{"id":38038,"date":"2025-02-25T19:03:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T13:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=38038"},"modified":"2025-03-24T18:46:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T13:16:59","slug":"supreme-court-emphasized-segregation-of-waste-at-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-02-2025\/supreme-court-emphasized-segregation-of-waste-at-source","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Emphasized Segregation of Waste at Source\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Governance, GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court emphasized that waste segregation at source is crucial for environmental health and must begin at the household level.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Waste segregation<\/strong> refers to the systematic separation of different types of waste at the point of generation to facilitate proper disposal, recycling, and treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Importance of Waste Segregation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reducing Landfill Burden:<\/strong> Proper segregation minimizes the amount of waste sent to landfills, thereby reducing land pollution and methane emissions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enhancing Recycling: <\/strong>Effective separation allows organic waste to be composted and non-biodegradable materials to be recycled, promoting a circular economy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Preventing Pollution: <\/strong>Mixed waste leads to toxic leachate and harmful emissions, contaminating soil, water, and air. Segregation helps in safe disposal and treatment of hazardous materials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Waste-to-Energy Efficiency:<\/strong> Segregated waste ensures better efficiency of waste-to-energy plants, as contaminants in mixed waste reduce energy output and cause operational issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges in Implementing Waste Segregation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of Public Awareness: <\/strong>Many households do not follow waste segregation due to limited awareness and behavioral inertia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inadequate Infrastructure: <\/strong>Many urban and rural areas lack proper collection and processing facilities, leading to mixed waste dumping.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weak Enforcement of Rules:<\/strong> Despite the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, enforcement at municipal levels remains weak due to limited accountability and resources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Resistance from Waste Handlers:<\/strong> Informal waste pickers and sanitation workers lack incentives and training to handle segregated waste efficiently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016:<\/strong> Mandates segregation of waste at source into biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and domestic hazardous waste.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Promotes waste processing through composting, bio-methanation, and waste-to-energy technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourages bulk waste generators (housing societies, hotels, etc.) to process their own waste.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM):<\/strong><strong>SBM-Urban<\/strong> focuses on 100% door-to-door waste collection and encourages source segregation.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>SBM-Rural<\/strong> promotes biodegradable waste composting and bio-gas plants in villages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Waste-to-Energy Projects:<\/strong> The government is encouraging waste-to-energy plants to convert non-recyclable waste into electricity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR):<\/strong> Under EPR rules, manufacturers and producers must take responsibility for managing post-consumer waste (e.g., plastic waste, e-waste).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Successful examples in waste Management<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Indore,<\/strong> consistently ranked India\u2019s cleanest city under <strong>Swachh Survekshan<\/strong>, has demonstrated that strict enforcement like <strong>100% Source Segregation, Processing Infrastructure<\/strong> etc. can transform urban waste management.<br>&#8211; <strong>Ambikapur,<\/strong> Chhattisgarh, has adopted a <strong>&#8216;Zero Waste&#8217; model<\/strong>, where Women-led self-help groups (SHGs) manage solid waste collection and processing.<br>&#8211; <strong>Pune\u2019s SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling) model<\/strong> has successfully integrated waste pickers into formal waste collection, ensuring livelihood security.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Strict Enforcement Norms:<\/strong> Authorities must impose penalties for non-segregation and incentivize compliance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening Infrastructure: <\/strong>Investment in decentralized waste processing units at community levels can improve efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology-Driven Solutions:<\/strong> Adoption of smart waste management systems, AI-based sorting, and RFID tracking can streamline waste processing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integrating informal waste pickers <\/strong>into municipal frameworks can enhance segregation and recycling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/segregating-waste-at-source-important-for-environment-says-supreme-court\/article69258050.ece#:~:text=NCR%20States\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court emphasized that waste segregation at source is crucial for environmental health and must begin at the household level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38038"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39722,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38038\/revisions\/39722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}