Turning Trash To Treasure: Legal Strategies For Sustainable Waste Management In India

Abstract

The term solid waste means the material which is in solid form and which has been discarded or abandoned. Solid waste can be seen in the from of residential as well as non-residential waste. The domestic waste, industrial waste, sanitary waste, market waste, agricultural waste, horticulture waste, radio active waste, bio medical waste as well as dairy waste are the various examples of solid waste. The solid waste includes various elements such as physical, reactive, biological, explosive, chemical, corrosive, flammable, toxic and so on which pose danger to our health as well as to the environment. Under the system of solid waste management, the solid waste is collected, treated and then disposed off as per the process laid down under particular rules dealing with the same. There are various environmental laws which lay down rules and guiding principles as to management of solid waste. The Environment Protection Act, 1986, the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008, the Plastic (Manufacture, Usage and Waste Management) Rules, 2009, the Biological Waste Management) Rules, 2016 and so on are the laws regulating solid waste management in India. Besides these laws, at international level, there are various guiding principles which have been laid down to regulate the same. The main purpose of all these initiatives is three-fold which is; REDUCE, RECYCLE and REUSE. The present research is based on doctrinal legal research method under which the concept of solid waste, environment protection laws has been studied. Along with the doctrinal research method, analytical and descriptive research methods have been used. Under the descriptive research, the existing international as well as national solid waste management laws, its evolution, present developments have been studied. The analytical research method has assisted in critically evaluating the solid waste management laws. The data for the present study has been gathered from the primary and secondary sources. In the collection of data, reliance has been made on text books, reports, journals, seminar papers etc. The primary sources of research has been the international treaties, national laws and policies and other instruments. The secondary sources had been the relevant books, journals, articles, reports etc.