Seventh meeting of the Urban Think Tank on effective solid waste management with the participation of waste producers

Seventh Meeting Of The Urban Think Tank 'Effective Solid Waste Management 23727 tJ I With The Participation Of Waste Producers' --___ January 7-8, 1999, Calcutta Water and Sanitation - Program An international partnership to help the poor gain sustained access to improved water supply and sanitation services FOREWORD - by Mr Prasanta Chatterjee 1 Mayor - Calcutta Municipal Corporation Organizing an efficient and appropriate solid waste management system is one of the most difficult challenges facing municipalities. We .i _ i_n are about to cross over into a new i millennium, yet we are using outdated methods for handling solid waste. We must modernize our systems, so that - ||bmt4 solid waste is not visible during its handling. Engineers should devise systems which are versatile and simple for indigenous use. The techniques should incorporate segregation at source. Education and raising sustained awareness of the public is needed through the involvement of NGOs, ) students, and ward committees. We ' can expect success only if the system is enforced on a targeted and sustainable basis. Effective solid waste management I is a concerted effort and a continuous a -eh process. The city of Calcutta :. appreciates the opportunity to v participate in this Think Tank to At demonstrate some of the initiatives that our municipality has undertaken. -- 4 D~ D2mr _fCf ,, ii::q _ i I ll l ( ll (l l i [) Vl lI a -' ie o II I D F De I(ve(lop)lnci ll ,y  A New Image For Calcutta Municipal Initiatives Underway Calcutta: Refuse, Reduce, Recycle Waste * Refuse over-packaging and non-degradable items * Reduce by segregaiting waste at source * Recycle by converting waste into wealth Dealing With legal system prohibits Hazardous Waste throwing of waste on the road but levying fines has All bio-medical wastes for the always proved difficult. To * entire city are segregated at source, deal with this issue, the - transported in secured transportation Municipal Corporation has - and disposed of at a separate landfill. introduced a Garbage , This scheme covers 400 health- Carrying and Removal related establishments out of a total Charge of Rs 20 per occasion of 560 hospitals, nursing homes, in domestic areas and Rs 50 laboratories and clinics. The system (minimum) in commercial X 74 started in February 1 998 and has areas to any person or now become mandatory. The premises dropping garbage remaining establishments are likely in the street. to join in the scheme soon. Government will compel all meat Tackling Visual Pollution vendors to follow regulatory hygienic Influencing The And Hygienic Practices practices in displaying and selling Policy Environment their products. Facelift for Calcutta's meat-sellers: Calcutta High Court maintains a The public are cautioned not to buy Privatization With 'Green Bench' to deal with all meat unless enclosed in glass cases. Assistance From environmental issues. The existing From April 1, 1999, the Municipal Waste Producers 'House-to-house' collection of garbage provides cleaning and The Urban Think Tank removal services to over nine million of Calcutta's day-time population. The Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia (WSP-SA) has been Over 40 per cent of secondary hosting regular meetings of the Urban Think Tank since December garbage collection is now through 1994. The meetings provide experts and practitioners an opportunity private carriers who are paid on per to engage in a dialogue to address various issues on sustainable tonnage basis of waste handled. urban development related to water and sanitation. The Urban Think Tank produces and disseminates the proceedings Spot Loading Of and key issues of each meeting through Nagari to municipalities all Waste After over India. The purpose of this information note is to highlight the House-to-house Collection best-practice approaches, share lessons learned, emphasize key emerging issues and provide a linkage between municipalities and To avoid secondary storage of other stakeholders to foster a better operating environment in the waste, spot loading of waste in sector of water supply and sanitation services. vehicles immediately after house- The Urban Think Tank is a participatory forum, which encourages t house collection has been feedback. We would appreciate receiving comments and suggestions introduced as an experiment in some on topics that you feel are important for managers of local urban residential areas and carriage-way bodies. Please write back to us, particularly if you wish to participate in collection points. the Think Tank. The next Urban Think Tank is scheduled to be held on May 13-14, Group Captain A.K. Chakrobarti 1999, in Nainital in collaboration with ATI, Nainital and will focus on Adviser (SWM) 'Building Municipal Capacity to Deliver Services to the Poor'. Calcutta Municipal Corporation 