Tamil Nadu, despite all its industrial prowess, seems to be grappling with an issue that jeopardises its environmental well-being — the violation of waste disposal norms and “clandestine auction” of waste by the very same industries that are driving the State’s economic advancement. The Tamil Nadu Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, stipulate guidelines for Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs). Yet, many industries in districts such as Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Salem, Madurai, Tiruchi, Erode, and Chennai have acted in contravention of these rules, driving up hazardous dumping and waste-burning.
What do the rules stipulate?
According to the SWM Rules 2016, BWGs, comprising mostly industries and manufacturing units, are required to segregate waste on their premises into three categories: bio-degradable, non-biodegradable, and hazardous. The rules emphasise that all institutions with an area exceeding 5,000 square metres, hotels, restaurants, and apartments must ensure waste segregation within a year of the rule’s notification. “Non-compliance could result in environmental degradation and jeopardise public health,” the guidelines state.
According to the SWM Rules, “BWGs must ensure segregation of waste at source, facilitate collection of segregated waste in separate streams, and hand over recyclable material to authorised waste pickers. The biodegradable waste shall be processed, treated, and disposed of through composting or biomethanation within the premises as far as possible.” Additionally, the residual waste must be given to the waste collectors or agency. The developers of special economic zones, industrial estates, and industrial parks must earmark at least 5% of the total area of the plot or a minimum of 5 plots for a recovery and recycling facility.
According to records of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), “These rules shall apply to every urban local body, including the municipal corporation, nagar nigam, the municipal council, nagarpalika, nagar palikaparishad, municipal board, nagar panchayat and town panchayat, census towns, notified areas, and notified industrial townships.”
Discrepancies in data on BWGs
As opposed to the directive of the TNPCB in 2018 to set up 1,000 micro composting centres (MCCs) across 15 Corporations, 121 municipalities and 42 town panchayats to treat 5,163 tonnes of waste per day (TPD), the TNPCB monitoring committee, in its 2023 SWM annual compliance report, accounts for the processing of only 3,600 TPD. Further, the State sanctioned the establishment of 69 more MCCs in 2020, of which only eight have been set up.
The State, consisting of 649 urban local bodies (ULBs), produces approximately 16,066 TPD, of which 5,979 tonnes is sent to landfills. However, to put the number into perspective, Coimbatore city alone produces around 1,200 tonnes, of which close to 900 tonnes is sent to the Vellalore landfill daily. The enforcement of the waste-management rules is hindered by discrepancies in data. For instance, while the Coimbatore Corporation reported around 250 registered BWGs in 2023, an order issued by the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2022 and records provided by the TNPCB indicate there are over 500 in the city. The district administration recorded over 25,000 industries, as of 2018, with no updated data thereafter.
In Chennai, 1,435 BWGs have been counted. However, in its 2020 research, the city-based Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), a not-for-profit entity working for consumer rights and environmental issues, identified many more. “Our data depend on inspections and updates sent by local bodies. Only with the right count can the monitoring of waste management be done properly. However, ULBs and industries have not been active in updating their number,” a senior TNPCB official told The Hindu.
All 27 BWGs in Tiruchi assert the presence of on-site waste processing facilities. However, an authorised empanelled agency, which collects segregated waste from BWGs in Tiruchi, has said only 10% of the waste received by the Ariyamangalam dump is segregated at source, implying that categorisation of waste by BWGs is minimal. This is in contravention of the NGT orders that mandate 100% segregation of waste generated by BWGs across the State. Coimbatore’s Vellalore landfill has received 0% segregated waste from BWGs since November 2023.
Lack of space to process waste in the city limits is one of the main reasons for BWGs to find compliance challenging. “While several hospitals and institutions have been doing a good job, commercial establishments need to focus on reducing and segregating their waste,” said R. Albert, a sanitary official in Tiruchi.
Neglected survey
The ULBs have also been slack in the inspection of waste being processed on site by BWGs, including manufacturers of industrial pumps, flow-control solutions for oil, gas and power, defence and aerospace equipment, and textile in the western belt; and manufacturers of automobile spare parts in the northern Tamil Nadu. In Madurai and neighbouring districts, where industries producing hazardous waste are scarce, private entities involved in waste disposal are reluctant to establish units. Industries in such regions often transport waste to facilities in other districts such as Karur, Coimbatore, and Chennai, which house waste-processing centres.
S. Rajamohan, proprietor of an environmental consultancy firm based in Madurai, said, “Usually, industries located in the southern areas send the waste to disposal facilities in other districts. This is because many industries would prefer not to have a disposal unit at their factory, considering the cost incurred in setting it up, paying for labour, maintaining the premises and processing the waste. To add to this, the real task is to monitor whether the industries transporting the waste follow norms and if waste handed over to other districts is processed as per rules,” he noted.
