in the dwindling of the non-
which some are released into the air and water. The remaining objects or particles are
accumulated on the site where they are produced and are the solid wastes. These solid
wastes that are of no value to the person who is responsible for it are accumulated in
streets and public places. These are wastes, household and industrial hazardous wastes.
Generally many towns are devoid of agriculture and mining wastes, whereas waste from
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houses, shops, offices, industries and hospital forms the uncollected refuse blocking streets
and drains. My study deals with those municipal solid wastes and the disposal of it are
Methodology
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the management of solid waste
in Kollam Corporation. The wastes generated from various sectors were analyzed and the
data concerning waste management were obtained from Kollam Municipal Corporation.
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2. Types of solid wastes
A solid waste consists of all the unwanted materials of the society. This solid
waste comprises of countless different materials- dusts, food wastes, packing materials,
paper, metals, plastics, glass, discarded clothing and furnishing, garden wastes and
c) Pathogenic waste containing disease producing viruses from the hospital sector
further use to the people. It includes wastes from households, commercial establishment,
institutions, etc. These wastes are also known as municipal waste. They contain the non-
toxic biodegradable (a) garbage of paper, rags, hair, house dust, etc. (b) kitchen waste
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including vegetables (c) sewage and (d) others including plastic covers, bottles, tins, etc.
These domestic wastes have three characteristic – weight, density and constituents. These
vary from town to town. The weight generated per person per day usually lies between 250
gm and 1000 gm world wide. The density varies from 100 kg/m3 to 600 kg/m3 thus the
Industrial waste is generally in the form of mine tailings produced when the
valuable one is extracted from large volumes of rocks. Theses wastes in certain cases may
be toxic. The wastes from industrial sector may also include unfinished/ broken products,
materials discarded on manufacturing of the products. They may also contain building
materials like bricks, rock particles etc., over burden from strip mines, smelter slag, and
other residue produced by mining and primary metal processing. Hospital wastes are
generated from health care activities. The practice of medicine results in the generation of
solid waste in the from of needles, cotton, syringes, bottles, plastics bags etc. Hospital
waste may even include operation theaters waste like tissue or blood, flesh etc. These
wastes are highly pathogenic and cause serious health hazardous, because of their physical,
products. These may include crop residue and animal manure, yard and garden wastes.
Agricultural waste is of two types- biomass containing residues like rice husk, bigue etc. and
chemicals containing residues of pesticides and fertilizers. The biomass could be effectively
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used for generating power and producing paper. Whereas the chemical wastes are toxic
and can thus affect the animals and plants through the food chain and thus undergo
biomagnifications.
industrial, commercial and construction refuse. Many of the materials in the waste are
valuable resources if they are properly utilized. Moreover, these solids wastes if not
properly managed may create negative impacts. These solid wastes have constituent to
breed the flies and mosquitoes which are effective vectors that spread diseases. Moreover
these wastes may pollute the environment and its natural resources like air water and land.
The open burning of waste causes pollution whereas aerosols and dusts can spread
pathogens from uncollected and decomposing wastes. The polluted water leaching from
the waste dumps causes serious pollution of natural water body system. Similarly the waste
i.e. unsatisfactorily treated can cause severe aesthetic nuisance in terms of smell and
appearance. Thus the solid waste has become problem through out the world. In the
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3. Solid waste management
Solid waste management includes all the activities that help in the
Minimization of environmental, aesthetic, and health impacts of the solid waste. The major
of solid waste, from various sources like homes, apartment, and commercial centre,
b) Segregation is the process of sorting out of the reusable material such as pieces of
c) Resource recovery –The solid waste can be reduced in size by the initial collection of
valuable materials from them. The materials recovered from the solid wastes can be
utilized for new uses. Some can be reused after proper cleaning; where as some can
d) Open dumping – This is the process of disposing the solid waste by dumping into the
outskirts of town.
e) Sanitary landfill – This process of disposing the solid waste is within a well compacted
earth cover that protects the area from air pollution and in turn avoids any health
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f) Composting – This type of decomposition and stabilization of solid waste takes place
g) Incineration – This is the process of burning of solid waste at high temperature. The
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4. Solid waste management in Kollam Cooperation
Solid wastes are produced all over the world and may differ from nation to
nation and from town to town. In this project the study area is limited to Kollam
total population of the district. The population density of the area is 6,345 persons/sq.km
Geomorphic ally the area is low lying with varying heights from 0-10 m. The
topography of the area revels that the average slope of the place is 4 degree. The area is
having loose coastal sediments in the eastern part and late rite soil in the eastern position.
