Municipal Solid Wastes        (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000

Ministry of Environment and Forests

1. These rules may be called the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.
2. Save as otherwise provided in these rules, they shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

1. "anaerobic digestion" means a controlled process involving microbial decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen;
2. "authorization" means the consent given by the Board or Committee to the "operator of a facility" ;
3. "biodegradable substance" means a substance that can be degraded by micro-organisms;
4. "biomethanation"means a process which entails enzymatic decomposition of the organic matter by microbial action to produce methane rich biogas;
5. "collection"means lifting and removal of solid wastes from collection points or any other location;
6. "composting" means a controlled process involving microbial decomposition of organic matter;
7. "demolitionand construction waste" means wastes from building materials debris and rubble resulting from construction, re-modelling, repair and demolition operation;
8. "disposal" means final disposal of municipal solid wastes in terms of the specified measures to prevent contamination of ground-water, surface water and ambient air quality;
9. "Form" means a Form appended to these rules;
10. "generator of wastes" means persons or establishments generating municipal solid wastes;
11. "land filling"means disposal of residual solid wastes on land in a facility designed with protective measures against pollution of ground water, surface water and air fugitive dust, wind-blown litter, bad odour, fire hazard, bird menace, pests or rodents, greenhouse gas emissions, slope instability and erosion;
12. "leachate" means liquid that seeps through solid wastes or other medium and has extracts of dissolved or suspended material from it;
13. "lysimeter" is a device used to measure rate of movement of water through or from a soil layer or is used to collect percolated water for quality analysis;
14. "municipal authority" means Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Nagar Palika, Nagar Nigam, Nagar Panchayat, Municipal Council including notified area committee (NAC) or any other local body constituted under the relevant statutes and, where the management and handling of municipal solid waste is entrusted to such agency;
15. "municipal solid waste"includes commercial and residential wastes generated in a municipal or notified areas in either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but including treated bio-medical wastes;
16. "operator of a facility"means a person who owns or operates a facility for collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes and also includes any other agency appointed as such by the municipal authority for the management and handling of municipal solid wastes in the respective areas;
17. "pelletisation" means a process whereby pellets are prepared which are small cubes or cylindrical pieces made out of solid wastes and includes fuel pellets which are also referred as refuse derived fuel;
18. "processing" means the process by which solid wastes are transformed into new or recycled products;
19. "recycling" means the process of transforming segregated solid wastes into raw materials for producing new products, which may or may not be similar to the original products;
20. "schedule" means a Schedule appended to these rules;
21. "segregation" means to separate the municipal solid wastes into the groups of organic, inorganic, recyclables and hazardous wastes;
22. "State Board or the Committee" means the State Pollution Control Board of a State, or as the case may be, the Pollution Control Committee of a Union territory;
23. "storage" means the temporary containment of municipal solid wastes in a manner so as to prevent littering, attraction to vectors, stray animals and excessive foul odour;
24. "transportation " means conveyance of municipal solid wastes from place to place hygienically through specially designed transport system so as to prevent foul odour, littering, unsightly conditions and accessibility to vectors;
25. "vadose water" water which occurs between the ground, surface and the water table that is the unsaturated zone;
26. "vermicomposting"is a process of using earthworms for conversion of bio-degradable wastes into compost.

1. Every municipal authority shall, within the territorial area of the municipality, be responsible for the implementation of the provisions of these rules, and for any infrastructure development for collection, storage, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes.
2. The municipal authority or an operator of a facility shall make an application in Form-I, for grant of authorization for setting up waste processing and disposal facility including landfills from the State Board or the Committee in order to comply with the implementation programme laid down in Schedule I.
3. The municipal authority shall comply with these rules as per the implementation schedule laid down in Schedule I.

1. The State Board or the Committee shall monitor the compliance of the standards regarding ground water, ambient air, leachate quality and the compost quality including incineration standards as specified under Schedules II, III and IV.
2. The State Board or the Committee, after the receipt of application from the municipal authority or the operator of a facility in Form I, for grant of authorization for setting up waste processing and disposal facility including landfills, shall examine the proposal taking into consideration the views of other agencies like the State Urban Development Department, the Town and Country Planning Department, Air Port or Air Base Authority, the Ground Water Board or any such other agency prior to issuing the authorization.
3. The State Board or the Committee shall issue the authorization in Form-III to the municipal authority or an operator of a facility within forty-five days stipulating compliance criteria and standards as specified in Schedules II, III and IV including such other conditions, as may be necessary.
4. The authorization shall be valid for a given period and after the validity is over, a fresh authorization shall be required.
5. The Central Pollution Control Board shall co-ordinate with the State Boards and the Committees with particular reference to implementation and review of standards and guidelines and compilation of monitoring data.

1. Any municipal solid waste generated in a city or a town, shall be managed and handled in accordance with the compliance criteria and the procedure laid down in Schedule-II.
2. The waste processing and disposal facilities to be set up by the municipal authority on their own or through an operator of a facility shall meet the specifications and standards as specified in Schedules III and IV.

1. The State Boards and the Committees shall prepare and submit to the Central Pollution Control Board an annual report with regard to the implementation of these rules by the 15^th of September every year in Form-IV.
2. The Central Pollution Control Board shall prepare the consolidated annual review report on management of municipal solid wastes and forward it to the Central Government along with its recommendations before the 15^th of December every year.

