Indian tribunal questions Kerala’s account of biomedical waste capacity
India’s National Green Tribunal has questioned a Kerala pollution board report claiming the State has sufficient biomedical-waste treatment capacity. The tribunal asked why waste was being dumped in neighbouring Tamil Nadu if capacity was adequate and sought district-level information on healthcare facilities lacking authorisation or management arrangements.
India’s National Green Tribunal has challenged a report by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board that said the State had adequate facilities to process biomedical waste. The Southern Bench questioned why waste generated in Kerala had been dumped in neighbouring States if there were no gaps in treatment capacity. The proceedings concern allegations that biomedical and mixed solid waste from Kerala was illegally dumped at locations in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu in December 2024.
The tribunal directed the pollution board to submit a district-wise list of healthcare facilities found to lack adequate waste-management arrangements. Data cited in the proceedings showed that Kerala generated about 73.08 tonnes of biomedical waste per day in 2025. Two Common Biomedical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities are operating in the State: IMAGE in Palakkad and Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Ltd.
at Ambalamugal in Ernakulam. The facilities treated about 72.4 tonnes of waste per day in 2025, while their installed capacity was reported at about 71.8 tonnes per day. A total of 24,390 healthcare facilities were using the services.
“Going by the above data, one has to presume that the State has got the required capacity proportional to the waste generated. If that is so, why the biomedical waste is being dumped in the border States is not addressed,” the Bench said in an order dated September 21, 2026, according to The Hindu. The board’s report said 642 applications from healthcare facilities seeking authorisation under the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, were still under consideration.
A further 73 applications had been returned for clarification. The Bench said it was unclear how waste from those facilities was being treated or disposed of. Board officials said they had sought updated information from the Health department on the total number of healthcare facilities in Kerala, which would be used to reassess capacity and availability.
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