Tackling Biomedical Waste, Made in India

While machines like Srjanam promise the future, NGOs like Enviro-Vigil have quietly ensured safer present-day practices.

In my previous article, I discussed the technologies hospitals use to safely treat biomedical waste — from microwaves and hydroclaves to autoclaves — each with its own strengths and limitations. While these systems have played an important role globally, questions of cost, scalability, and accessibility remain central challenges for Indian healthcare facilities. Building on that discussion, this week I turn to some exciting new developments and success stories in biomedical waste management closer to home.

One important driver of innovation in this field has been the Make in India initiative, which has also left its mark on biomedical waste management. In February 2025, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, inaugurated Srjanam—India’s first indigenously developed automated biomedical waste treatment plant, or rig, at AIIMS, New Delhi.

This innovative and environmentally friendly technology has been developed by CSIR–NIIST (National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram). It represents a significant step forward in the sustainable management of biomedical waste. The Srjanam rig can disinfect pathogenic waste, such as blood, urine, sputum, and laboratory disposables, without relying on costly, energy-intensive incinerators. Remarkably, it also leaves behind a pleasant fragrance, masking the otherwise noxious odours of toxic waste.

Once validated, the technology will be ready for large-scale deployment, pending approval from the relevant authorities.

Managing Thane’s Hospital Waste: How Enviro-Vigil’s Common Biomedical Waste Facility Became a Success Story

While Srjanam represents the future of cutting-edge biomedical waste management, equally inspiring are grassroots efforts that have quietly but effectively tackled the problem for years. One such example comes from Thane, where the NGO Enviro-Vigil has pioneered community-driven solutions.

Before concluding this series on hospital waste management, I would like to highlight the sustained efforts of a Thane-based NGO, Enviro-Vigil (Paryavaran Dakshata Mandal), which has been managing the city’s hospital waste for nearly two decades.

Enviro-Vigil was originally founded in the 1990s by a group of industrialists from Navi Mumbai. For reasons of their own, they later entrusted the organisation to us so that its environmental activities could continue. In 1998–99, Prof. Walavalkar and I, from Bandodkar Science College, Thane, together with Dr Vikas Hajirnis, a medical practitioner serving the poor in Chendani Koliwada, assumed responsibility for carrying the work forward. We were later joined by Mr Ravi Kadam and Mr Prasad Date.

Our initial focus was on raising public awareness in Thane, particularly around household waste management. Around this time, we also attended a two-day workshop on hospital solid waste management at Veer Jijamata Institute of Technology (VJTI) in Mumbai. The expert discussions and presentations proved invaluable for our later work.

By then, the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, had come into effect, placing the responsibility for establishing common facilities for the collection and treatment of biomedical waste with urban local bodies. Accordingly, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) was tasked with creating such a facility for all government and private hospitals within its jurisdiction.

In 2000, Mr K. P. Bakshi (IAS), then Commissioner of TMC, entrusted us with conducting a survey to quantify the category-wise biomedical waste generated across hospitals. Aware of our previous work in waste management, he placed confidence in us to carry out the task. With full sincerity and with the active involvement of our college students, we conducted a comprehensive survey and submitted an exhaustive report. Following this, Enviro-Vigil was formally awarded the project of establishing a common facility for the treatment and disposal of biomedical waste—a responsibility we undertook as an NGO.

Read more about this in my next article. Until then, have a nice weekend.

(The author is an environmentalist.)