India is a country which is rich in natural resources and has a lot of potential for the development of industries. The government has adopted a policy to promote environmental protection, but due to a lack of proper policies and rules, many industries are polluting the environment. In this scenario, hazardous waste management becomes very important as it can cause serious damage to health and the environment.
Hazardous waste management is one of the most important issues in India. The main reason behind hazardous waste generation is improper disposal or improper storage. Nowadays, there are several companies that provide these services to their clients at affordable rates so that they can dispose of their hazardous wastes properly.
Hazardous Waste Management in India
There are many people who do not know how to properly dispose of hazardous waste like batteries, paints and solvents etc., They just dump them anywhere without taking any precautionary measures. This not only causes pollution but also leads to hardship for other people living around them because they may also get affected by this contaminated water or air or soil due to improper disposal of chemicals inside their homes or places like schools etc., The government has taken up several steps for more efficient waste management including setting up a separate department for dealing with all kinds of waste like a municipal solid waste (MSW),
Indian scenario of hazardous waste management
The Indian scenario of hazardous waste management is a combination of formal and informal arrangements. The informal sector includes family, neighbours and friends who are responsible for disposing of hazardous wastes. The formal sector includes state government agencies, municipal corporations, cooperatives and private enterprises.
The main objective of the Indian Hazardous Waste Management regulations is to protect the environment from the health hazards posed by hazardous wastes. These regulations have been formulated under the Environment Protection Act, of 1986 (EPA). The major objective of these regulations is to ensure that all hazardous wastes arising from industrial activities and products are treated as per their intrinsic characteristics.
According to this Act, every person shall be liable for treating any waste generated in India as per the rules framed thereunder. He shall also ensure that no hazardous waste is released into the environment without proper treatment or disposal.
Challenges and opportunities associated with waste
The challenges and opportunities associated with waste are many. How to deal with this waste is the key question to be answered in the future.
The problem of waste has been brought up time and again, but it is still a problem that remains unresolved.
In India, there are several challenges that are associated with the issue of waste:
- Infrastructure - The lack of infrastructure has been identified as a major reason for the disposal of garbage in India. The lack of proper infrastructure is one of the major problems which prevents India from adopting an effective method of disposing off its waste materials.
- Laws - The laws governing the disposal of garbage are not clear enough, which leads to illegal dumping and burning of garbage on a large scale. This causes pollution and health hazards to people living around these areas.
- Landfills - Most landfills do not have proper facilities for disposing off waste materials properly, which leads to pollution in water bodies surrounding them through leachate discharge or other forms of leakage from such landfills. This further adds to the contamination levels already present in our environment due to industrial activity and vehicular emissions from vehicles etc
