- Madurai city in India generates around 548 metric tons of solid waste per day from various sources like households, markets, hospitals, and industries. - The study aims to understand Madurai's solid waste management system, the amount of waste generated and population pressures, and the scope for hiring waste collection services. - Currently, the municipal corporation collects and transports solid waste using manual and vehicle methods but disposes of it through open dumping instead of scientific disposal methods.

1. A study of solidwaste management issues in Madurai city
1Introduction
Madurai corporationis the civic which administers
the city of Madurai in Tamilnadu, India. It is the thirdlargest
municipal corporationinTamilnadu state.
Statement of the problem
Madurai people facing so many issues on handling
the solidwaste .
Scope of the study .
A typical system ofsolidwaste
managementincludessegregation,reuse,andrecyclingatthe householdlevel,waste collectionand
transport to a transferstationorcommunitybin,streetsweepingandcleansingof publicplaces,
management
of the transferstationor communitybin,secondarycollectionandtransporttothe waste disposal
site &
waste disposal inlandfills.Disposalmethodsincludeincineration,plasmagasification,landfilland
recycling.Recycledgarbage isusedincomposting,producingenergylike refuse derivedfuel,making
animal food,reusingthe material inartand craft,same industry,asa raw material inanother
industry.

2. Objectiveof the study
The researchwas carriedout with the following objectves
 To understand the solidwaste management system in Madurai
city
 To understand the populationpressure on waste generationand
amount ofwaste generated.
 To establishthe scope ofhiring waste collectionservices in
Madurai city
Researchmethodology
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
The Collection,transportationanddisposal of municipal solidwaste is
an obligatory functionof the Madurai Corporation.The Municipal
SolidWaste mainly comprises waste from households,market,
commercial establishments,hotels,hospitals andindustries in the
town. The public health department of the corporation,headed by
City Health Officer and Assistant HealthOfficer is responsible for the
SolidWaste Management in the city. For the efficient administration
and for day-to-day operational purposes,the town is divided into 4
Zones covering all the 100 Municipal Wards.

3. In Madurai City garbage is generatedat the rate of 406 gram per day
per head accumulating to a massivequantum of 548 Metric Tonper
day. This is slightly higher when comparing similar level of cities
where the per capital generationof waste is around 400 grams per
day and the reasonfor the excess rate of creationof waste is due to
the heavy influx of floating population which is estimatedto be
around 3 lakhs. Out the accumulatedgarbage releasedby the houses,
shops, daily and weekly markets,commercial establishments,hotels,
hospitals and industries,garbage generated from the house account of
64%. Householdwastes contains mainly residual vegetables and food
which couldbe easily disposed.But the scientific disposal of solid
waste such as plastic,paper dischargedby the commercial
establishments,without affecting the environment remains to be a
great challenge.
The various sources ofwaste generation in Madurai are detailed
below:
Source of SolidWaste Generation
Sl.
No.
Source Quantity
Tones per
day
Composition
percentage
1 Domestic 288.00 64 %
2 Commercial 108.00 24 %
3 Industrial - -
4 Hospitals & 18.00 4 %

4. Clinics
5 Others 36.00 8 %
6 TOTAL 450.00 100 %
Domestic Waste:
In Madurai the major source ofwaste generationhas been
households.The quantum of waste generatedfrom households is
around 288 tones per day, which is 64 percentage of the total waste
generationof the town. The householdwaste mainly consists of
organic waste such as Vegetable Waste,Food etc., whichcan be easily
disposed.
Commercial Waste:
Commercial establishments like Hotels, Restaurants,Shops,Trading
Units, Small time Street Traders,Marriage halls etc., generates solid
waste which mainly comprises ofpaper, plastics,foodleft-overs and
others in organics.Madurai has approximately 25 Daily Markets and 2
Weekly Markets.The total quantum of waste generated from these
sources is 108.00 tones per day, which constitutes about 24
percentage of the total waste generated. Waste Collectioninthe
Market areas and the bus stand are managed by means of contract
employees.
Industrial Waste:

