COLLECTION,TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL OF URBAN SOLID WASTE 43
the waste have been undergoing change in the course of time: the organic
(compostable) fraction is declining, while inorganic material has been increasing.
However, the proportion of organic matter is highest among the low-income groups
and declining as the levels of income increase, while the inorganic fraction is increasing
with rising levels of household income. Household waste mainly includes the following
items: i) combustibles (paper, plastics, rags); ii) non-combustibles (glass, metal); iii)
compostables (vegetable/food, leaves); and iv) toxic battery cells etc.
Waste generators
The quantity of solid waste generated in the MCH is estimated at 1,500 tons/day in
1999 based on the assumption that the average generation rate per capita is around
0.35 kg and the total population is about 4 million. The quantity of waste generated
varies from 0.24 kg/day among the lowest income groups to 0.75 kg/day among the
higher income groups^5.
The generators of waste can broadly be divided into two groups: bulk generators, both
public and private, and small generators, notably households. The former consists of
34 markets, commercial centres and recreation places, 923 hotels and restaurants, 93
function halls, 417 hospitals and nursing homes, 5 slaughterhouses and 30,000 cattle.
In addition there are about one million households. Though they generate small quan-
tities of waste individually, taken together they contribute about 75 percent of the total
volume (table 3.2).
Table 3.1 Physical composition of fresh urban solid waste in Hyderabad 1997No. Characteristics Percentage
Biomass
Paper
Rubber/leather
Plastics
Rags
Metals
Glass
Sand/fine earth
Stones etc.55.0
7.0
2.0
2.6
8.0
0.2
0.2
13.0
12.0- In the nine municipalities adjoining the MCH another one million people are living. The total waste
generated in the entire conurbation, therefore, is around 1,850 tons/day. However, these neighbouring
municipalities all have their own provisions for SWC. This chapter is confined to the MCH area alone.