WASTE GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT IN ANTHROPOCENE EPOCH: AN OBJECTIVE APPRAISAL OF INDIAN CONDITION

The Anthropocene epoch is the age of waste of human usages, which are the typical relics of innovation leading to climate change or the near mass extinction. The wastes are in solid, liquid, gaseous or remediated forms and the volume and varieties are ever-increasing. The Anthropocene epoch is the novice geological era with human exploitation on soil, nature, space, and geology with unlimited spoils. The epoch is marked by the excess use of natural and synthetic materials like fossil fuels, aluminum, concrete, plastic, fly ash and upshot from nuclides from nuclear explosion, CO2, GHG emissions due to wastes. Fly-ash, metallurgical slags, sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WTPs), dried sewage and sludge, agro-wastes, plastic & other packaging materials of industrial origin amounting to ≈ 200MMT is added to the environment annually in India which is mostly non-biodegradable CPCB (2017). All stake holders like government, non-government agencies, including civil society in India should make concerted effort to confront the anthropogenic non-biodegradable wastes mainly the industrial, plastics, nano, C&D and e -wastes. The study analyses different types of wastes based on statistics both in the global and Indian scenario. The shortage in landfill area for efficient disposal is the concern and micro-level management of such wastes are discussed.