Municipal solid waste management in Varanasi, India

Abstract

Solid waste management is one of the major environmental challenges in India due to rapid urbanization and population explosion. Changing life style patterns, particularly in urban areas has led to increase in generation of municipal solid waste and also the waste composition. In Indian cities the proportion of organic matter in solid waste ranges between 40-60%. Windrows composting and biomethanization are the most suitable cost effective method for disposal of biodegradable waste. In the present study the existing state of solid waste management in Varanasi city has been reviewed for identification of major factors that affects the efficiency and
end product recovery from waste. The present waste collection and processing efficiency of Varanasi is 95.88%. The existing processing plant can process 600 TPD mixed waste and 15 TPD organic wastes. The transportation of mixed waste cause health and sanitation related problems in urban area and also affect the quality of compost. Therefore it can be concluded that improvement in infrastructure for segregated waste collection and transportation is required to improve the quality of compost and its sale. This will also improve the financial health of Municipal Corporation