NEW DELHI: Civic hospitals are set to see a major boost in waste management as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is preparing to launch a zero-waste-to-landfill initiative across nine major healthcare facilities.
Zero waste to landfill is a waste management strategy that aims to eliminate the disposal of waste materials in landfills by recycling and reusing the waste products.
The civic body has just completed its baseline waste-management surveys at four of its hospitals and has identified pathways to strengthen segregation, resource recovery, composting and recycling systems within healthcare facilities.
As per data available on the Delhi government website, the capital city generates 13641.22 kg of biomedical waste per day. This comes from around 2070 healthcare establishments in the city.
Officials said, the project is being undertaken with technical support from a women-led non-profit organisation working in sustainable waste management. It aims to ensure that waste generated at hospitals is scientifically managed through source segregation, on-site processing of organic waste and recovery of recyclable material, thereby reducing burden on the landfill sites.
Speaking on this matter, a senior MCD official said, “The objective is to create a model that can be sustained and replicated. The surveys have helped identify hospital-specific requirements and the interventions needed to move towards a zero-waste-to-landfill framework.” The baseline surveys were conducted between April and May and covered Hindu Rao Hospital, Maharishi Valmiki Sankraman Rog Hospital (MVID), Mata Gujri Hospital and Swami Dayanand Hospital. Together, these facilities generate around 1,700 kg of solid waste every day, the survey revealed.
The assessment focused on waste generation patterns, existing infrastructure, manpower deployment, processing capacity and opportunities for improving segregation and resource recovery at the facilities, officials informed.
They further mentioned, “The hospitals already have the basic infrastructure required for better waste management. The next phase will focus on strengthening systems, training personnel and institutionalising best practices so that maximum waste can be diverted from landfill sites.”
As per the survey reports, Hindu Rao Hospital generates around 890 kg of waste daily, followed by Swami Dayanand Hospital at about 470 kg, MVID at 230 kg and Mata Gujri Hospital at 105 kg. On the basis of the findings, the report recommends a phased implementation plan that includes source segregation, establishment of Dry Resource Collection Centres (DRCCs), decentralised composting of wet waste, recycling of dry waste streams and deployment of a real-time monitoring mechanism.
Additionally, biomedical waste generated by the hospitals is already managed through a separate system involving authorised private contractors and specialised treatment processes in accordance with biomedical waste-management rules, the officials said.
The initiative focused on strengthening the management of general solid waste generated within hospital campuses. As per the official, biomedical waste already follows a dedicated collection, transportation and treatment chain through authorised agencies.
A review meeting chaired on June 5 examined the findings of the baseline surveys and discussed the implementation roadmap. According to officials, the project can be initiated immediately at the four surveyed hospitals, with suitable sites already identified for the proposed interventions.
The civic body is also planning to establish a real-time digital dashboard to monitor waste-management performance across hospitals and has proposed a dedicated project-management structure for implementation and monitoring.
On the other hand, baseline surveys are being carried out at five additional MCD hospitals – Kasturba Hospital, Mrs Girdhar Lal Maternity Hospital, Balak Ram Hospital, Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, and Veer Savarkar Arogya Sansthan.
