The Supreme Court on Monday (February 24, 2025) said segregation of garbage starts at home and it is a practice which is of vital importance for the well-being of the environment.
A Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the National Capital Region (NCR) States of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan how smart city projects envisaged by their governments could actually become a reality unless there was proper segregation of waste at the source in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
urpose only. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The Supreme Court on Monday (February 24, 2025) said segregation of garbage starts at home and it is a practice which is of vital importance for the well-being of the environment.
A Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the National Capital Region (NCR) States of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan how smart city projects envisaged by their governments could actually become a reality unless there was proper segregation of waste at the source in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The court’s amicus curiae, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, said even waste-to-energy projects, considered a solution to rid the city of its piles of garbage and put it for productive use, would collapse without segregation. Ms. Singh said the NCR had registered a low percentage of segregation of waste. Bio-waste is mixed with plastic in many households.
“If there is no proper segregation, even waste-to-energy projects will create more pollution,” Justice Oka agreed.
The NCR States were ordered to file affidavits by the end of March, explaining the level of compliance of their urban bodies with the 2016 Rules.
The Bench also asked the States to set out a comprehensive plan for waste management along with timelines and implementing agencies.
The authorities were asked to set out the “best practices” they proposed to follow for solid waste management.
The court also directed the Central Pollution Control Board to submit a report on the impact of waste-to-energy projects on the environment.
Earlier hearings had seen the apex court observe that the solid waste management in Delhi was in a “sorry state” and may lead to a public health emergency.
The court had observed that the generation of solid waste daily was more than 11,000 metric tonnes and waste treatment plants’ processing capacity was only 8,073 metric tonnes.
“Over 3,000 tonnes of untreated solid waste per day in Delhi may lead to a public health emergency,” the Bench had cautioned.
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