HYDERABAD: Of the 2.8 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of hazardous waste generated each year in Telangana, as much as 1.4 lakh MT are landfillable, according to the latest report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This means as much as half of the trash generated by more than 2,500 hazardous-waste-generating industrial units in the State gets buried in landfills.
Of the remaining half, about 64 per cent (90,567 MT) is recycled by authorised agencies, 26 per cent (35,769 MT) is sent to cement plants to be burnt as fuel in kilns, four per cent (5,400MT) is burnt in incinerators at common hazardous-waste disposal facilities, around two per cent is utilised in industries again, and around four per cent gets left behind to be processed the next year.
These figures were presented in the interim report of the ‘Monitoring Committee on Management of Hazardous Waste’ constituted by the CPCB in accordance with the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) directions in a case pertaining to compliance of Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016.
As per the report, Telangana is among the top 10 hazardous-waste generating States in India, and generates about four per cent of the country’s hazardous waste each year - around 72 lakh MT, by about 56,300 industrial units.
Of this, around 26 lakh MT are buried in landfills, three lakh MT are incinerated, six lakh MT are burnt as fuel in kilns in cement plants, five lakh MT are utilised by industries, 10 lakh MT are recycled, around 16 lakh MT are used by generators of the waste, and around nine lakh MT are left to be treated the next year.