5, S.N. Banerjee Road Calcutta 700 013  The Seventh Urban Think Tank Municipal Corner ~ The Water and Sanitation The Seventh Urban Think Tank held in Calcutta on January 7-8, Progrom-South Asia (WSP-SA), in 1999, brought together people working in the field of solid waste association with the Calcutta management, providing an excellent opportunity to exchange Municipal Corporation, organized the experiences. The in-depth analysis of issues and brainstorming sessions Seventh Urban Think Tank on helped the participants to appreciate the problems in a much wider January 7-8, 1999. As usual perspective and to explore appropriate and cost-effective solutions. financial support was provided by The experience of Calcutta in dealing with solid waste management DFID. The meeting convened to has been highlighted. There are plans to segregate wastes at source, examine 'Effective Solid Waste both in domestic and commercial areas. This scheme will achieve a Meagement with the Participation number of objectives: shifting the collection points from the road-side of Waste Producers' and provided a and collecting and disposing of recyclable materials with the support of forum for municipal officials, donor ragpickers and NGOs. This is expected to reduce the volume of waste organizations and NGOs to examine and future land requirements for disposal. Degradable waste will be the various dynamics of an efficient collected by municipal workers daily, and will help produce quality solid waste management system. compost with reduced sifting necessary at the plant. For the first time, the Seventh Another area where efforts are being made to coordinate actions Urban Think Tank went 'regional', and to enforce discipline includes waste storage of various materials having participants from Pakistan, generated from road construction works, residues from structural Bangladesh and Nepal. construction and silts extracted from the sewers. This effort will involve Representatives from various states the coordination of various government and private agencies. It is and organizations around India hoped that with greater coordination and better enforcement of the articulated the challenges that system, it will be possible to maintain cleaner roads. confront them and presented I would like to thank the organizers for providing the forum and also initiatives they have adopted in for successfully focusing on important priority issues. keeping their city and environment clean. The illustrative case studies M r Commission sparked policy debate, discussion of Municipal Commissioner operational and management best Calcutta Municipal Corporation practices, and provided a forum where issues and lessons learned were shared. agencies that provide such basic The informal forum adjourned on The workshop concluded that services are to perform better, a simple yet powerful note from Mr interventions in solid waste integration and coordination Ramanath Jha, the Metropolitan management required community between the municipalities, citizens, Commissioner of Mumbai participation and cannot be private sector entities and NGOs Metropolitan Regional Development undertaken in isolation. If local is crucial. Authority: "Solid waste management is a key function and a daily activity of all cities and of every household. sT I -, i--t - -. 1- -.X ,.~ And yet the needs of the activity are _ -- -not integrated in the development - plans and the development control regulations of the cities. Nor are they planned at the household level and i _ inside campuses, leading to ~~ -../ - ~~~~~~~~~~ ~ collection in public places and k Jk- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~transportation from the road-sides. .:..~~~~~~~. . - ~~~~~~~Both, city governments and the citizens, need to work towards an arrangement that prevents garbage piling up on the streets and street corners. The city councils should -_ - ^ _E Q J; adopt incentive-oriented strategies - ; m _7_ that encourage citizens to do their own imaginative and permissible \ Ax t4 i , ' . - things for collection and disposal of -mii-ii-i-=-_ waste wherever possible."  Commercially Viable Product Segregaton At. Segrcegaion At Line In Marginal Areas Source For ______________________ Productive Use Of Waste --B-y opting for a unique and eco- basis of a monthly 'subscription fee' friendly community approach, of Rs 10 per household from the slum The Center for Development Muskan Jyoti Samiti, a Lucknow- dwellers, Rs 15 from economically Communication (CDC), a Jaipur- based NGO, provides solid waste weaker sections, Rs 20 from middle based NGO involved in disposal'services through the income groups, and Rs 25 from community development SWASTI (Solid Waste Initiatives) localities which have open drains and activities, looks at segregating program. The success and the broken streets. waste inside the domestic sustainability of SWASTI is attributed The cost recovery system has premises through its 