Title: Management and disposal of sanitary solid waste: an obscured menace in India

Authors: Saikat Dutta; R.S.S. Alekhya; B. Chakradhar; Tadinada S. Sasi Jyothsna

Addresses: Environmental Consultancy, Ramky Enviro Services Private Limited, Ramky Group, Hyderabad, India ' Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India ' Environmental Consultancy, Ramky Enviro Services Private Limited, Ramky Group, Hyderabad, India ' Environmental Consultancy, Ramky Enviro Services Private Limited, Ramky Group, Hyderabad, India

Abstract: India is one of the most populous and vast countries of the world with around 1.39 billion people (January 2021) contributing around 17.7% of the total world population. Of this, female population is around 662.90 million making up to 48.03% of the total population covering with different age groups. The most significant age group which contributes the largest quantities of sanitary solid waste falls between 11-47 years, which is approximately around 359 million Indian women, contributing around 9,000 tonnes of sanitary wastes. For a society, it is important to have healthy girls, children, and women; hence, maintaining proper menstrual hygiene is interlinked. Sanitary waste disposal is a worldwide problem due to the complexity of material used in the products and their improper ways of disposal causing threat to health, hygiene and the environment. This paper focuses on creating awareness on generation and handling of sanitary waste in India and the latest technologies available for handling such wastes.

Keywords: municipal solid waste; MSW; sanitary waste; feminine products; landfill; Swachh Bharat Mission.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2024.136946

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2024 Vol.33 No.2, pp.217 - 233

Received: 28 Nov 2020
Accepted: 06 Jul 2021
Published online: 01 Mar 2024 *

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