{"id":84611,"date":"2026-09-10T18:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=84611"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:04:24","slug":"winter-waste-burning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-09-2026\/winter-waste-burning","title":{"rendered":"Winter Waste Burning Worsens Urban Air Pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: 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>A report has found that open waste burning increases sharply during winter, and the quantity of waste burnt and associated emissions are up to three times higher than in summer.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Paper and plastics<\/strong> constituted major components of the waste being openly burnt.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons for Open Waste Burning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Irregular door-to-door collection<\/strong> and weak municipal services encourage residents to burn accumulated waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited Processing Capacity:<\/strong> Insufficient recycling, composting and waste-processing facilities lead to waste accumulation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost and Convenience:<\/strong> Burning is often perceived as a quick and low-cost method of disposing of household and commercial waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Winter Heating:<\/strong> Waste burning increases during winter as some people use waste as a readily available source of warmth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weak Enforcement of Rules:<\/strong> Inadequate monitoring and penalties allow repeated burning at dumping sites and public spaces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impacts of Waste Burning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Environmental Impacts:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Air Pollution: <\/strong>Releases particulate matter and toxic pollutants.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Soil and Water Contamination:<\/strong> Ash and residues contaminate soil and groundwater.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Food-Chain Contamination:<\/strong> Toxins accumulate in plants, animals and aquatic organisms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ecosystem Damage: <\/strong>Plastic residues harm wildlife and aquatic ecosystems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Impact:<\/strong> Releases greenhouse gases and black carbon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Health Impacts:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Respiratory Problems:<\/strong> Causes coughing, breathing difficulties and irritation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cardiovascular Effects:<\/strong> Increases risks of heart and circulatory problems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Toxic Exposure:<\/strong> Dioxins, heavy metals and PAHs cause long-term health risks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cancer Risk: <\/strong>Certain combustion products, including PAHs, are carcinogenic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>CAQM Measures:<\/strong> The <strong>Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)<\/strong> has identified recurring waste-dumping and burning locations as \u201cwaste-sensitive\u201d sites and adopted a zero-tolerance approach under Operation Clean Air.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Waste-to-Energy: <\/strong>The MNRE provides Central Financial Assistance for Waste-to-Energy projects that convert urban, industrial, agricultural and municipal waste into biogas, Bio-CNG, electricity and producer\/syngas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana:<\/strong> Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched \u2018<strong>Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana<\/strong>\u2019 to provide financial support for integrated bio-ethanol projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Legal Measures: <\/strong>The government has notified dedicated rules for solid waste, plastic waste, hazardous waste, e-waste, battery waste and biomedical waste to ensure scientific collection, processing and disposal.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Market-Based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) <\/strong>mandates producers to manage post-consumer waste for plastic packaging, e-waste, batteries, tyres, and used oil. It promotes recycling, reduces landfill pressure, and curbs emissions from informal waste handling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ban on 12 Single-Use Plastics (SUP) items <\/strong>with low utility and high littering potential, like plastic cutlery, straws, and thermocol decorations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cities need to move from <strong>reactive enforcement to source-level prevention<\/strong> through universal door-to-door collection, decentralised processing and systematic monitoring of waste-sensitive locations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Municipalities should integrate <strong>winter-specific waste-management plans <\/strong>with air-pollution action plans, particularly in economically vulnerable neighbourhoods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Providing <strong>safe heating alternatives<\/strong> to sanitation and waste-management workers, along with stronger segregation and recycling systems, can address both the causes and consequences of winter waste burning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/pollution-from-winter-waste-burning-in-cities-three-times-higher-than-summer-study-finds\/art\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A report has found that open waste burning increases sharply during winter, and the quantity of waste burnt and associated emissions are up to three times higher than in summer. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Reasons for Open Waste Burning <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Irregular door-to-door collection and weak municipal services encourage residents to burn accumulated waste. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Limited Processing Capacity: Insufficient recycling, composting and waste-processing facilities lead to waste accumulation. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-09-2026\/winter-waste-burning\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/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-84611","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\/84611","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=84611"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84613,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84611\/revisions\/84613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}