'Swachch to its being commercially viable enabled the project to provide Jaipur Abhiyan' project. CDC through sales, subscription and services such as daily collection of has developed an innovative improved technology in solid waste. garbage, weekly cleaning of roads model for management of waste Initiated in 1994, SWASTI operates and streets, provision and which links household efforts to through community participation with maintenance of dustbins and public the services of the municipal assistance from various support toilets, and transportation of waste. bodies. Initially funded by the agencies, including the State Urban All garbage is categorized and sent Municipal Corporation, the Development Authority (SUDA); for recycling. Organic waste is program is financially self- District Urban Development converted through vermi-composting sustaining, charging a household Authority; UNICEF; People's Media into manure and then sold; similarly, collection fee of Rs 20 and Cooperation; Central Drug Research all recyclables and byproducts are selling by-products through Institute; Industrial Toxicology sold. The project promotes vermi-composting. Research Center and Development innovation; research on different The program was initiated in Initiatives. Keeping in mind the methodologies in composting has led 1997 with the joint efforts of limitations of the government to the development of a new product, CDC and Jaipur Municipal machinery, particularly in the service 'organic liquid fertilizer'. Corporation and uses the slogan delivery of solid waste collection and 'Look for garbage within first, and disposal, the projects undertaken by then beyond'. The Municipal SWASTI have been designed to be For information, contact: Corporation provides land and complementary efforts to the Mr Mewa Lal financial and monitoring municipal service delivery systems. Secretary assistance to the project. CDC The NGO is currently active in 22 Muskan Jyoti Somiti does advocacy, organizes the slums in the trans-Gomti area of 14/776, Indira Nagar community and monitors the Lucknow city and covers 18,000 Lucknow segregation of the household households. SWASTI operates on the waste before collection. UNICEF is also supporting the program by promoting community and PRIVATIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION CAN BE POSITIVE FACTORS FOR household vermi-composting. EFFECTIVE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS. PARALLEL EFFORTS IN The segregated waste is INDIA, PAKISTAN AND BANGLADESH INDICATE THAT COMMUNITY-BASED collected at source by the waste APPROACHES USED IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT NOT ONLY CREATE producers. Inorganic waste is then sent for recycling, while EMPLOYMENT FOR THE URBAN POOR, BUT ALSO REDUCE PEOPLE'S organic waste goes for vermi- SCEPTICISM AND INERTIA. composting by the Municipal Corporation. The program covers a population of 400,000 in u The Domestic Solid Waste youth groups. The project, funded Rajasthan and is rapidly Management Program in the low- by the European Union, started in expanding. income area of Harkesh Nagar in 1996 and covers a total population Delhi demonstrates that of 50,000. decentralization of solid waste For further information, contact: management efforts enforces upward Dr Vivek Agrawal social mobility of ragpickers. For information, contact: Trustee Secretary ACCORD, a national NGO, with Ms Neena Gulaboni CDC, D-165, Savitri Path collaboration from the local bodies, Director, Field Projects, ACCORD Bapu Nagar has organized ragpickers for C-126, Greater Kailash-I Jaipur 302 015 doorstep collection service using New Delhi 110 048 neighbourhood community and  Li Through education, advocacy and motivation, the Center for The Supreme Court Of India Environment Education (CEE) has organized 30 NGOs in Bangalore On Solid Waste Management city around the issue of solid waste segregation and storage. The The Seventh Urban Think Tank has discussed the interim report on 'Environmentally Sound and Solid Waste Management for Class-i cities. In 1996, the Supreme Productive Use of City Garbage' Court of India entertained Writ Petition No. 888 and constituted a program was implemented in 1992 Committee to look into solid waste management practices and identify with financial assistance from deficiencies in the existing system. The Committee is comprised of NORAD and covers 20,000 practitioners in the field and representatives of relevant ministries. The households. The project emphasizes report has made specific recommendations on steps to be taken by the positive relationship between urban local bodies to improve SWM in their cities. The report deals ragpickers and private households. with three categories of issues: Through 'swabhimana' (self-respect) * actions to be undertaken by urban local bodies in a given time- committees at the city, ward, and frame; community levels, the program * technology options available to the local