The Effectiveness of Solid Waste Treatment and Disposal Services in Municipalities of Kerala

Solid waste has become an inevitable part of human life. In the modern world of consumerism people carelessly use valuable resources and ending up a majority of such resources in their waste bin. In a world where the society just speak and think about their rights only and very logically escaping from their duties and responsibilities, heaps of solid waste is quite common. If we want to make commendable advancements in the minimization of solid waste generation the attitude, awareness level, commitment and mind set of the society should be changed. Kerala is a small state lying close to the Arabian Sea is famous with respect to its education level, medical initiatives and all other human development indices. Its social development indices are benchmarking for other states of India but its solid waste management efforts are extremely pathetic. Municipalities of Kerala are failing to manage their waste in a healthy manner. Those who generate waste is responsible to dispose their waste is a fact which is not till reached the minds of inhabitants of Kerala especially those who live in urban limits. They are in the clutches of NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) Syndrome and just throw away their waste in water bodies and streets. The resultant health threats are unmanageable for the authorities. The municipalities of Kerala who are expected to manage waste in municipal limits are failing to educate people regarding the need of healthy management of solid waste. Even educated people knowing of its health issues throw away wastes is just an indication of lack of their social commitment. The volume of solid waste generated in municipal limits is definitely beyond the treatment and disposal capacities of municipalities. So they have to emphasize on decentralized waste treatment and disposal system where each waste generator should treat and dispose waste in their premises without making any external threats. The paper attempts to identify the effectiveness of solid waste disposal services of municipalities of Kerala.

Solid waste management in urban limits of Kerala is already grown beyond the abilities of the state. The municipalities of Kerala are groping in darkness to tackle their waste management issues. Municipalities are managers of waste and not the collectors, transporters and disposers of waste as conceived by the inhabitants. Municipalities are just expected to support the waste generators by educating, teaching and providing waste treatment and disposal techniques for them for a decentralized waste management system. But people believe that it is the municipalities’ responsibility to collect, treat and dispose the waste generated by them. By casting upon the entire responsibility on the shoulders of municipality the inhabitants are ignorantly accusing them of irresponsibility. It is true that inhabitants in municipal limits are facing acute shortage of space for disposing their waste. But at the same time it is beyond the assimilative capacity of the municipalities to collect, treat and dispose the entire mass of solid wastes generated in their limits. The herculean waste problem can be tackled only through a coordinated effort on either part. The study just tries to identify the present waste treatment and disposal system’s effectiveness in municipal limits. Hence, the problem is stated as “THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOLID WASTE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL SERVICES IN MUNICIPALITIES OF KERALA”

Generally the study looks into the effectiveness of waste treatment and disposal services in municipal 1. To identify which municipality out of the selected sample is most efficient in landfilling of waste. 2. To know which municipality is efficient in composting services. 3. To know which municipality is most efficient in biomethanation technique. 4. To trace out the most efficient municipality in recycling and reusing efforts. 5. To identify which municipality is leading in use of latest technology. 6. To know which municipality has the highest potential to generate resource from public.

For selecting sample respondents for the current study Kerala is divided into three regions viz. South, Central and North. Then each region is divided into three areas Coastal, Plain and Hilly. From each region one municipality each from Coastal, Plain and Hilly are selected at random. So for each region three municipalities each are selected constituting a sample of nine. Again, Simple Random Sampling is used to select respondents from each municipality. In such a way the primary data is gathered for the study. The selected municipalities are Thiruvalla, Varkala, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Cherthala, Kothamanglam, Palakkad, Koilandy and Kalpetta. The respondents are selected from the category of households as more than fifty percent of municipal solid wastes are the contributed by them. A structured questionnaire is administered among them to collect data about the effectiveness waste collection services. The sample size is 240 split in the ratio of 30:26:26:32:24:24:31:24:23 respectively. Information from published sources of different Departments, Agencies and Municipalities are used in the study as secondary data sources.

The prominent waste treatment techniques used by municipalities of Kerala for treating biodegradable waste are Composting, Biomethanation. The most suitable Composting technique is vermi composting. The problem with municipalities are that they are getting waste in un segregated combined form. Waste suitable for bio processing should be segregated and each and every waste generator should be informed of the importance of waste segregation. Then only it will produce quality bio-fertilizer as output. The non-biodegradable wastes are collected separately and used for recycling and reusing. Advanced treatment techniques like pyrolysis, gasification and pelletization are not much used in Kerala. Sanitary landfills prepared in the scientific manner are not much visible in Kerala but most of the municipalities are using the unscientific open dumping practices. In this study the waste treatment and disposal system efficiency is measured by using the variables efficiency in landfilling, efficiency in composting, efficiency in biomethanation, efficiency in recycling and reusing, efficiency in use of latest technology and ability to generate resource from public.

