Overview of Solid Waste Management Authorisation

Any solid or semi-solid domestic or sanitary waste, institutional waste, catering and market waste and other non-residential wastes, surface drain waste, horticulture and agricultural waste and treated biomedical waste are categorised as solid waste. Municipal authorities and ULBs are involved in collecting solid waste from generators and can levy user fees for the collection, disposal and processing of waste from bulk generators. These agencies often come up with tender for waste management as they cannot handle such substantial amounts of solid waste due to limited recycling capacities. Such tenders involve providing a workforce for collection work, transportation services and waste segregation. Separation of waste suitable for Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is also one of the many tasks delegated to private entities. Municipal authorities also need private entities to cover the landfills into greenspaces. Any operator of the SWM facility has to design and set up the facility as per the technical guidelines issued by the CPCB and must apply in Form-I prescribed in the Rules to the respective SPCB/PCC for Solid Waste Management authorisation as well as for any allied services like collection, transportation and segregation.

Importance of Solid Waste Management Authorisation

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, were revised after 16 years, and its applicability was extended beyond municipal areas by removing the word municipal from the earlier version of the rule. Every Local Authority & Village Panchayats of Census Towns and Urban Agglomerations were brought under its ambit and are required to adhere to the new rules of solid waste disposal. Also, areas under the control of Indian Railways, airports, airbases, ports and harbours, defence establishments, special economic zones, State and Central government organisations, places of pilgrims, and religious & historical importance are now required to dispose of their waste as per the new rules. The Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 has also been put into motion by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which primarily focuses on Waste Management, including solid waste. It aims to develop waste management infrastructure with the involvement of private entities.

Opportunities in the Solid Waste Management Sector

According to the government’s report, only 75- 80% of the total municipal waste generated in India is collected. From this, only 22-28 % is processed and treated, while the remaining gets disposed of indiscriminately at dump yards. According to government estimates, by the year 2031, the MSW generation in the country will increase to 165 million tonnes and approximately 436 million tons by 2050.  These reports also suggest that segregated solid waste has the potential to generate 439 MW of power by processing 32,890 tonnes of combustible wastes per day, including Refused Derived Fuel (RDF). Also, the Waste-to-energy sector has the potential of producing 1.3 million cubic metres of biogas per day or 72 MW of electricity from biogas and 5.4 million metric tonnes of compost annually to support agriculture. Private entities can tap into this opportunity by setting up SWM units and Waste to Energy Units after obtaining the Solid Waste Management Authorisation from the concerned SPCBs.

Documents Required for Solid Waste Management Authorisation

• Copy of Land Allotment documents/ letter from Local Authority/ MCD.
• Copy of Environmental Clearance in case of Common Municipal Solid Waste
• Copy of Consent for Establishment
• Copy of Agreement between Municipal Authority and operating agency.
• Details of Investment on the project and expected return.
• Project Report of Solid Waste Management.
• Land Ownership Documents for the site.
• Permission of District Level Site Selection Committee
• MSW Annual Report of the preceding year.
• Approval or work order issued to the operator of solid waste processing facility (in case private operator is operating the site).
• Technical details of waste to energy plant or recycling plant (as the case may be)

Stages involved in Solid Waste Management Authorisation

Criteria for a Solid Waste Management Facility

• The department in charge of the allocation of land assignment is responsible for providing suitable land for setting up the solid waste processing and treatment facilities to the interested parties.
• The facility’s operator must design and set up the facility and upgrade it if needed as per the technical guidelines issued by the CPCB from time to time and the manual on solid waste management prepared by the Ministry of Urban Development.
• The facility operator has to submit the annual report to the local body in Form-III on or before the 30th of April every year. The local body will submit its annual report in Form-IV to the SPCB/ PCC on or before 30th June.

Opportunities for Waste to Energy Processing Units

• Non-recyclable waste having a calorific value of 1500 K/cal/kg or more is not allowed to be disposed of in landfills. It can only be utilised for generating energy either through RDF or by giving away as feed stock for preparing RDF.
• At the same time, high calorific wastes can be used for co-processing in cement or thermal power plants. RDF ensures that waste isn’t simply thrown into a landfill and instead put to good use.

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