1. How much solid waste does Delhi generate daily?
Delhi produces approximately 13,000 tonnes per day, which is expected to rise to 17,000 tonnes per day by 2031 due to population growth.
2. What percentage of Delhi’s waste is currently processed?
Delhi has facilities designed to process about 9,200 tonnes per day, but a significant amount of approximately 3,800 tonnes per day remains unprocessed and is sent to landfills.
3. What challenges does the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) face in managing waste?
Key challenges include lack of waste segregation at source, the necessity for large land parcels for processing facilities, irregular waste collection, and coordination issues among various municipal bodies.
4. What are the environmental impacts of the current waste management practices in Delhi?
Unprocessed waste in landfills generates methane gases, leachates, and is prone to landfill fires, all of which adversely affect the surrounding environment.
5. What efforts are needed to improve waste separation and processing?
It is crucial to scale up the processing capacity to handle the expected increase in waste. Strategies include developing additional composting and biogas facilities to manage biodegradable waste and utilizing non-biodegradable waste in waste-to-energy projects.
6. Can waste processing be decentralized in Delhi?
Yes, decentralized processing like Micro-Composting Centres (MCC) and Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCC) can be implemented at the ward level to manage a portion of the city’s waste, similar to systems in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Bengaluru.
7. What are the proposed solutions for non-biodegradable waste?
About 2% of non-biodegradable waste is recyclable and should be sent to recycling facilities. The remaining portion, called refuse-derived fuel (RDF), consists of materials like plastics, paper, and textiles, which can be used to generate power in waste-to-energy projects.
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