Between 2016-17 and 2020-21, an average of 19% of the states did not report data on the generation of one or more types of solid waste. While the reporting has greatly improved in 2020-21, it remains incomplete and inadequate. Even this limited data shows consistent increase in the generation of different types of solid waste with low recycling rates. In the contemporary world of increasing population, urbanization, lifestyle changes, and other anthropogenic activities, the management of generation and disposal of Solid Waste (SW) has become one of the major global challenges and pressing issues with multiple negative impacts on the environment and people. As per the recent estimates of World Bank (WB), about 2.24 billion tonnes of SW was generated in the year 2020 alone with a per capita footprint of 0.79 kilograms per day. The same is projected to increase by 73% to 3.88 billion tonnes by 2050. Further, as of 2022, less than 20% of globally generated solid waste is recycled, leaving the rest of the waste either as open dumps or in landfills. As per another 2016 report of WB, about 1.6 billion tonnes (about 5% of total emissions) of the global Green House Gases (GHG) emissions were caused primarily by open dumping and landfilling solid waste without capturing landfill gaseous emissions. The same report also estimates that by 2050, the GHG emissions of SW will increase to 2.4 billion tonnes if no improvements are made in the management of SW. In this story, we look at the SW generation, recycling, and disposal in India Methodology The Data has been sourced from the Solid Waste Datasets collection by Dataful, which has compiled different types of SW data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Annual Reports and data provided in the responses given by the government in Parliament. The analysis presented in the story is limited to data given in both these sources. Limitations in Data recorded by the CPCB For both the above reasons, the different types of SW data may not be complete and are expected to be significantly more than the data presented in CPCB reports. CPCB Records 6 types of Solid Waste Data The ‘Solid Waste’ as per Solid Waste Management Rules (SWMR) in India is defined as Solid or Semi-Solid Waste generated from domestic, commercial, sanitary, agricultural, dairy, horticulture, bio-medical (including treated bio-medical), electronic, radioactive, battery and other sources. In other words, multiple types of sources generate Solid Waste in India every day. The CPCB maintains data about the following 6 types of SW in India, details of which along with the sources from which each of SW is generated are provided below. Complete Data of SW Generation is not recorded in India In the previous story on Plastic Waste, it was highlighted that Plastic Waste generation data is not being completely recorded and is not being provided by some of the states and local bodies. The analysis of other types of SW generation data also reveals that the same issue prevails for other types of SW as well. For example, the analysis of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste data furnished by CPCB in the parliament shows that 28 out of the 36 States and Union Territories (UTs) have not submitted data about C&D waste in the year 2021-22. Apart from 2021-22, there is no information in the public domain about C&D waste for the previous years. Therefore, it shows that C&D waste generated over the years in India has not been indented and recorded. The partial data submitted by 8 States and UTs shows that about 7,505 tonnes of C&D waste is generated per day in the year 2021-22. Similarly, the analysis of other types of SW data also shows that several states have not submitted the data of different types of SW generated over the years. Data shows that from the year 2016-17 to 2021-22, an average of 19% of states have not provided information about one or more types of solid waste. Only Bio-medical waste has been consistently recorded and submitted by most of the states over the years. The other types of SW such as Hazardous, Electronic and Plastic Waste have not been consistently reported across the years by the states. It is only from the year 2018-19 onwards that most of the states have begun to consistently report about different types of SW. Progressively, the situation has improved and as of 2020-21, most of the states have reported about different kinds of waste. However, as reported earlier, the data that is recorded and submitted by states even from the year 2020-21 do not reflect the actual volumes of different types of SW generated in India. For example, the 2020-21 CPCB annual report on Hazardous Report notes that “Out of 76,235 units (Hazardous Waste units), only 48,764 units (i.e.