Industrial Growth and Solid Waste Generation

Industrial growth and solid waste generation

Enhancing the economic growth is imperative for India’s progress and industrial activity is the key. Growth of the industrial sector has quadrupled in the past five decades since Independence. It is important to recognize that while India’s economic growth over the past 20 years has growth in selected industrial sectors in india in recent years

Table 1

Industry                                                        1990/91                                                 2000/01

Cement                                                                 48.4                                                    99.5 Finished steel                                                        13.5                                                     29.3 Sugar                                                                    12.1                                                    15.5   Fertilizers                                                               9.0                                                     14.7 Paper and paper board                                          2.1                                                       3.1 Caustic soda                                                          1.0                                                      1.6    Aluminium                                                              0.5                                                      0.6

Been quantified as 163%, the total increased in pollution generation has been approximately 475%, with the industrial pollution alone accounting for 247%. Growth in the selected industrial sectors in India in recent years is highlighted in Table 1.

It is noteworthy that as the higher levels of economic growth are achieved, generation of hazardous waste is also increased. As per the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) estimates, in France, every 1% growth in the GDP (Gross domestic Product) in the past has resulted in a 3% growth in hazardous waste. Therefore, it becomes important for a country like India to devise an effective strategy for hazardous waste management in the early stages itself in order to tackle the problems of rapid economic growth.

Industrial Solid Waste Generation in India

Industrial solid wastes can be divided into two types based on their chemical nature- non-hazardous and hazardous. Major generators of non-hazardous industrial solid wastes in India are thermal power stations producing coal ash; steel mills producing blast furnance slag and steel melting slag; non-ferrous industries like aluminium, zinc, and copper-producing red mud and tailings; sugar industries generating press mud; pulp and paper industries producing lime sludge; and fertilizer and allied industries producing gypsum. As these wastes are generated in huge quantities (147 MT[million tonnes] per annum as per the 1999 estimate), their recycle/reuse potential should be explored, otherwise a huge land area would be needed for disposal. The quantum of industrial waste prodused per annum and its origins are given in table 2.

Table 2

Quantities (million tonnes per annum)    Waste                                        1990           1999                      Source/origin
Steel and blast furnace slag	35.00	7.50	Conversion of pig iron to steel and manufacture of iron
Brine mud	0.02	-	Caustic soda industry
Copper slag	0.02	-	By-product from smelting of copper
Fly ash	30.00	58.00	Coal-based thermal power plants
Kiln dust	1.60	-	Cement Plants
Lime sludge	3.00	4.80	Sugar, Paper, fertilizer, tanneries, soda ash, and calcium carbide
Phosphogypsum	4.50	11.00	Phosphoric acid plant and ammonium phosphate
Red mud/bauxite	3.00	4.0-4.50	Mining and extraction of alumina from bauxite
Lime stone	-	50.00	-
Iron tailings	-	11.25	-
Total	77.14	147.05

The exercise to make an inventory of hazardous waste generation in different states of India was initiated by the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) in 1993. Present information on total hazardous waste generated from industries and the facility available for its disposal in the respective states in India has been collected by the MOEF(Ministry of Environment and Forests), Government of India, through the respective SPCBs (States Pollution Control Boards). As per the current MOEF estimates, about 4.2 MT of hazardous waste is generated in the country as per the Hazardous waste rules of 1989 (MOEF 2000). The present generation of hazardous waste(million tonnes per annum) in the selected states in India is shown in box 1.

A significant number of hazardous waste-generating units are not included in this inventory. There are a number of units in the small-scale and unorganized sector handling hazardous waste without the pollution control safeguards. They generates hazardous waste in quantities that are not regulated by the rules; however, their cumulative impact cannot be ignored. There are about three million small-scale units in various sectors all over the country and, also there are units located in the FTZ(free trade zone), which are not registered with the SPCBs.

Box 1 Generation of hazardous waste(in million tonnes per annum) in selected states in India

State                                            Generation

Maharashtra                                         2.0 Gujarat                                                 0.43 Tamil Nadu                                           0.40 Uttar Pradesh                                        0.14 Rajasthan                                              0.14

In addition, it is estimated that the ship-breaking activity in India produces about 4000 tonnes of solid waste per annum. These wastes require proper treatment and disposal as currently, they remain scattered on the seashore and contaminate the marine environment.