The landfill in Kochi has caught fire. This is a stark reminder that as summer approaches, Indian cities must brace themselves for more such incidents.
What exactly are landfills?
- Garbage landfills, also known as waste disposal sites or dumps, are locations where waste materials are buried in the ground.
- They are intended to contain and isolate waste from the surrounding environment, thereby preventing pollutant spread and contamination of soil and water sources.
- Garbage landfills are commonly used for non-hazardous municipal solid waste disposal, such as household trash, construction debris, and yard waste.
- However, depending on the regulations and restrictions in place, they can also be used for the disposal of hazardous waste and other types of industrial waste.
Is landfilling the best way to manage waste?
- Landfilling is not considered the best method of garbage disposal because it has negative environmental consequences.
- Landfills consume space, emit harmful gases like methane and carbon dioxide, and pollute groundwater and soil if not properly managed.
- Landfills can emit odours and cause noise pollution, both of which can have an impact on nearby communities.
Alternative garbage disposal methods
- Recycling is the separation of waste materials from the general waste stream, such as plastics, glass, metals, and paper, and their processing into new products.
- Composting is the process of converting organic waste materials like food scraps, yard waste, and paper into a nutrient-rich soil amendment.
- Waste-to-energy: This entails converting waste into energy via incineration, gasification, or pyrolysis. The produced energy can be used to generate electricity or heat.
- Landfill gas recovery entails gathering and utilising methane gas produced by decomposing waste in landfills to generate electricity or heat.
- Mechanical biological treatment is a waste separation and treatment process that combines mechanical and biological processes to produce compost and recyclable materials.
- Anaerobic digestion is a biological process that degrades organic waste in the absence of oxygen, yielding biogas and fertiliser.
Landfills in India
- Municipalities in India collect more than 95% of the waste generated in cities.
- At best, waste processing efficiency is 30-40%.
- The composition of Indian municipal solid waste is roughly 60% biodegradable, 25% non-biodegradable, and 15% inert.
- Municipalities are expected to separate wet and dry waste and recycle recovered byproducts.
Why do Indian landfills frequently catch fire in the summer?
- In India’s cities, the rate of processing is far lower than the rate of waste generation.
- Unprocessed waste sits in open landfills for extended periods of time.
- Openly disposed waste contains flammable materials such as low-quality plastics, rags, and clothing.
- The biodegradable fraction composts much faster in the summer, raising the temperature of the heap.
- Higher temperatures and flammable materials increase the likelihood of the landfill catching fire.
- Some fires have been known to burn for months at a time.
Is there a permanent solution?
There are two long-term options for dealing with landfill fires.
- Completely cover the material with soil and scientifically close landfills: This solution is inappropriate in the Indian context because the land cannot be used for other purposes. Closed landfills follow specific operating procedures, including those for managing methane emissions.
- Bioremediation can be used to remove waste piles: Excavate old waste and use automated sieving machines to separate flammable refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from biodegradable material, such as plastics, rags, and clothing. The recovered RDF can be used as fuel in cement kilns, and the bio-soil can be distributed to farmers to enrich soil. The inert fraction will have to be disposed of in a landfill.
Immediate measures to combat landfill fires
- Divide the site into sections: Separate fresh waste from flammable material and cap portions with soil, depending on the nature of the waste, to reduce the risk of fire spreading across blocks.
- Cap the landfill’s most vulnerable area: That contains a lot of plastics and cloth, as well as soil.
- Give the fresh-waste block enough moisture: To keep the waste heap cool, sprinkle water on it and turn it on a regular basis.
- Sort incoming waste: Rather than dumping mixed fractions, receive it and dispose of it in designated blocks.
- On-time delivery to kilns: Instead of allowing non-recyclable and non-biodegradable waste to accumulate at the site, send it to cement kilns that have already been segregated and baled.
Way ahead
- Sites should be equipped with water tankers with sprinklers for immediate action.
- The municipality should collaborate with the nearest fire department and prepare a plan of action ahead of time.
- Waste-processing workers (plant operators, segregators, and so on) should be trained in basic fire safety and response.
- People living near landfills should also be trained and equipped to protect themselves in the event of a fire.
- The municipality should have round-the-clock video surveillance of the landfill’s most flammable area.
- Chemical waste, match sticks, and lighters should not be brought into the site.
- Machines on the job site, such as sieves and balers, should be cleaned and moved away from flammable materials.
- On-site personnel and security personnel should be kept separate from the flammable area.
Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/why-are-indias-garbage-dumpsites-burning/article65363742.ece#:~:text=While%20no%20cause%20of%20the,Ghazipur%20landfill%20site%20this%20year%20.