Journey of Garbage- From Cradle to Grave

Hi friends! In my last article, I wrote about NIMBY syndrome. Due to this attitude of common people, it has become very difficult for the local civic authorities to earmark and use suitable open space for dumping of the garbage. Now, before we learn more about the landfills or garbage dumping grounds, let us first know the system of collection and transportation of garbage from different locations all the way to the dumping ground.

Vehicles such as rickshaws, bullock carts and tricycles are used manually for this purpose. These vehicles are comparatively low cost and easy to operate and maintain. These vehicles are appropriate for areas with dense population having narrow streets with comparatively less quantity of waste generation.

Compacter Trucks

These vehicles are provided with a compaction system to hydraulically compact the waste. Such vehicles are very useful in reduction of volume of garbage due to compaction system. Compactor trucks are not suitable for narrow roads. These trucks are provided with lifting mechanism to discharge the waste from stationary containers located at the source of generation. The compacted garbage is generally offloaded from the rear or from the front side of the vehicle at the waste dumping site. The compactor trucks can carry waste directly from the source of generation to the dumping ground or to the waste processing site. The major advantages of compactor trucks include large size, higher capacity, covered and safe for waste handlers due to minimum exposure. The compactors trucks cannot be used for waste that has gritty, dusty and abrasive components.

Non compactor trucks are known to be relatively more efficient and affordable. These vehicles are generally utilized in small cities. These are used for dense waste that has minimum potential for compaction. These compactor trucks have capacity of in the range of 10-12 m3 and are generally used to cover small distances of less than 15 km. The non-compactor trucks are usually covered to avoid flying of waste material and entry of rain water into the waste. These trucks are preferred when labour cost is high. Similar to muscle power vehicles non compactor trucks are also operated by single person.

The specialized collection vehicles such as closed body recycling trucks, recycling trailers, modified flatbed trucks, flatbed trucks, open bin recycling trucks and compartmentalize trucks are mainly used for collection of wastes segregated at the source. In developed countries large wastes storage containers are located outdoors or basement for collection of recyclables. In many cities and towns in India, they use Ghanta Gadi as a transport vehicle. The recyclables are further transported to the processing site through specialized collection vehicles.

Modified flatbed trucks

The standard flatbed truck is used for the curbside collection. In these types of vehicles, there is hydraulic dumping box fitted on the top of the truck bed. The dumping box has three or four compartments.

(The author is an environment specialist. Views personal.)