Empanelled agencies in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and the Nilgiris, tasked with the collection of segregated waste handed over by BGWs, have reported receiving mixed waste or no waste at all. According to the SWM Rules, each ULB must fix a fee that BWGs need to pay to the empanelled agencies while handing over segregated waste. For instance, in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, the Nigiris, and Erode, the cost of collecting 100 kg of waste is ₹2,000-₹6,000. However, several agencies have reported non-compliance. For instance, according to the data given by the Salem Corporation, the Salem bus depot’s wet waste generation is “nil”. But a private agency alleges that the depot generates and hands over close to 40 tonnes of mixed waste, including biodegradable waste, every day. Despite the presence of over 10 empanelled bulk waste collectors in Chennai, several industries, as also government undertakings and units in the Ambattur Industrial Estate, reportedly do not follow the SWM Rules while disposing of waste. For instance, it was submitted by the TNPCB before the Southern Bench of the NGT that Aavin had been storing 150 metric tonnes of waste comprising used crates, butter cartons, milk sachets, damaged pet bottles, and ice cream containers on the factory premises. The waste was eventually sent to recycling units. Locals in Ambattur and Korattur constantly raise concerns over the waste being dumped near waterbodies.
Unauthorised “rubbish” auctions
To evade the financial responsibility of waste disposal and capitalise on waste generated, several companies reportedly engage in clandestine auctions wherein waste is labelled ‘rubbish’ or ‘scrap’. These auctions, conducted monthly, involve selling mixed waste, including non-recylable and biodegradable waste, to unregistered scrap-dealers. The items listed are auctioned off to the highest bidder, for prices ranging from ₹18,000 to ₹15 lakh each month. Notably, no BWG in Tamil Nadu possesses clearance from regulatory bodies for such auctions.
In addition to this, the TNPCB has stipulated that waste collection or purchase can occur only through empanelled agencies. However, BWGs along the Salem-Kochi Highway in Coimbatore, the industrial hubs such as Padi and Ambattur in Chennai, and even government establishments such as SIDCO and SIPCOT conduct auctions through agencies that invite vendors from across the State to participate in waste purchase.
While the companies only list segregated waste such as scrap metal, rubber tubes, rags, and plastics which are recylable, a vendor operating in Coimbatore, Erode, Salem and Chennai spoke to The Hindu about participation in one such auction held by a vehicular spare parts manufacturer at Padi. According to the vendor, around 50 tonnes of ‘segregated waste’ was collected from the company premises after the auction. However, this included non-recylables such as oil-soaked rags, packaging material, thermocol and single-use plastics, and a mixture of biodegradable waste. “We paid close to ₹3 lakh for the waste and spent more to segregate it. Less than 20% of the waste we collect is useful to us,” the vendor said.
The remaining waste is sent to abandoned quarries, panchayat land, and unfenced land along highways and in the outer limits of the city. “We spend more on transporting the waste to such places. Once a substantial amount of waste is collected in the pit or the land, the waste is burnt,” he added. Several such locations have been identified by The Hindu along the Salem-Kochi Highway in Coimbatore and Salem. One such site is located on the foothills of Marudhamalai, in Coimbatore, an important elephant corridor. “We see trucks dumping waste on panchayat land near the foothills and elephants walk right by the dump,” a local resident said.
Standing out: leather industry
Painting a different picture, the leather industries of the State reportedly adhere rigorously to the SWM Rules. In the northern region of Tamil Nadu, towns like Ambur, Vaniyambadi, and Ranipet in Tirupattur and Ranipet districts have tanneries, fertilizer, cement, and chemical industries. TNPCB officials have categorised the waste generated by these industries into hazardous and non-hazardous types. Hazardous waste includes lead and other heavy metals, while leftover leather pieces and hides are deemed non-hazardous. The waste is disposed of at common co-processing units, managed collectively by a group of industries for regular waste handling. Some industrial units also utilise secure landfills for decomposing non-hazardous wastes.
“The leather industry is one of the only sectors providing us with segregated waste that we can process. Other industries are slack because they do not prioritise source segregation in their facilities,” remarked L. Arun Kumar, senior manager at Chettinad Cement Corporation Private Limited. “At present, tanneries are classified as ‘sick’ units, with only around 20% of production. Consequently, waste generation is minimal,” noted a TNPCB official.
“Efforts to address these challenges must encompass stringent enforcement of the SWM Rules, comprehensive surveys of the BWG premises, and regular monitoring of waste-disposal practices. Incentivising compliance, especially for commercial establishments, and fostering public awareness of waste reduction and segregation are crucial steps,” said Vignesh, of Green Friend Waste Management Private Limited, an empanelled agency entrusted with waste collection from BWGs, including industries in Kerala, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, and Salem. The success of Tamil Nadu’s waste management hinges on a collective commitment to responsible practices, regulatory adherence, and sustainable solutions, he added.
Karthikeyan Kandasamy, senior manager at Cheenu Environment, a company offering waste-management solutions to several municipalities, emphasised, “The responsibility rests with the local bodies to consistently monitor and inspect BWGs. Without these entities enforcing regulations and ensuring their implementation at the grassroots, waste management in the State cannot progress. Further, BWGs must take ownership of their waste. Numerous authorised agencies are ready to assist in waste processing, and their services should be embraced, prioritising long-term sustainability over short-term profits.”
(With inputs from Ancy Donal Madonna in Tiruchi, Palanivel Rajan in Madurai, D. Madhavan in Vellore, and Geetha Srimathi and Sangeetha Kandavel in Chennai.)
