Solid waste management on a campus in a developing country: A study of the Indian institute of technology Roorkee

Abstract

The rates of waste generation in India have been increasing with increasing population and urbanization. Since higher education campuses are like mini autonomous cities, they can act as a model for solid waste management (SWM) and enhance sustainable development. SWM is the controlled generation, storage, collection, transport, processing, and disposal of solid waste considering public health, conservation, economics, and environmental conditions. A SWM program on campus will benefit the campus through reduced resource consumption and waste diversion. Developing countries like India are lacking behind in SWM from the developed countries which are using advanced technologies along with efficient management. This paper will analyze the issues related to SWM at IITR (Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee) campus and provide feasible solutions to be implemented at IITR campus for becoming zero waste campus. The SWM at the IITR campus is disorganized and incompetent. Lack of awareness and improper collection, imprecise segregation, exposed transportation, inefficient processing and disorganized disposal of solid waste are the major reasons for it. IITR has the potential to manage its waste properly through various techniques discussed in this paper. These would reduce the amount of waste diverted to landfills and the problems arising on campus due to solid waste, thus leading to a zero waste campus. Other campuses like IITR with similar context and issues can learn from this case study and work towards a zero-waste campus. This paper identifies a need to implement a robust SWM at the IITR campus in India.