Sanitary Waste Management In India

Sanitary Waste Management is disposing of sanitary napkins, diapers and tampons in a safe manner. These items are classified as domestic hazardous waste as per the 2016 Solid Waste Management Rules.

**Methods of Sanitary Waste Management:**

Secure wrapping (red dot campaign)
High-temperature incineration (though this is not the ideal way to dispose of waste)
Modern technologies – disinfection and recycling
This also involves reducing the risks faced by sanitation workers and environmental pollution.

What is waste management?

It is an end-to-end process including: –

Waste generation
Segregation at source
Collection
Treatment
Disposal

Appropriate disposal of menstrual waste needs segregation at the source where the waste is generated.

Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM) Rules, 2016:

As per these rules sanitary napkins, tampons, condoms, diapers, incontinence sheets and any other similar waste are known as sanitary waste. They should be disposed of in an appropriate manner with dry waste.

Sanitary waste management faces challenges due to societal and cultural taboos. Though it is a part of waste management, it requires to be given utmost importance with well-defined and implemented policies.

The waste has to be collected and segregated by each waste generator in 3 groups:

Biodegradable

Non-biodegradable

Domestic hazardous waste

Sanitary waste – The used sanitary products have to be wrapped in pouches provided by the manufacturer or any other apt wrapping material as instructed by local authorities and gathered with other non-biodegradable waste.

Manufacturers of sanitary products should always consider utilizing recyclable materials. They can also provide covers, bags or wrappers so that it encourages the consumers / users to dispose of the used sanitary products without harming the environment.

They should also spread public awareness about collecting and disposing of sanitary waste in the most efficient manner. This compliments sanitary waste management.

Local authorities should utilize the information they possess, education and communication to spread awareness about various facilities under the Solid Waste Management Rules, about handling and disposal of sanitary waste.

**Magnitude of Sanitary Waste Management challenge:**

The magnitude of the challenge India faces with regards to disposal of sanitary waste is enormous. A paper published by Centre for Science and Environment in 2022, which is called as ‘Sanitary Waste Management In India: Challenges and Agenda’ mentions:

As per the research conducted by an advocacy group Menstrual Hygiene Alliance India (MHAI), a whopping 36% of women / girls use disposable sanitary napkins on a regular basis in India. On an average eight sanitary napkins are used per month.

1 billion sanitary napkins per month are used by 336 million menstruating women/ girls. Annually 12.3 billion sanitary napkins are used. Well, this adds to 33 million disposable sanitary napkins on a daily basis.

Sanitary waste is not reducing; it’s growing in volume. The total percent of sanitary waste as a part of municipal solid waste would easily reach upto 3 to 4 percent. This percentage may not seem much but in terms of volume and infection it spreads it’s a serious challenge. India does need a proper process for sanitary waste.

**Vital facets of Sanitary Waste Management:**

Waste Classification:

This includes used condoms, incontinence sheets, sanitary napkins and diapers.

These used products are highly infectious – especially the used pads that consist above 90% non-biodegradable plastic.

Safely Disposing of sanitary waste material:

Wrapping it:

All the used items need to be wrapped securely in packets given by the manufacturers or in newspaper.

Segregating:

“Red Dot” campaign is a unique venture and it spreads awareness about disposing of sanitary waste in an appropriate manner. It encourages women/ girls to wrap the used sanitary waste in a proper way with a red dot on it to be easily identified by waste collectors.

Disposing of sanitary waste material:

The sanitary products that are used should be placed in designated “dry waste” or “non-biodegradable” sections or bins.

Encouraging everyone towards sustainable and reusable products is the need of the hour. So, here at Naree Care https://nareecare.com/Aboutus/ we spread awareness in many ways.

Reach out to our team to know about the designated bins that encourage and support efficient sanitary waste management.