Solid Waste Management Authorization

These rules shall apply to every urban local body, outgrowths in urban agglomerations, census towns as declared by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, notified areas, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of Indian Railways, airports, airbases, Ports and harbors, defense establishments, special economic zones, State and Central government organizations, places of pilgrims, religious and historical importance as may be notified by respective State government from time to time and to every domestic, institutional, commercial and any other non-residential solid waste generator situated in the areas except industrial waste, hazardous waste, hazardous chemicals, biomedical wastes, e-waste, lead acid batteries, and radio-active waste, that are covered under separate rules framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

A person who is engaged in processing, treatment, recycling & disposal facility needs to take authorization under Solid Waste Management Rules from the concerned department.

Duties of Waste Generators

• All waste generators shall segregate and store the waste generated by them in three separate streams namely bio-degradable, non-biodegradable, and domestic hazardous wastes in suitable bins and handover segregated wastes to authorized rag pickers or waste collectors; 
• Shall wrap securely the used sanitary waste like diapers, sanitary pads, etc., in the pouches provided by the manufacturers or brand owners of these products or in a suitable wrapping material and shall place the same in the bin meant for dry waste / non-biodegradable waste; 
• Shall store separately construction and demolition waste, as and when generated, and dispose of as per the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 
• Shall store horticulture waste and garden waste generated from the premises separately and dispose of them as per the directions of the local authority. 
• Shall not throw, burn or bury the solid waste generated, on streets, open public spaces outside premises, or in the drain or water bodies.   

Duty of Manufacturers or Brand Owners of Disposable Products and Sanitary Napkins and Diapers

• All manufacturers of disposable products such as tin, glass, plastic packaging, etc., or brand owners who introduce such products in the market shall provide necessary financial assistance to local authorities for the establishment of the waste management system. 
• All such brand owners who sell or market their products in such packaging materials which are non-biodegradable shall put in place a system to collect back the packaging waste generated due to their production. 
• Manufacturers Brand Owners or marketing companies of sanitary napkins and diapers shall explore the possibility of using all recyclable materials in their products or they shall provide a pouch or wrapper for disposal of each napkin or diaper along with the packet of their sanitary products.  
• All such manufacturers, brand owners, or marketing companies shall educate the masses about the wrapping and disposal of their products. 

Duties of the Industrial Units Located Within One Hundred Km from the RDF and Waste to Energy Plants Based on Solid Waste

• All industrial units using fuel and located within 100 km of solid waste-based RDF plant shall make arrangements within six months from the date of notification of the rules to replace at least 5 % of their fuel requirement by RDF so produced. 

Criteria for Waste to Energy Process

• Non-recyclable waste having a calorific value of 1500 K/Cal/kg or more shall not be disposed of in landfills and shall only be utilized for generating energy either through refuse-derived fuel or by giving away as feed stock for preparing refuse-derived fuel.
• High calorific wastes shall be used for co-processing in cement or thermal power plants.
• The local body or an operator of the facility or an agency designated by them proposing to set up waste to energy plant of more than five tonnes per day processing capacity shall submit an application in Form-I to the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee, as the case may be, for authorization.
• The State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee, on receiving such application for setting up waste to energy facility, shall examine the same and grant permission within sixty days.

Specifications for Sanitary Landfills

Criteria for Site Selection:

• The department in the business allocation of land assignment shall provide suitable sites for setting up the solid waste processing and treatment facilities and notify such sites.
• The sanitary landfill site shall be planned, designed, and developed with proper documentation of the construction plan as well as a closure plan in a phased manner. In case a new landfill facility is being established adjoining an existing landfill site, the closure plan of the existing landfill should form a part of the proposal for such a new landfill.
• The landfill sites shall be selected to make use of nearby waste processing facilities. Otherwise, the waste processing facility shall be planned as an integral part of the landfill site.
• Landfill sites shall be set up as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Urban Development, the Government of India, and the Central Pollution Control Board.
• The landfill site shall be large enough to last for at least 20-25 years and shall develop ‘landfill cells’ in a phased manner to avoid water logging and misuse.
• The landfill site shall be 100 meters away from a river, 200 meters from a pond, 200 meters from Highways, Habitations, Public Parks, and water supply wells, and 20 km away from Airports or airbases. However, in a special case, a landfill site may be set up within a distance of 10 and 20 km away from the Airport/Airbase after obtaining a no objection certificate from the civil aviation authority/ Air force as the case may be. The Landfill site shall not be permitted within the flood plains as recorded for the last 100 years, zone of coastal regulation, wetland, Critical habitat areas, or sensitive eco-fragile areas.
• The sites for landfill and processing and disposal of solid waste shall be incorporated in the Town Planning Department’s land-use plans.
• A buffer zone of no development shall be maintained around the solid waste processing and disposal facility, exceeding five Tonnes per day of installed capacity. This will be maintained within the total area of the solid waste processing and disposal facility. The buffer zone shall be prescribed on case to case basis by the local body in consultation with the concerned State Pollution Control Board.
• The biomedical waste shall be disposed of in accordance with the Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, as amended from time to time. The hazardous waste shall be managed in accordance with the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, as amended from time to time. The E-waste shall be managed in accordance with the e-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 as amended from time to time.
• A temporary storage facility for solid waste shall be established in each landfill site to accommodate the waste in case of non-operation of waste processing and during emergencies or natural calamities.

Criteria for Development of Facilities at the Sanitary Landfills

• The landfill site shall be fenced or hedged and provided with a proper gate to monitor incoming vehicles, to prevent the entry of unauthorized persons and stray animals
• The approach and/or internal roads shall be concreted or paved so as to avoid the generation of dust particles due to vehicular movement and shall be so designed to ensure the free movement of vehicles and other machinery.
• The landfill site shall have a waste inspection facility to monitor waste brought in for landfilling, an office facility for record-keeping, and a shelter for keeping equipment and machinery including pollution monitoring equipment. The operator of the facility shall maintain a record of waste received, processed, and disposed of. Provisions like a weighbridge to measure the quantity of waste brought at landfill sites, fire protection equipment, and other facilities as may be required shall be provided.
• Utilities such as drinking water and sanitary facilities (preferably washing/bathing facilities for workers) and lighting arrangements for easy landfill operations during night hours shall be provided.
• Safety provisions including health inspections of workers at landfill sites shall be carried out made.
• Provisions for parking, cleaning, and washing of transport vehicles carrying solid waste shall be provided. The wastewater so generated shall be treated to meet the prescribed standards.

Criteria for Specifications of Land Filling Operations and Closure on Completion of Land Filling

• Waste for landfilling shall be compacted in thin layers using heavy compactors to achieve a high density of the waste. In high rainfall areas where heavy compactors cannot be used, alternative measures shall be adopted.
• Till the time waste processing facilities for composting or recycling or energy recovery are set up, the waste shall be sent to the sanitary landfill. The landfill cell shall be covered at the end of each working day with a minimum of 10 cm of soil, inert debris, or construction material.
• Prior to the commencement of monsoon season, an intermediate cover of 40-65 cm thickness of soil shall be placed on the landfill with proper compaction and grading to prevent infiltration during monsoon. Proper drainage shall be constructed to divert run-off away from the active cell of the landfill.
• After completion of the landfill, a final cover shall be designed to minimize infiltration and erosion. The final cover shall meet the following specifications, namely: --
• a) The final cover shall have a barrier soil layer comprising 60 cm of clay or amended soil with a permeability coefficient of less than 1 x 10-7 cm/sec.
• b) On top of the barrier soil layer, there shall be a drainage layer of 15 cm.
• c) On top of the drainage layer, there shall be a vegetative layer of 45 cm to support natural plant growth and minimize erosion.

