Abstract

As most cities in India shift to regulated USW collection and centralized processing systems, there is a gradual shift from the earlier haphazard dumping on road sides to an increased level of wastes sent to and processed by waste treatment facilities and landfilling. This slow transition is accompanied by several kinds of leakages and spillages, wherein a certain fraction of total USW is even now dumped at a few of the less visible locations in order to save transportation costs or to cover up delayed arrival at the waste processing site. Good USW management system needs to monitor and minimize this. A simple method to determine and minimize such illegally dumped fraction is required and appropriate measures need to be taken up, identify actors and causal factors in order to prevent them recurring.  A simple visual method carried out by motorcycle-borne volunteers has been developed.  Data may be collated to affirm the level of this problem and minimize it.  Data could be validated by satellite imagery as well.  Results show that large unauthorized dumps (more than one truck load) occur for a variety of reasons.  USW equivalent to levels between 20-23 days of total annual USW production or 5.5-6% is illegally dumped and can be verified by alternative means.  Average deviation in all the three stages of measurement was computed, to check the accuracy of the estimates. The total number of large dumps was 270; classifiable into seven types that include plastics, organics, construction wastes, fresh indeterminate, old waste and non-USW emerging from recycling or industry.  Waste quantity is determined based on visual estimation of area and average density of waste.  A large part of it appears to be from the recycling units’ rejects.  A total of about 83557t wastes is scattered around Bangalore of which 71628t is fresh and old USW (non-rejects).  Around 10% of locations were measured simultaneously by volunteers, trained expert and with Google Earth for its spread area and both showed an average deviation of 46%.

Key words: unauthorized dumping, waste estimation.