The recent fire at the Kochi landfill site around Brahmapuram, Kerala, has highlighted the urgent need for Indian cities to prepare for similar potential incidents as summer approaches. As the weather warms up, the risk of landfill fires increases, posing a serious threat to both the local environment and the health of the population. This incident is a stark reminder that landfills, the sites where waste materials are deposited, compacted, and stored long-term, must be carefully managed to prevent contamination and fires.
Reasons Behind Landfill Fires
In Indian cities, the rate of waste processing fails to keep up with the pace of waste generation. Wet and dry waste should ideally be processed separately, and the recovered by-products recycled. However, in reality, much of this waste remains unprocessed and open in landfills for extended periods. Despite collecting over 95% of the city’s waste, the efficiency of waste-processing lies between 30% and 40%.
Contributing further to the problem is the high calorific value of the disposed waste, including flammable materials like low-quality plastics, rags, and clothes. In the hot summer months, these materials can fuel landfill fires, which may burn for months.
Impacts of Landfill Fires
Landfill fires pose serious environmental and health threats and may also place an economic burden on local governments and businesses. When burning, a landfill releases toxic gases, heavy metals, and particles into the air, potentially causing respiratory problems, exacerbating lung conditions, and contributing to smog and acid rain. These fires also pollute groundwater and soil, negatively affecting aquatic ecosystems, plant growth, and crops.
Managing Landfill Fires
While completely capping landfills with soil and shutting them down in a scientifically sound way could potentially end the occurrence of landfill fires, this solution is not feasible in the Indian context due to the land’s ineligibility for future use. Alternatively, bioremediation can be used to clear waste piles. This process involves using naturally occurring or deliberately introduced microorganisms to consume and break down pollutants.
The immediate solution requires dividing landfill sites into blocks based on the waste type. This strategy reduces the chance of fires spreading across blocks within the same landfill. In addition, non-recyclable and non-biodegradable waste should be sent to cement kilns rather than being left to accumulate in the landfills.
Looking Ahead
The permanent and most effective solution involves a systematic waste-processing system where wet and dry waste are processed separately, and their by-products treated accordingly. Such a system requires the cooperation of multiple stakeholders, including municipalities and waste-processing unit operators. With the summer season upon us, municipalities must implement short-term measures to prevent fire outbreaks while also focusing on long-term solutions to improve solid waste management. This could mean focusing on waste segregation, increasing recycling efforts, and exploring alternative waste disposal methods.
In the context of the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016 in India, it becomes evident that there is an urgent need for measures to identify sites for landfills and waste processing facilities with exact and elaborate criteria. There should be discussions on how to remove safely the toxic wastes accumulating in our environment and the possible obstacles in disposing of the huge quantities of discarded solid waste generated continuously.