The analysis tools used in the study are descriptive statistics like mean score, standard deviation and standard error. For testing of hypothesis it is using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) with the help of SPSS Software.

From the above table it is visible that with respect to efficiency in landfilling Kottayam municipality is leading with the highest Mean Score of 20.3750. That means among the nine municipalities selected for the study Kottayam is performing better in terms of landfilling method of waste disposal. In the case of composting Koyilandy is leading with a Mean Score of 13.7083 indicating that municipality is most efficient in composting as a treatment technique. Considering biomethanation as a technique of waste treatment, Thiruvalla municipality is performing better with the highest Mean Score of 18.0667. But in recycling and reusing, Cherthala leads with a Mean Score of 37.0000 indicating best municipality in that method. Pathanamthitta is most efficient in use of latest technology, leading with an Average Score of 37.3462. With respect to the ability of generating funds for waste treatment and disposal Kalpetta leads with a Mean Score of 26.6522. It is normal to test whether the variations in the Mean Scores are significant or not. MANOVA is used for testing the significant difference by formulating the following hypotheses;

As per the above table all the factors as a bundle is found to be significant at 5% Level of Significance. It is so because Pillai’s Trace-the most reliable test for testing significance as a bundle proves the variation (p<0.05 vide last column).

At individual level all the six variables considered for the study are found to be varying at 5% Level of Significance because p value as per the last column of the above table is only zero in all cases. So the null hypotheses are rejected in all cases and the alternate hypotheses are accepted. The waste treatment and disposal techniques used by the municipalities are varying considerably.

From a critical study and evaluation of the data collected from the selected sample of respondents from the nine municipalities of Kerala the following findings are evolved; 1. With respect to efficiency in landfilling Kottayam municipality is leading with the highest Mean Score of 20.3750. That means among the nine municipalities selected for the study Kottayam is performing better in terms of landfilling method of waste disposal. 2. In the case of composting Koyilandy is leading with a Mean Score of 13.7083 indicating that municipality is most efficient in composting as a treatment technique. of 18.0667. 4. In the case of recycling and reusing, Cherthala leads with a Mean Score of 37.0000 indicating best municipality in that method. 5. Pathanamthitta is most efficient in use of latest technology, leading with an Average Score of 37.3462. 6. With respect to the ability to generate resource from public for waste treatment and disposal Kalpetta leads with a Mean Score of 26.6522.

From the above findings of the study the following suggestions are being evolved: 1. The technology used for waste treatment and disposal by municipalities of Kerala are outdated. The landfills are just places of open dumping. No municipality under study is following sanitary landfilling. The leachate flowing from the waste dumps are neither collected nor treated scientifically. It will lead to a lot of health issues to the inhabitants. Measures to be taken by the Govt. to improve the technology used for waste treatment and disposal services to reduce its health impact. 2. Waste treatment techniques are not constantly practiced in municipalities. Biogas units are the most healthy way of treating waste where methane gas is completely collected without escaping to atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas and responsible for global warming. A handful of municipalities are using biomethanation as a treatment method. It should be implemented in all municipalities in a war footing. 3. Composting- the most friendly treatment method for Indian conditions-are used without proper segregation. The success of composting depends on the source segregation of waste thereby the biodegradable waste only reach the composting pit. Unfortunately municipalities are collecting waste unsegregated and toxic substances and plastic reach the compost pit severely contaminating the believed to be the best bio-fertilizer available in the earth. 3. Urgent steps should be taken to increase the staff strength of solid waste management team of municipalities as a handful of health inspectors are handling the entire solid waste management system. shortage of resources for waste treatment and disposal. 5. Municipalities should be relieved of waste treatment and disposal by implementing effectively a decentralised waste treatment system.

Waste treatment and disposal being one among the major waste management activities should be planned and implemented in an organized way. Otherwise it will have a long standing repercussion on human health. The toxic gases emitted by unhealthy processing of waste like burning are extremely dangerous. Similarly burial and throwing away contaminate ground water and underground water sources. Being the authorities responsible for managing waste in municipal limits the municipalities must be provided with better equipments, human resources and funds for effective planning and implementation. Methane escaping to atmosphere is a greenhouse gas and liable for increased temperature leading to greenhouse effect. If waste generators are committed for source segregation and source processing of their own waste the waste menace can be tackled effectively without depending on any external body. A mass campaigning drive for effectively injecting this consciousness in their minds is the ultimate remedy for an easiest way of waste treatment and disposal.

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Associate Professor of Commerce, SAS SNDP Yogam College, Konni, Pathanamthitta, Kerala psajithps@gmail.com