Criteria for Pollution Prevention from Landfill Operations: -

• The stormwater drain shall be designed and constructed in such a way that the surface runoff water is diverted from the landfilling site and leachates from solid waste locations do not get mixed with the surface runoff water. Provisions for the diversion of stormwater discharge drains shall be made to minimize leachate generation and prevent pollution of surface water and also for avoiding flooding and the creation of marshy conditions.
• Non-permeable lining system at the base and walls of the waste disposal area. For landfill receiving residues of waste processing facilities or mixed waste or waste having contamination of hazardous materials (such as aerosols, bleaches, polishes, batteries, waste oils, paint products, and pesticides) shall have a liner of the composite barrier of 1.5 mm thick high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geo-membrane or geosynthetic liners, or equivalent, overlying 90 cm of soil (clay or amended soil) having permeability coefficient not greater than 1 x 10-7 cm/sec. The highest level of the water table shall be at least two meters below the base of clay or amended soil barrier layer provided at the bottom of landfills.
• Provisions for the management of leachates including its collection and treatment shall be made. The treated leachate shall be recycled or utilized as permitted, otherwise shall be released into the sewerage line, after meeting the standards specified in Schedule- II. In no case, leachate shall be released into the open environment.
• Arrangements shall be made to prevent leachate runoff from the landfill area from entering any drain, stream, river, lake, or pond. In the case of mixing runoff water with leachate or solid waste, the entire mixed water shall be treated by the concerned authority.

Criteria for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

• A landfill gas control system including a gas collection system shall be installed at the landfill site to minimize odor, prevent off-site migration of gases, to protect vegetation planted on the rehabilitated landfill surface. For enhancing landfill gas recovery, the use of geo membranes in cover systems along with gas collection wells should be considered.
• The concentration of methane gas generated at landfill sites shall not exceed 25 percent of the lower explosive limit (LEL).

Criteria for Plantation at Landfill Site –

A Vegetative Cover shall be provided over the completed site in accordance with the following specifications, namely: -

• Locally adopted non-edible perennial plants that are resistant to drought and extreme temperatures shall be planted;
• The selection of plants should be of such variety that their roots do not penetrate more than 30 CMS. This condition shall apply till the landfill is stabilized;
• Selected plants shall have the ability to thrive on low-nutrient soil with minimum nutrient addition;
• Plantations are to be made in sufficient density to minimize soil erosion.
• Green belts shall be developed all around the boundary of the landfill in consultation with State Pollution Control Boards or Pollution Control Committees.

Criteria for Special Provisions for Hilly Areas

• In Hilly Areas the local body shall set up processing facilities for utilization of biodegradable organic waste. The non-biodegradable recyclable materials shall be stored and sent for recycling periodically.
• The non-biodegradable waste shall be used for building roads or filling-up up appropriate areas on hills.

Closure and Rehabilitation of Old Dumps

Solid waste dumps which have reached their full capacity should be closed and rehabilitated by examining the following options:

• Reduction of waste by biomining and waste processing followed by placement of residues in new landfills
• Cut-off walls and extraction wells for pumping and treating contaminated groundwater.

Standards of Processing and Treatment of Solid Waste

Standards for Composting:

The waste processing facilities shall include composting as one of the technologies for the processing of biodegradable waste. In order to prevent pollution from compost plants, the following shall be complied with namely: -

• The incoming organic waste at the site shall be stored properly prior to further processing. To the extent possible, the waste storage area should be covered.
• Necessary precautions shall be taken to minimize the nuisance of odor, flies, rodents, bird menace, and fire hazards;
• Pre-process and post-process rejects shall be removed from the processing facility on a regular basis and shall not be allowed to pile at the site.
• The windrow area shall be provided with an impermeable base. Such a base shall be made of concrete or compacted clay 50 cm thick having a permeability coefficient of less than 10–7 cm/sec. The base shall be provided with a 1 to 2 percent slope and circled by lined drains for collection of leachate or surface run-off;
• Ambient air quality monitoring shall be regularly carried out. Odor nuisance at the down-wind direction on the boundary of the processing plant shall also be checked regularly.
• Leachate shall be re-circulated in the compost plant for moisture maintenance.

The following documents are required for Solid Waste Management Authorization:

• Authorized Signatory Aadhar Card
• Authorized Signatory PAN Card
• GST Certificate
• Rent/Lease/proof of ownership of the site
• Factory License/Trade License
• Electricity Bill
• Layout Plan/Naksha
• Process Flow Chart
• Details of machinery installed