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Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

International Conference on Solid Waste Management, 5IconSWM 2015

Waste Generation and Management in Antarctica

Pawan Kumar Bharti*, Bhupesh Sharma, R.K. Singh, A.K. Tyagi*
Antarctica Laboratory, R&D Division, Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, 19, University Road, Delhi, India

Abstract
Antarctica is the coldest continent on the earth. The Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean surround the continent.
Antarctic continent covers 10% of the earth surface and has a surface area of nearly 14 million square kilometer. It also has 70%
of the worlds fresh water resources in the form of ice sheets. Thick ice sheets cover the whole continent (almost 98%). As a
result of the environmental conditions, the remaining (2%) fraction without ice cover is basically the barren soil and rocks.
Many countries have set up scientific research stations in Antarctica. There are about 65 scientific research stations in
summer and 30 research stations in winter, which are currently operating for scientific investigations. India has two permanent
scientific research stations in the Antarctica located in Schirmacher Oasis in Central Dronning Maud Land and in Larsemann
Hills, East Antarctica. However, the activities due to operation and maintenance of the research station in Antarctica have
impacts on the Antarctic environment. Besides, the scientific stations also generate waste materials and a significant part of it is
discharged into the Antarctic environment, which may create impacts on the Antarctica. The assessment of waste materials
emanating from various sources was carried out. The present paper attempts to highlight the environmental parameters observed
during ISEA austral summer at Maitri and Bharti station, East Antarctica.
2016
2016The
TheAuthors.
Authors.
Published
by Elsevier
Published
by Elsevier
B.V. B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review
under responsibility ofthe organizing committee of 5IconSWM 2015.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 5IconSWM 2015
Keywords:Waste generation, Antarctic Environment, Indian research station, Waste management;

1. Introduction
Antarctica is a huge continent, covering 14 million square kilometers or 10 percent of the Earth's land area. It
influences an even greater area - extending beyond the equator - in the form ofcold air, water currents and migratory
sea birds and marine mammals (Bharti and Gajananda, 2013). With an average elevation of 2300 meters, Antarctica

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address:gurupawanbharti@gmail.com

1878-0296 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of 5IconSWM 2015
doi:10.1016/j.proenv.2016.07.004

Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

is the highest and driest of all continents. It is also the coldest - the average annual temperature at the South Pole is 49 Celsius. The continent is almost completely covered by ice with an average thickness of over 2000 meters. This
is the storehouse for 70 percent of the world's fresh water (Bharti et al., 2015).
Most of what makes Antarctica so valuable for research also makes it difficult for the scientists who are
stationed there. The isolation and extreme climate are difficult for many people to endure for extended periods of
time. Antarctica is both the coldest and the windiest continent. These two things combine to make an extremely
hostile environment. The research stations that are maintained on Antarctica use state of the art technology to both
protect scientists from the environment and to provide a level of comfort which enables them to live and work there
relatively safely and comfortably (SIIR, 2012).
1.1 Maitri Station:
The India Scientific station Maitri is located at Latitude 7045 53 South; Longitude 11 44 03 East in the
Schirmacher Oasis in Central Dronning Maud Land of east Antarctica. It is approximately 80 km from the ice edge.
It is situated in an area of barren rock and is surrounded by a number of lakes. The closest station to the Maitri is the
Russian StationNovolazarevskaya (Russian Station). Maitri is relatively large station complex, spanning an area of
approx. 1000x500 meter (SIIR, 2006).
1.2 Bharti Station:
The Larsemann Hills is an ice-free area of approximately 50 km2, located halfway between the Vestfold Hills
and the Amery Ice Shelf on the south-eastern coast of Prydz Bay, Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica (6930S,
761958E). The ice-free area consists of two major peninsulas (Stornes and Broknes), four minor peninsulas, and
approximately 130 islands. The Larsemann Hills area contains more than 150 lakes at different Islands and
peninsulas (SIIR, 2012).

