Sanitary Waste Management in India: Challenges and Agenda

June 01, 2022

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016classifies used sanitary napkins, diapers, condoms, tampons, and incontinence sheets as sanitary waste.According to the Menstrual Hygiene Alliance of India(MHAI), 336 million girls and women of reproductive agein India generate about 1 billion sanitary napkins permonth, or 12.3 billion sanitary napkins annually. Sanitarywaste is voluminous and infectious, and plastic is usedas a primary material in the manufacture of disposablesanitary products, underlining the need for sanitarywaste management in India.

This report highlights status, challenges, government initiatives in the context of segregation, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal ofsanitary waste. There have been very limited documented measures for collecting anddisposing of other sanitary wastes such as tampons, condoms, incontinence sheets, andother similar waste in the countrythat reflects our concern for having a system for sanitary wastemanagement in India. It also highlights the key concerns related to the increasing quantity of sanitary waste. It identifies the critical challenges associated with current sanitary waste disposal practices in India with evidence-based learning and policy measures to be considered going forward.

The report addresses recommendations for policy considerations, effective coordination among stakeholders, implementation protocol and waste governance by the local Government to institute a sustainable system for sanitary waste management.