5. As there is no major Industries inthe Corporationarea,the waste
from the existing units is not mixed with the municipal waste.
Hospital and Clinical Waste:
The Urban local body is maintaining a few health post and maternity
homes.In addition, the town being a district Headquarters has many
institutionof health. Hospital waste constitutes approximately 18.00
tones. Hazardous waste are collectedand disposedseparately
throughincineration and is not mixedwith municipal waste.
Waste from other sources:
The Municipal also collects waste generatedfrom streets sweeping,
drain desilting and construction.The quantity of solidwaste
generatedfrom the above sources is of the order of 36 tones per day,
which is about 8% ofthe total waste generation.
CompositionofWaste:
In 2004, a study of the waste characterizationofsolidwaste has been
conducted by Madurai CorporationApproximately 65.40% waste is
degradable, while the rest is Non-degradable (which mainly include
paper, plastic Gloss etc.,) the details are present below.
The primary collectionofwaste in Madurai Town is done by SHGin 7
wards and bus stands and throughprivatization2 wards and by
Corporation63wards.
2 Mission and vision overview
Madurai Corporation -Swachh Bharat Mission

6. Madurai Corporation has embarked on a journey to transform the city in to the cleanest city
in the country by 2017. In order to achieve this feat, it is important to eliminate open
defecation and promote healthy sanitation practices. According to 2011 census, Madurai has
around 20000 households without an attached toilet. To promote construction of toilets in
such house holds the Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu are providing
grants for construction of IHHLs. However, this amount is not sufficient to construct a proper
sanitary toilet.
The Construction cost for a sanitary toilet varies from Rs 22000 to 26000 depending on the
sewerage treatment system. While the Government contribution is around Rs 8000, the rest
has to be borne by the beneficiary. Since most of these beneficiaries are very poor they are
not able to bear the balance contribution amount. Many beneficiaries are not willing to
construct toilets due to this reason and therefore the practice of open defecation still
continues.
The Swachh Bharat Mission encourages Private Sector participation in Capex (Capital
Expenditure) and Opex (Operation and Maintenance). Many PSUs and private companies are
funding toilet construction under their CSR activities. In Madurai for the current financial
year we have a target of 4382 IHHLs. To meet this ambitious target, we need financial support
from donors.
Detail study made by Madurai Corporation alongwith IES, Anna
University the physical characteristicof Garbage in Madurai Corporation
Sl.
No.
Components Percentage by
Weight
1 Paper 1.3325

7. 2 Plastic 0.7525
3 Metals 0.085
4 Glass 0.1675
5 Silt 30.13
6 Rubber / Rexin 0.0845
7 Gunny bags 0.1175
8 Cotton 0.36
9 Wood 0.3425
10 Paddy Straw 1.477
11 Cow Dung 0.9046
12 Banana Stem 0.35325
13 Coconut Husk 0.70
14 Baggage 0.26535

8. 15 Vegetables & Fruit
Waste
29.00
16 Leaves Waste 8.238
17 Food Waste 24.367
18 Fish Waste 1.3228
Chemical Composition
Sl. No. Element Percentage
1 Moisture 50.70%
2 Net VS 17.31%
3 Ash 30.70%
4 Coal 1.29%
5 Sulphate 3000 mg / kg.
6 Phosphate 1457 mg / kg.
7 Chloride 1499 mg / kg.

9. 8 T.K.N. 1105 mg / kg.
9 Sodium 1302 mg / kg.
10 Pottassium 3315 mg / kg.
11 Calcium 5600 mg / kg.
The Madurai Corporation is collecting solid waste by employing 2700 Sanitary Workers in
clearing the garbage using hand carts and Tricycles, who collections waste from Dustbins and
Dumper Bins.
Effects in privatization of collection have been made through employing of contract workers and
collection of waste from bus stand and other commercial areas. Privatization of Household waste
collection is under active consideration by the Corporation. Presently the corporation has also
engaged 70 contractual labourers for waste collection from markets and bus stand. The
Corporation has also appointed 12 SHG's with a total of appropriates 240 workers. The
Corporation has also engaged 200 Contract Workers for Garbage Loading on the transportation
vehicles.
The Corporation manages primary collection through 135 Tricycles (carrying capacity – 20
kg/Tricycle) and 150 Hand Carts (carrying capacity – 100 kg/hand cart). Collection and transfer of
waste to collection points is also managed by Auto minder (57 rented vehicles are being used).
There are 74 Dumper Bins with a total carrying capacity of approximately 100 tones placed at
main collection locations around the city. Night sweeping is done effectively around the temple
areas, the core city areas, some markets and around bus stands.
In Madurai Corporation waste transportation is being carried out using open vehicles. Transfer of
garbage to collection points is done by corporation owned hand carts, Tricycles and rented
Vehicles like Auto minders, which is further taken to dumping yard by means of corporation own
vehicles (Lorries and Dumper Placers) and rented vehicles (Tractors).
Transportation of waste is managed by 12 Corporation own vehicles and 65 hired vehicles. The
Corporation is collecting and transporting 410 MT of waste to the Dump site based on varying
number of trips assigned and undertaken by these vehicles. The details of waste transportation
vehicles are detailed below:

10. Sl.
No.
Type of
Vehicles
Municipal
Vehicles
Nos.
Total
Trips/day
Nos.
Vehicle
Capacity
MT
Carrying
Capacity
of
Vehicles
MT
1 Corporation
Vehicles
- - - -
- Dumper
Placer
4 3 4.50 54.00
- Tipper
Lorry
8 3 3.00 72.00
- Sub Total 12 - - 126.00
2 Contract
Vehicles
- - - -
- Tipper
Lorry
8 3 3.00 72.00
- Tractors 57 3 1.50 213.00
- Sub Total 65 - - 285.00
- TOTAL 128 - - 411.00

11. Disposal:
At present, the corporationis not practicing any safe or scientific solid
waste disposal methods.The waste collectedfrom various localities in
the city is directly disposedoff by open dumping at Vellakkal site,
locatedoutside the city limit.SolidWaste generatedfrom all sanitary
wards is disposal off at this site. Site is locatedat about 10 Km from
the city and the total area of the site is 82 Acres.
i) Existing SolidWaste Management:
Solid Waste Management
No. of Zones 4 Zones
No. of Wards 72
Wards
Population (2004) 1051434
Floating Population (20%) 2100000
Garbage Generated per day (including
Floating population)
450 MT
Garbage Collected per day 360 MT
Collection efficiency 80%
ii) Vehicles:

12. Vehicles Nos.
Corporation Tipper Lorries 8
Corporation Dumper Placer (4.5 cum) 4
Corporation Dumper Placer (8 cum) 2
Hand Carts 150
Tricycles 135
Dumber Bins 74
Hired Vehicles
Hired Tractors 57
Hired Auto's 53
Hired Tipper Lorries 8
iii) Solid Waste Generated from different Sources:
Sl. No. Source Generation Garbage

13. 1 Residential 288.00 MT
2 Street Sweeping 36.00 MT
3 Commercial & Market 72.00 MT
4 Institutional 36.00 MT
5 Hospital & Nursing 18.00 MT
- TOTAL 450.00 MT
Present Status – Man Power:
Sl.
No.
Designation Sanctioned
Strength
Present
Strength
Vacancy
1 Sanitary
Workers
2700 2516 184
2 Circle
Sanitary
Officer
- 4 -
3 Sanitary
Inspector
84 37 47

14. 4 Conservancy
Inspector
72 - 72
5 Driver 91 65 26
6 Sanitary
Supervisor
110 63 47
- TOTAL 3057 2685 376
* Vacancy being managed by Out Sourcing.
The following are the deficiencies in this present system.
3 Primary Collection:
Source segregationandhouse-to-house collectionpracticedin 20%
area only.
Uncontrolledlittering along mainroads, streets and drains.
Present Capacity is enoughfor 80% removal of accumulatedsolid
waste only.
Inadequate manpower and infrastructure.
Unaware about the segregationofGarbage, Door-to-Door Collection.
Secondary Collection:

15. Lack of proper vehicles for secondary transportation.
Lack of workshopfacility.
No proper system for secondary collection.
Roadleading to final dumping yard is in very bad condition.
Processing andDisposal of Waste.Presently waste is dumped in the
compost yard.
Data collectionmethods:
Data was collected by primary as well as secondary method. Primary data was collected
through
questionnaire and discussions with the people from different cities Madurai north
,Madurai south , Madurai central while secondry data were collected from the research
papers, articles, internet
search e.g. blogs, official environmental programmes and ministries of government of
India
websites.
Sampling technique:
To select the sample for the purpose of research a non- probability sampling technique
(Convenience and judgemental) was used on a Sample size of 25 people. (28%
respondents from Madurai north, 35%from Madurai south & 37% from Madurai
central).
4.3 Scaling technique:

16. The ‘Non Comparative Scaling Technique.’ was used in the research. The rating scales
used was
Nominal Scale, respondents were askedto register their responses on the questionnaire
by answering
the questions to understand the patterns of activity amongst people for waste disposal
and waste
generation.
4 Data analysis& interpretation:
Fig. 1: Garbage generation per family unit
Inference :
20% Families with 2 members in the family generate 1-2 bags of garbage daily,4%
generate 3- 4 bags & 2% generate more than 4 bags.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2 Members 3-4 Members More than 5
members
1-2 bags
3-4 bags
more than 4 bags

17. 45%Familieswith 3-4members in the familygenerate 1-2 bags of garbage daily,
5%generate 3-4 bags.
20% Families with more than 5 members in the family generate 1-2 bags of garbage
daily& 8% generate 3-4 bags.
Fig 2 The pattern of hiring of service by people in Madurai city
Inference :
13%of the people who are hiring garbage collection services are residents of Madurai
city.
Interestingly the residents of Madurai rural area are the maximum amongst people
who have not hired garbage collection service
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Maduari city
YES
NO

18. Fig. 3:Willingness to pay for hiring garbage collection service
Inference :
a) The willingness to pay for the service of garbage collection is high among all the zone.
b) 8%respondents of Madurai North and South and 4%of Madurai central are not
willing to pay for hiring garbage collection service.
Fig. 4: Mode of garbage disposal
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Madurai north Madurai south Madurai central
YES
NO

19. Inference:
a) 10%Respondents who have already get their garbage collected by somebody else are
willing to pay for a hire garbage collection service.
b) 49% of the Respondents who throw their garbage on road not pay for the service.
c) About 3%of the Respondents who dispose off in municipal bin are willing to pay for
the service.
Findings
20% Families with 2 members in the family generate 1-2 bags of garbage daily,4%
generate 3- 4 bags & 2% generate more than 4 bags.
45%Familieswith 3-4members in the familygenerate 1-2 bags of garbage daily,
5%generate 3-4 bags.
20% Families with more than 5 members in the family generate 1-2 bags of garbage
daily& 8% generate 3-4 bags.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Muncipal bin Somebody collects Throw it on the road
YES
NO

20. 13%of the people who are hiring garbage collection services are residents of Madurai
city.
Interestingly the residents of Madurai rural area are the maximum amongst people
who have not hired garbage collection service
a) The willingness to pay for the service of garbage collection is high among all the zone.
b) 8%respondents of Madurai North and South and 4%of Madurai central are not
willing to pay for hiring garbage collection service.
a) 10%Respondents who have already get their garbage collected by somebody else are
willing to pay for a hire garbage collection service.
b) 49% of the Respondents who throw their garbage on road not pay for the service.
c) About 3%of the Respondents who dispose off in municipal bin are willing to pay for
the service.
5 Recommendations:
The municipalities have to work more effectively by increasing the capacity of waste
treated &collected
on daily basis by strengthening the partnerships with PPP projects
The Private waste management companies should be given tax evasions and
relaxations on loans on investments made for business operations to increase the
entrepreneurial initiatives.
Working with the informal sector would increase the efficiency and coverage of the
waste management process across the initiatives.

21. Reducing the amount of garbage tipped in the landfills should be regulated by
checking that the waste has been strictly passedthrough segregation and treatment
process to reduce the carbon foot print and pollution of the environment.
As the society is susceptible to throw the garbage anywhere unthinkably many public
dustbins should be placed at 10 mtrs distance, educating the citizens about the civic
sense and hygiene is important. Most importantly public areas like vegetable and meat
markets.
SolidWaste Management Action Plan:
Implementing MSWManagement and handling rules 2000 and to
ensure Zero Garbage litter free with Eco-friendly environment.
Campaignon Segregation.
Creating Public awareness.
Door to Door Collections.
Enforcement of by-laws.
Public Private Participationinprimary collection.
7 Days Garbage Collections.

22. Action plan for Secondary Collection:
(As per SolidWaste Management rule 6(1) & 3, 7(1) Schedule 11 – 4)
Modernizationof fleets.
Improvement ofTransfer Station.
Improvement ofCompost Yard.
Pre-Schedule route chart for vehicle movement.
Bibliography
The above primarydata are collectedfromthe questionnaire
Secondarydata are collectedfrommadurai corporation official site
Conclusion
Consideringthe nature andcomponentsof waste generatedbyhouseholdsandbusinessplaces,the
waste reduction,reuse,recyclingandcompostingprocesseswouldbe more suitable inmanagingthe
challenge.Thesemanagementoptionsshouldbe integratedinasustainableframework