Fig. 1.Map of Antarctica with location of Indian stations

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Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

The major objectives of the studies were to carry out detailed environmental monitoring at the both Indian
Scientific Bases over east Antarctica. The scope of work involves:
x
x
x
x
x

Sampling of oils and fuels conventionally being used and its detailed analysis.
Assessment of oil spillage in the vicinity.
Assessment of air exhausts emission during operation of snow vehicles, incinerator, power generator, etc.
Sampling of wastewater from different sources and its detailed characterization.
Suggestions and recommendations to minimize waste materials generations in and around Indian Scientific
Stations in east Antarctica.

2. Waste Disposal Policy at Maitri Station

Indian Scientific Base, Maitri (Fig.-2a), have developed a waste management policy, which outlines ways to
minimize waste and how specific waste materials should be disposed off (Sharma et al., 2011). Waste disposal
policy at Maitri Includes:
x
x
x
x

Reduction of waste amount introduced toAntarctica.

All solid waste should be separated into separate container.
Waste should stored in clearly marked containers after segregation
Toilet waste and food waste combustion and collection of its ash.

Fig. 2a: Ariel View of Maitri station

Fig. 2b: Ariel View of Bharti station

3. Waste Disposal Policy at Bharti Station

Although new Indian Scientific station Bharti (Figure 2b), has a advanced waste management policy to
minimize and disposal of waste. But during the time of construction, the policy was entirely different (Bharti, 2012).
Waste disposal policy at Bharti station Includes:
x
x
x
x

Reduction of waste amount introduced toAntarctica.

All solid waste should be separated into separate container.
Waste should stored in clearly marked containers after segregation
Finally collected in n big container at Ship for backlogging to mainland.

4. Environmental Monitoring
The environmental monitoring and impacts assessment studies was carried out with keeping in view of various
activities pertaining to the logistics operations and subsequent operation at the Maitri and Bharti station.

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Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

Fig. 3. Environmental monitoring in Antarctica

A matrix was prepared to identify the impacts of various activities on environmental components. Table 1
shows the interactions of various outputs of station with the environmental elements. These includes use of snow
vehicles, power generators, incineration of food and toilet waste, waste water discharge, helicopter, field
equipments, etc. Sampling of water and wastes water samples from Novo station was also carried out. The sampling
and analysis were made as per the standard methods described in APHA (2005). The estimation of air emission was
calculated as per the guidelines based on fuel consumption.
4.1 Waste Management:
Proper waste management and disposal are given high priority at the Maitri and Bharti stations. The waste
management at the Antarctic Stations is in accordance with Antarctica waste management policy. Since the strength
of the Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica varies from year to year, the amount of waste generated each year
fluctuates accordingly (Table-2). Maitri station has comprehensive schemes for separating, storing and back loading
of solid waste. The solid waste materials at Maitri station are separated into few categories.
The separated solid waste materials are as follows:
x
x
x
x
x

Biodegradable waste: Food & Vegetable waste, paper & cartoon packs, tissue paper, etc.
Non-degradable waste: Glass, aluminum, metal cans, etc.
Hazardous wastes: Paints, oils and fuels, medical wastes, electronic waste, chemicals waste, etc.
Sewage effluent waste.
Incinerated ash of toilet and food waste.
Table 1.Output of the Activity from Operations in Antarctica: Action Vs Output

Sl.

Actions

Output
Air Pollutant

Wastes

Noise

Oil Spills

Heat

Mechanical

Snow Vehicles

Generator

Incinerator

Helicopter

Field Equipment

Waste Disposal

Human activity

9
9

9
9

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Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

Table 2. Solid Waste Generation at Maitri station (In Tons)

Sl.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Waste Generated
Kitchen cum Food
Waste water effluent
Packaging waste
Glass waste
Oil Waste
Ash
Chemical waste
Electrical / Electronic
Medical waste
Metal / Scarp
Misc.
Total