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Source generation of solid waste
In Kollam Municipal Cooperation the number of household are 85,081. The
slaughter houses 2
offices, slaughter houses etc. Urbanization
markets 6
process is progressing along the length and
construction & demolition 7
breadth of Kollam Cooperation. These in
street sweeping 14
as solid waste from construction and demolition sector. Further, the general solid waste
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The major constituents of the waste are paper, constituents percentage
plastic 2.15%
compostable organic matter, batteries, pesticide, medicines
metals 0.71%
etc. the bulk density of the waste is 168.79 kg/m3. The
glass 1.85%
ash 2.75%
total 100.00%
various modes of vehicles by the Kollam Municipal
Cooperation authorities. The data available shows that the total waste generated are not
completely transferred to the dumping yard. As per the official records, out of the 70 tons
generated per day, nearly 30 tons are transported to the deposit site. The remaining is
unaccounted.
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Means of disposal
Kollam Cooperation has adopted landfill as an alternative to open dumps
and incineration to deal with solid wastes generated in the city. In the landfill solid
wastes are buried beneath a layer of soil. The development of the landfill was
considered an
improvement over
appearance of wastes
in the environment
dumps. However refuse in landfill continued to produce odor and attract a variety of
insects and other animals prior to burial. In addition, rain water that fill into the open
land fills may pick up pollutants and is moved through the wastes and carried these
pollutants into the soil, the ground waster supply and to the near by waster stream(
Asthamudi Lake). Although landfills were considered a major improvement over the
years, the bulk generation of waste heaps up the waste in the lone Kureepuzha depot.
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5. A critical analysis about Kollam solid waste
management
The study revels that the disposal of solid waste is a problem in Kollam
Municipal Corporation. The major problem was the lack of progress in upgrading waste
problem with regard to Kollam Municipal Corporation. Problem of coordination and undue
payment often resulted in wastes being left at transfer points for a long time.
management. It is necessary to employ a complete set of technical skills which derive from
several professional disciplines. These include civil and mechanical engineering, chemical
engineering, transport organization, land use planning and economics. Thus solid waste
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management is a team work. The waste management strategy in Kollam Municipal
Corporation reflects the skilled “man management” which involves the high participation
from a contented staff at all levels. The major obstacle for the solid waste management in
Kollam Municipal Corporation is the lack of public support. This is due to the lack of public
insufficient. The collection is not done systemically and the scientific examination of waste
not done in a scientific and healthy way. Only six numbers of vehicles are available to carter
to the entire area with nearly 30 workers associated. Moreover there is no proper
maintenance of dumping yard. It does not have a compound wall and is always hunted by
stray dogs.
Kollam Corporation can be minimized to some extent by adopting the following techniques.
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e) Door to door collection can be introduced
h) The accumulation of organic waste may resulted in the formation of leach ate which
i) The degeneration of organic wastes resulted in the formation of green house gases.
degradation and control. He should highlight the need to preserve our ecological balance
and protect the environment. In addition to that he should help the citizens to release the
gravity of the problem caused by the pollution. The following ways can be adopted by the
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b) Segregate the domestic waste into degradable and non degradable before giving to
d) Encourage manufactures by buying products packed in paper or hard board and not
in plastics.
e) Buy oil/fuel in old bottles, after empting and cleaning it of its contents.
f) Explain the importance of recycling and reusing to children and encourage them to
do the same.
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6. Summary
Solid waste management includes all activities that seek to minimize the
health, environment and aesthetic impacts of solid wastes. Successful solid waste
management cannot be achieved without thought, effort and much learning from mistakes.
Solid waste management is much more than a technological issue. It involves managing a
large workforce and working together closely in with the public. Problems with
maintenance and financial aspects are common. The preparation and management of a
good solid waste management system needs inputs from a range of disciplines, and careful
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the management of solid waste
in Kollam Corporation. It was observed that waste generated in various sectors was
collected at different collection points put up by the municipal corporation through the
corporation area. These wastes were transported through different vehicles modes to the
dumping yard at kureepuzha. The present management is an open and exposed system of
secondary storage. Most of the wastes from the collection points are collected irregularly
and thus the collection points are overflowing. The transporting means presently is through
ill designed vehicles and equipments. Disposal area reveals an absence of long term and
secured landfill. Altogether the improper management can be attributed to the inadequacy
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Solid waste management is a precondition for sound public health and well
being for better environment and sustainable development. Proper management of waste
impacts, risk of disease transmission and preventing the quality of the environment.
financially viable waste management system should be our ultimate goal. In the modern
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7. Bibliography
3) Gilbertson, Wesley. (1974) “Present and future trends in Municipal Disposal of solid
Ontario, Canada.
5) Sharma P.D, (1998) “Ecology and Environment; solid waste management”, Plant
6) William .P. Cunningham and Mary Ann Cunningham, (2002) “Solid and Hazardous
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