Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016 are established to assure the safe generation, processing, treatment, packaging, storage, transportation, use, reprocessing, collecting, conversion, and offering for sale, destruction, and disposal of hazardous waste. For the first time, rules have been developed to differentiate between hazardous waste and other types of waste. Other wastes recognised as a resource for recycling and reuse include waste tyres, paper waste, metal scrap, used electronic items, and so on. These resources supplement industrial processes and reduce the country's reliance on virgin resources. This article will explain to you about the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016 which will be helpful in preparing the Environment Syllabus for the UPSC Civil Service exam.

Need for Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016

• Hazardous and other waste improperly disposed of by burning or incineration releases toxic vapours containing dioxins & furans, mercury, and heavy metals, causing air pollution and attendant health issues.
• Leaching in land and water caused by disposal in water bodies or municipal dumps results in hazardous emissions, lowering the quality of the soil and water.
• Workers who are involved in such dubious procedures are afflicted with cancer, genetic abnormalities, neurological issues, skin infections, and other illnesses.
• As a result, there is a need for environmentally sound waste management that includes prevention, minimization, re-use, recycling, recovery, and utilisation, as well as co-processing and safe waste disposal.

What is Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016?

• Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016, promote waste recycling and reuse while reducing the development of hazardous waste.
• In India, hazardous waste is regulated by the following agencies:
  • Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change
  • Central Pollution Control Board
  • State Pollution Control Board
  • Pollution Control Committees
• The legislation has identified a number of different categories of hazardous waste, ranging from flammable to extremely toxic.
• It is crucial to know how to recognise these wastes and how to handle them, that is, how to store and treat these materials.
• These wastes can be located by dissecting their constituent parts. Another choice is lab testing, although it might be quite expensive.
• By recovering a component or serving as a raw material for certain recycling operations, hazardous trash can also occasionally be repurposed or utilised as a resource for generating energy.
  • For instance, recovering copper from cable waste and utilising fly ash as an alternative raw material for cement production are both examples of material recovery.
• On the other side, energy recovery refers to the use of these hazardous wastes as fuels, particularly in the cement industry.
• Additionally, reducing hazardous waste is good for the environment and for human health. This is why managing hazardous waste is given such a high priority, particularly in recent years.

Hazardous Waste Management Rules - Objectives

• To encourage hazardous waste generation reduction as well as recycling and reuse.
• They also specify strict guidelines for hazardous waste import and export, as well as storage and transportation, in order to ensure optimal waste management in terms of waste transportation, storage, and disposal.
• Some specific hazardous wastes, for example, are not permitted to be imported under the Rules. If an import is deemed illegal, the importer is required to re-export the waste at his own expense within 90 days of its arrival in India.
• These rules aim to protect both the environment as a whole and the people who come into contact with hazardous waste and are at a higher risk of being exposed to it.

Hazardous Waste Management Rules - Salient Features

• The addition of "Other Waste" broadens the scope of the Rules.
• The hierarchy of waste management has been implemented, prioritising prevention, minimization, reuse, recycling, recovery, co-processing, and safe disposal.
• The paperwork required by the regulations for import/export, submitting yearly returns, transportation, etc. have all undergone major revisions, signifying the strict approach to managing such hazardous and other wastes while also streamlining the process.
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), specific to waste type, have been established as the fundamental requirement of infrastructure to protect human health and the environment from the waste processing industry.
• These SOPs must be complied with by the stakeholders and verified by SPCB/PCC before such authorization is granted.
• The process has been streamlined in order to combine all approvals into a single window permission for the establishment of a facility for the disposal of hazardous waste and the import of other wastes.
• Co-processing has been offered as a technique with preference over disposal for the utilisation of waste as an additional resource or for energy recovery.
• The approval procedure for co-processing hazardous waste to recover energy has been shortened and moved from a trial basis to one based on emission criteria.
• The rules of import/export of waste have been made easier by streamlining the document-based process and updating the list of trash that is subject to import/export regulation.
• The requirement to get the Ministry's approval has been waived for the import of metal scrap, paper trash, and certain types of electrical and electronic equipment intended for reuse.
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) tailored to each form of waste have been established as the fundamental requirement for infrastructure to protect human health and the environment from the waste processing sector.
• Following are the duties assigned to the state government for managing hazardous and other wastes in an environmentally appropriate manner:
  • to establish/allocate industrial space or sheds for the use of hazardous or other trash, recycling, pre-processing, etc.;
  • to list the employees who participate in preprocessing, recycling, and other usage operations;
  • to organise labourers into teams to speed up the construction of such structures;
  • to carry out industrial skill development activities and protect the employees' health and safety.
• The list of procedures producing hazardous wastes has been examined in light of industry technological advancement.
• The drinking water standard and international standard have been updated for the List of Waste Constituents with Concentration Limits.
• The import of the following goods has been restricted:
  • Waste edible fats and oil of animals, or vegetable origin
  • Household waste;
  • Critical Care Medical equipment;
  • Tyres for direct reuse purpose;
  • Solid Plastic wastes including Pet bottles;
  • Waste electrical and electronic assemblies scrap;
  • Other chemical wastes especially in solvent form.
• In addition to having to submit an annual report to the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, the State Government is empowered to create an integrated strategy for the successful execution of these rules.
• A yearly inventory of trash produced, recycled, recovered, used, including co-processed, exported, and disposed must be prepared and submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board by the 30th day of September each year.

Hazardous Waste Management Rules - Importance

• The negative effects on human health and the environment are minimised by scientific disposal of hazardous waste through collection, storage, packing, transportation, and treatment in an ecologically responsible way.
• Individual waste generators may have established captive treatment facilities for the disposal of their hazardous waste, or common hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities may be used instead.
• In 17 States and UTs, there are 40 Common Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs).
• The industries involved in the recycling of such waste use hazardous waste, such as lead acid battery scraps, used oil, waste oil, spent catalyst, etc., as well as other waste, such as waste tyres, paper waste, metal scrap, etc., as raw materials and as a supplemental resource for material and energy recovery.
• Therefore, it is always better to use such garbage for recycling or resource recovery rather than disposing of it in a landfill or being burned.
• Around 1080 recyclers are registered, 47 cement manufacturers are allowed to co-process, and 108 enterprises are allowed to use hazardous waste.

Issues with Improper Disposal of Hazardous Waste

• Hazardous and other waste improperly disposed of by burning or incineration releases toxic vapours containing Dioxins & Furans, Mercury, and heavy metals, causing air pollution and attendant health issues.
• Leaching in land and water caused by disposal in water bodies or municipal dumps results in hazardous emissions, lowering the quality of the soil and water.
• Workers who are involved in such dubious procedures are afflicted with cancer, genetic abnormalities, neurological issues, skin infections, and other illnesses.
• As a result, there is a need for environmentally sound waste management that includes prevention, minimization, re-use, recycling, recovery, and utilisation, as well as co-processing and safe waste disposal.

Conclusion

The new Hazardous Waste Rules will ensure that hazardous waste is recovered and disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. The Rules are both environmentally and industrially friendly. The new Rules' provisions are consistent with the Government's priority for Ease of Doing Business and Make in India, but with responsible concerns for long-term development.