Monthly
0.4
50
0.15
0.10
0.13
2.0
0.08
0.1
0.01
1.25
0.83
55.06

Estimated
Summer
2.0
250
1.0
0.4
0.5
10
0.5 Ton
0.5
0.04
7
4
275.94

Annual
4.5
700
1.7
1
1.4
2.6
1 Ton
1.2
0.11
15
10
738.51

All type of waste exception of food, toilet and sewage waste is annually removed from the Antarctica. Further,
incineration ashes of food and toilet waste generated by incineration at Maitri station are separated, collected in
containers and brought back to India for appropriate disposal or utilization. Further, small non-combustible waste
are separated and compacted and stored for removal from Antarctica. The hazardous and non-hazardous waste
materials generated at Maitri station are presented in this paper, which gives an overview of waste production at
Maitri station. At Bharti station, the total generated solid waste was segregated, stored and brought back to
mainland. Incinerators were not installed during the construction of Bharti station. Although, Bharti station is
having ultra modern German technology for waste management and hence not so big problem can arise there.
4.2 Wastewater disposal:
Bio Disc systems (Fig.-5) are installed to accept crude Maitri bath and kitchen domestic waste and produce an
effluent of suitable quality for discharge to a water pit adjacent to the Station. The Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP)
system uses colonies of live natural microorganisms (biomass), to break down the pollutants in the wastewater. It
has also been observed that the wastewater discharged into small pond (Fig.-4)sometimes without treatment due to
the cold effect of ambient condition or too many uses of detergent/chemicals in the station can also inhibit or kill
these microorganisms; particularly if used in excessive amounts. The wastewater is periodically pumped from the
settling pond into an ice-free area approx. 200-meter away from the station (SIIR, 2006).

Fig 4. Wastewater pond in Maitri

Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

Fig.5. Bio-Disc systems installed at Maitri

4.3 Food and Toilet waste:

The station is equipped with incinerators for treatment of food and toilet waste. The foods and toilet waste
generated at Maitri Station are burnt in an oil-fired incineration at high temperature.
Food waste is incinerated (Fig.-7) in a designated area at the Maitri Station. Human toilet waste is incinerated
once in a day. ATF is used as fuel for the incineration of food and toilet waste. The release of flue gas from
incineration of waste may contribute environmental impact through emission released. The ashes from the
incinerator are collected in drums, stored and transported out of the Antarctica once in a year (SIIR, 2006).

Fig. 6.Replacement of old toilets by new advanced toilets

Fig. 7. Food incinerator

Recently, advanced toilets were installed in Maitri Station, which is better then old toilets system. It has
observed that the old toilets system was replaced with fuel efficient new toilet incinerators (Figure 6).

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4.4 Fuel combustion and emissions to air:

The internal combustion engine converts the chemical energy contained in the fuel into mechanical power.
During the operation of the Maitri station, air emission produced from generator, incineration, snow vehicles etc
were estimated. The exhaust gas discharged from the operation of snow vehicles, generator, incinerator etc. contain
several gases and suspended particulate matter. These emissions comprise of Carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon mono
oxide (CO), Oxides of sulfur (SOx), Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other gases were estimated on the basis of fuel
consumption during XXVI ISEA and given in Table 3 (SIIR, 2006).

FuelConsumption(inL)
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
EarthMovers

Powergenerator

FoodandToilet
Incinerator

Fig. 8: Fuel consumption during the Summer Season

However, the production of CO2 as a result of combustion of fuel from operation of generator, incinerator, snow
vehicles, etc. into the atmosphere is a cause of concern. The emission of CO2 and can contribute to the green-house
gas and are harmful to human health and to the Antarctica environment. Further, combustible products settling on
snow and ice-free surfaces could potentially affect the Albedo and energy budget of the continent, which with time
could lead to further alternatives of physical environmental ablation rates. In general, deposited combustible
compounds may affect ice quality. Moreover, the uptake of combustible products may in long run inhibit growth of
micro flora and fauna. These include emissions to the atmosphere such as exhaust gas, disturbance to the physical
soil and ice environment such as tracks from movement of snow vehicles. Further, environmental disturbance is an
inevitable consequence of activities in Maitri and Bharti station in Antarctica.
Table 3. Fuel Consumption and Estimated Air Exhaust Emission
S.N

Actions

Hrs run

Fuel
Lt.