1. In areas falling under the jurisdiction of ‘Development Authorities’ it shall be the responsibility of such Development Authorities to identify the landfill sites and hand over the sites to the concerned municipal authority for development, operation and maintenance. Elsewhere, this responsibility shall lie with the concerned municipal authority.
2. Selection of landfill sites shall be based on examination of environmental issues. The Department of Urban Development of the State or the Union territory shall co-ordinate with the concerned organisations for obtaining the necessary approvals and clearances.
3. The landfill site shall be planned and designed with proper documentation of a phased construction plan as well as a closure plan.
4. he landfill sites shall be selected to make use of nearby wastes processing facility. Otherwise, wastes processing facility shall be planned as an integral part of the landfill site.
5. The existing landfill sites, which continue to be used for more than five years, shall be improved in accordance of the specifications given in this Schedule.
6. Biomedical wastes shall be disposed off in accordance with the Bio-medical Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 and hazardous wastes shall be managed in accordance with the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, as amended from time to time.
7. The landfill site shall be large enough to last for 20-25 years.
8. The landfill site shall be away from habitation clusters, forest areas, water bodies monuments, National Parks, Wetlands and places of important cultural, historical or religious interest.
9. A buffer zone of no-development shall be maintained around landfill site and shall be incorporated in the Town Planning Department’s land-use plans.
10. Landfill site shall be away from airport including airbase. Necessary approval of airport or airbase authorities prior to the setting up of the landfill site shall be obtained in cases where the site is to be located within 20 km of an airport or airbase.

11. Landfill site shall be fenced or hedged and provided with proper gate to monitor incoming vehicles or other modes of transportation.
12. The landfill site shall be well protected to prevent entry of unauthorised persons and stray animals.
13. Approach and other internal roads for free movement of vehicles and other machinery shall exist at the landfill site.
14. The landfill site shall have wastes inspection facility to monitor wastes brought in for landfill, office facility for record keeping and shelter for keeping equipment and machinery including pollution monitoring equipments.
15. Provisions like weigh bridge to measure quantity of waste brought at landfill site, fire protection equipments and other facilities as may be required shall be provided.
16. Utilities such as drinking water (preferably bathing facilities for workers) and lighting arrangements for easy landfill operations when carried out in night hours shall be provided.
17. Safety provisions including health inspections of workers at landfill site shall be periodically made.

Specifications for land filling

18. Wastes subjected to land filling shall be compacted in thin layers using landfill compactors to achieve high density of the wastes. In high rainfall areas where heavy compactors cannot be used alternative measures shall be adopted.
19. Wastes shall be covered immediately or at the end of each working day with minimum 10 cm of soil, inert debris or construction material till such time waste processing facilities for composting or recycling or energy recovery are set up as per Schedule I.
20. Prior to the commencement of monsoon season, an intermediate cover of 40-65 cm thickness of soil shall be placed on the landfill with proper compaction and grading to prevent infiltration during monsoon. Proper drainage berms shall be constructed to divert run-off away from the active cell of the landfill.
21. After completion of landfill, a final cover shall be designed to minimize infiltration and erosion. The final cover shall meet the following specifications, namely: --

25. Installation of landfill gas control system including gas collection system shall be made at landfill site to minimize odour generation, prevent off-site migration of gases and to protect vegetation planted on the rehabilitated landfill surface.
26. The concentration of methane gas generated at landfill site shall not exceed 25 per cent of the lower explosive limit (LEL).
27. The landfill gas from the collection facility at a landfill site shall be utilized for either direct thermal applications or power generation, as per viability. Otherwise, landfill gas shall be burnt (flared) and shall not be allowed to directly escape to the atmosphere or for illegal tapping. Passive venting shall be allowed if its utiliztion or flaring is not possible.
28. Ambient air quality at the landfill site and at the vicinity shall be monitored to meet the following specified standards, namely :-

Closure of Landfill Site and Post-care

1. The waste processing or disposal facilities shall include composting, incineration, pelletisation, energy recovery or any other facility based on state-of-the-art technology duly approved by the Central Pollution Control Board
2. In case of engagement of private agency by the municipal authority, a specific agreement between the municipal authority and the private agency shall be made particularly, for supply of solid waste and other relevant terms and conditions.
3. In order to prevent pollution problems from compost plant and other processing facilities, the following shall be complied with, namely :-

1. Operating Standards

B.   Emission Standards

1. Suitably designed pollution control devices shall be installed or retrofitted with the incinerator to achieve the above emission limits, if necessary.
2. Wastes to be incinerated shall not be chemically treated with any chlorinated disinfectants
3. Chlorinated plastics shall not be incinerated.
4. Toxic metals in incineration ash shall be limited within the regulatory quantities as specified in the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 as amended from time to time.
5. Only low sulphur fuel like l.d.o., l.s.h.s or Diesel shall be used as fuel in the incinerator.

1. Name of City / Town:…………………
2. Population ………………………
3. Name of municipal body:………………….……………………………… and Address ……………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………

4. Name of Incharge dealing with municipal solid wastes ………… …………..…………………………………………………………… with designation …………………………………………………………………..

1. Composting: ………………………………………………………………
2. Vermiculture: ………………………………………………………………
3. Pellets: ………………………………………………………………
4. Others, if any, please specify.

1. Whether covering material is used and whether it is adequately available : -------------------------------------

1. The validity of this authorization is till___________. After the validity, renewal of authorization is to be sought.
2. The ____________________State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committees may, at any time, revoke any of the conditions applicable under the authorization and shall communicate the same in writing.
3. Any violation of the provision of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 will attract the penal provision of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of1986).