Solid Waste Management: Current Scenario and Challenges in Bengaluru

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) has become one of the significant environmental issues, particularly in developing countries. Bengaluru, the state capital of Karnataka, is one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with an area of 2190 km2 and a population of about 10.18 million generates around 5000 metric tons per day of solid waste at an average generation rate of 0.5 kg per capita per day (kg/capita/d). Presently, Bengaluru City is facing significant problems due to existing disposal practices of generated waste, incurring high cost due to lack of proper infrastructural facilities; also, the open dumping in the expanding zone of the city poses severe problems to the structures constructed on these old dumps. In the meantime, groundwater quality deteriorated due to improper leachate management. Intending to assess the possible impacts on the water environment and suggest a better waste management strategy, the present paper discusses the potential for handling the wastes, thereby reducing the amount of waste to be transported to the landfill. If this waste is used for energy and nutrient recovery, decentralization could also become commercially viable and address the technology-wise deficiencies in the existing MSWM system of Bengaluru City.