Kg

CO2

NOx

Air Emissions (Kg )

CO
HC

PM

SOx

Earth Movers

3644

40,767

35,4674

110798

65

564

30.5

1.1

Power/ Generator

5454

51,386

44,706

139661

81.3

711

38.4

5.1

1.35

Food and Toilet

Incinerator

1872

5616

4894

15288

77.8

4.2

06

0.15

10970

97,769

85,067

2,65,747

155.3

1352.8

73.1

15.1

2.6

Total

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Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

Emission (in Kg)

800
Earth Movers

700
600
500

Power/
Generator

400
300

Food and
Toilet
Incinerator

200
100
0
NOx

CO

HC

Fig. 9: Calculated Pollutants emission from fuel consumption

Emission (in Kg)

7
Earth
Movers

6
5

Power/
Generator

4
3

Food and
Toilet
Incinerator

2
1
0
PM

SOx

Fig. 10. Calculated PM and SOx emission from fuel consumption

CO2 Emission (%)

Earth Movers

Power/ Generator

Food and Toilet

Incinerator

Fig. 11. Calculated CO2 emission from fuel consumption

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Pawan Kumar Bharti et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 35 (2016) 40 50

4.5 Oil Spills:

Oil spills, unfortunately, common events in many parts of the Antarctica. Most of them are accident, so no one
can know when spills can happen on land, water, soil or ice at any time. The oil contamination poses a major threat
to environment and ecosystem of Antarctica because the oil products are persistent and potentially toxic in the
environment. Oil spills have diverse negative impact on the microorganism. Oil spills pose the greatest environment
risk in Antarctica.
The oil spillage at Maitri station was investigated in detail and areas contaminated by leakage/spillage of ATF
fuel at Maitri station are observed mainly at four locations. These are mainly at generator complex, vehicle parking
area, incinerator and container area. Oil spill around the Maitri station area may migrate in direction of freshwater
reservoir under ice. It could further cause oil pollution of a coastline in Indian Bay. Moreover, evaporative emissions
occur during tank filling and in the form of diurnal losses from tanks. The fuel spill in Antarctica can cause long
lasting environmental damage. The physical conditions in Antarctica retard the decomposition of the fuel products
and cleanup efforts are made difficult by the conditioning (Erich et al., 2000).
Table 4. Assessment of Oil Spillage
Sl.

Particulars

Oil Spillage
Area (Sq. feet )

Workshop

359

51.28

2
3

Generator complex
Fuel Storage Tank

185
100

26.42
14.28

Incinerator/Summer camp

50

7.14

Total

700

100

4.6 Waste Oil:

Waste oil is generated during operation and maintenance of generators, incinerators, snow vehicles etc. at
Maitri station. This waste oil includes lubricating oil, ATF, engine oil, waste oil, which are stored in drums and back
loaded annually.

%OilSpill

Workshop
GeneratorComplex
FuelStorageTank
Incinerator/SummerCamp

Fig 12. Assessment of oil spillage around Maitri

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Fig. 13.Temporary shelter of Penguins in empty containers

Fig. 14. Drum Compactor for Empty fuel containers

5. Tourism and Antarctica

Tourism was started in Antarctica in 1960. The most popular mode of tourism to Antarctica is the ships and
only about 2 % tourist use the aircraft. Total number of tourists visited to Antarctica is about 47000 persons per
annum with an increasing rate of 14% per year. Tourists always affect the local ecosystem in various adverse ways.
Total number of voyages for Antarctica is around 250 per year. The past and projected data pertaining tourists in
Antarctica is given below:
Table 5. Tourist in Antarctica with projection
Sl.

Year

No. of Tourists

1992

6000

2004

30000

2006

37000

2008

50000

2010

80000

2021

300000

(Source: IAATO, 2008)

6. Conclusions
Scientists from Shriram Institute have been part of Indian scientific expedition to Antarctica. They have carried
out investigations to address all the relevant environmental issues related to the operation of the station and suitable
monitoring and mitigation measures. However, wastewater from Maitri station is discharged sometimes without
proper treatment. A number of empty fuel drums are held at Maitri station and oil spillage has been slightly
observed in few identified areas. Overall, the operation of the station at Schirmacher Oasis is being managed to have
minor or transitory impacts on the Antarctic environment. Bharti station is having modern technology for waste,
wastewater and environmental conservation and management, hence the accumulation and dispersion of pollutants
due to the operation of scientific station will be minimized and the science may be continue without disturbing the
pristine environment of Antarctica in a sustainable manner.

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7. Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to MoES, NCAOR, SIIR for providing opportunity to participate in Antarctica
Expedition and Leaders of various ISEAs for continuous support and providing help and guidance while working.
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