psaram42 - 5 January, 2013 | Bangalore | environment | Garbage | Action | Segregation | Scientific Land fills | Land Fills

To days TOI article pertaining to the Bangalore garbage crisis by Asha Rai was interesting as always.   

“In a perfect solution, even wet waste is composted and used in the city with no need for large landfills. Given that this might not be a solution which can be implemented in the short term and some amount of waste will go to the landfills, then the effort should be to force the city corporation to set up scientific landfills” [1].

Wet waste or bio waste is wasted while being dumped at landfills. What a shame!  This is the consequence of not segregating at source, ie at each house hold mixing their garbage that too in a single plastic bag.

“Subhash Menon, founder of telecom Software Company called Subex is now focusing on waste management. He feels that landfills needed to be scientifically built to avoid resistance from people living around it.

If you simply dump garbage on tracts of land, you get the problem of germs and birds, which impact the surroundings," Menon said.

He said it was necessary to segregate garbage, process all that can be processed, and put only the residue or inert in the landfill. An essential part of a scientific landfill is a bottom layer of clay and sand and a piping system that can filter and drain out the toxic fluids from inert, process it, and recharge it into the ground," he said. [2]

Some interesting articles in WIKIPEDIA :-

A landfill site (also known as tip, dump, rubbish dump or dumping ground and historically as a midden) is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment. Historically, landfills have been the most common methods of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world. Some landfills are also used for waste management purposes, such as the temporary storage, [3]

A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste[1]which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells,sherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation. The word is of Scandinavian via Middle English derivation, but is used byarchaeologists worldwide to describe any kind of feature containing waste products relating to day-to-day human life. They may be convenient, single-use pits created by nomadicgroups or long-term, designated dumps used by sedentary communities that accumulate over several generations. [4]

Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. There is a lack of consensus as to whether the term should apply to resale, reuse, and refurbishing industries, or only to product that cannot be used for its intended purpose. Informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries may cause serious health and pollution problems, though these countries are also most likely to reuse and repair electronics. [5]

Land fills are normally used for inert non biodegradable waste like electronic waste. They need to be inspected for acceptable standards before certifying. They need to be

1.     Confined to as small an area as possible.

2.     Compacted to reduce their volume.

3.     Covered with soil.

During landfill operations the waste collection vehicles

1.       Should be Weighed at a weighbridge on arrival inspected for wastes that comply with the landfill’s waste acceptance criteria. Then only the vehicle then only it should be allowed to the tipping area where they can unload the contents.

2.       After loads are deposited, compactors or bulldozers are used to spread and compact the waste on the working face. Before leaving the landfill boundaries, the waste collection vehicles pass through a wheel cleaning facility. If necessary, they return to the weighbridge in order to be weighed without their load.

3.       Through the weighing process, the daily incoming waste tonnage can be calculated and listed in databases for record keeping. In addition to trucks, some landfills may be equipped to handle railroad containers. The use of 'rail-haul' permits landfills to be located at more remote sites, without the problems associated with many truck trips.

Typically, in the working face, the compacted waste is covered with soil or alternative materials daily. Alternative waste-cover materials are chipped wood or other "green waste",^[1] several sprayed-on foam products, chemically 'fixed' bio-solids and temporary blankets. Blankets can be lifted into place at night then removed the following day prior to waste placement.

So says the WEIPEDIA as far as the scientific land fills are concerned. [3]

What is happening in Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike?  I was surprised to come across the ESG video about segregation at source. [6] It is worth watching. I wonder why segregation is not happening in my area.

We were also not offered the book referred in the video.

Can the praja be kind enough to share their experience?

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