DPCC looks to register more hazardous waste treatment facilities in NCR

Delhi Pollution Control Committee allows hazardous waste treatment facilities in NCR to register, ending monopoly in waste management.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Sunday said it will now allow treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDF) in the National Capital Region (NCR) that deal with hazardous waste to register with the pollution body to gather Delhi’s waste.

New Delhi: A view of the skyline at Lutyens Delhi. (PTI)

This, officials said, was being done to not only end the monopoly of the lone TSDF in Delhi, which is based in Bawana, but to also ensure the efficient management of such waste in the region.

A senior DPCC official said the decision was taken in a meeting held last month, with the process to invite TSDFs to register with the pollution body already underway.

“This is the first step. Such facilities will first have to apply for authorisation with DPCC. Once that is done, we will then also take permission from the respective state governments to send such waste there,” said the official, on condition of anonymity.

Delhi’s sole TSDF at Bawana became functional in 2022, and the 14-acre facility has the capacity to treat 60,000 tonnes of hazardous waste annually.

“With more players, we expect waste will not need to travel large distances... For example, waste from east Delhi can be sent to a facility in Noida or Ghaziabad,” the official added.

The development comes after DPCC, in its 72nd board meeting held in February, had raised the problem arising out of a single TSDF handling Delhi’s entire hazardous waste. “The DPCC board did not appreciate the existing system of a single entity operational in Delhi... which is giving rise to a monopoly and lack of fair competition among the service providers,” the minutes of the meeting read.

DPCC, in an order dated June 14, stated, “It is decided that the DPCC will inform through its website or letters that other TSDFs operating in surrounding states of UP and Haryana may also apply for authorization under the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016.”