Solid wastes generation in India and their recycling potential in building materials

Presently in India, about 960 million tonnes of solid waste is being generated annually as by-products during industrial, mining, municipal, agricultural and other processes. Of this 350 million tonnes are organic wastes from agricultural sources; 290 million tonnes are inorganic waste of industrial and mining sectors and 4.5 million tonnes are hazardous in nature. Advances in solid waste management resulted in alternative construction materials as a substitute to traditional materials like bricks, blocks, tiles, aggregates, ceramics, cement, lime, soil, timber and paint. To safeguard the environment, efforts are being made for recycling different wastes and utilise them in value added applications. In this paper, present status on generation and utilization of both non-hazardous and hazardous solid wastes in India, their recycling potentials and environmental implication are reported and discussed in details.