bodies for storage, enables all stakeholders to primary collection, transport, processing and disposal of waste, participate in dealing with the solid supervisory levels, work norms, the type and number of vehicles to be waste management situation in the used, allocation of funds to be made, and health and legal aspects of city. The municipality supports the SWM; and program by providing tricycles, bags * interventions that the state and Central governments may consider and drums and provides land in to support the urban local bodies in their endeavor to improve SWM parks and gardens for composting practices in their cities. and storage. Committee members who will be reviewing the findings of their report welcomed comments and ideas from the Think Tank on the For information, contact: private sector and user participation, which had not been dealt with in Ms Shyamala Krishna detail in the report. Work is in progress on the final report, which is Program Coordinator, CEE due shortly. Southern Regional Cell Kamala Mansion, 143, For information and copies of the interim report, contact: Infantry Rd, Bangalore 560 001 Mr RU. Asnani Urban Environmental Infrastructure Representative, India Li The solidwaste project in US-AEP, CEPT, Kasturbhoi Lalbhai Campus Muiahid Colony in Karachi, Pakistan, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380 009 is supported through the Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority (SKAA), the provincial service agency. SKAA provides linkages through social organization and coordination Setting An between the community and the _x! municipal government. Community- Example based approaches to solid waste management are supported by SKAA Himachal Pradesh through self-financing at the is the first state to household level. SKAA, as an respond to the _ intermediary, organizes and enables government's ^- local communities to manage notification on curbing -. _ primary collection, and facilitates the proliferation of linkages with the Municipal plastic waste. The - Corporation. The Municipal state has imposed a Corporation organizes secondary ban on colored recycled out a resolution for a total collection and disposal to landfill. polythene bogs, ban on all plastic bogs. which was enacted by the For information, contact: authorities beginning January For information, contact: Mr Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui 1999. Currently, transparent Dr S.K. Gupta Director General, SKAA plastic bags are still under Health Officer MDMW Road, Sindh Assembly circulation. The state government Municipal Corporation, Shimia Annexe, Karachi, Pakistan is in the process of drafting  Communify-based per month ($1 = Tk 48). The waste is Community-based Dcmmntaitz-bsedseparated and sorted at the Solid Waste Decentralized composting plant located within the Com posting community and processed into Management In Dhaka compost using aerobic techniques. In Khulna The whole process of composting is smell-free. The production cost of 'In an attempt to capture the value compost using the manual aerobic Khulna, with a population of of organic waste, to create job technique followed by Waste about 1.5 "million, is the third largest opportunities for the urban poor and Concern is Tk 1.65 per kg (excluding city in Bangladesh. In order to to develop business opportunities for the land rental). The present market improve the solid waste services, a the local entrepreneurs, Waste price of compost sold in Dhaka is pilot project on solid waste Concern, a national NGO, has between Tk 10 to Tk 18 per kg. At management was initiated in 1997 initiated a decentralized community- present, Waste Concern is selling its in Khulna city with the objective to based organic resource recovery compost to a local fertilizer company formulate and demonstrate an project. The project, the first of its at a price of Tk 2.50 per kg. efficient and effective service delivery kind in Dhaka, is partially self- This project demonstrates that a process/model through piloting and financing and is supported by a local small-scale community-based action research. Prodipan, a national financier. This pioneering small-scale composting plant can be a NGO, provides the lead in this composting project has been in commercially viable and self- project with active cooperation from operation since January 1995. sustainable project. Waste Concern, Khulna City Corporation (KCC), Ward A small piece of vacant land with support from the RHUDO/ Commissioners and community (1,000 sqm) was given to Waste USAID, is now expanding its capacity groups. SDC funds the project and Concern by the local Lion's Club and in the next few years, with WSP-SA is involved in strategic (Dhaka North). At present, Waste support from UNDP and the Ministry supervision and management Concern processes 2 tons of solid of Environment and Forests of the support. The project operates in six waste per day from which about 400 Government of Bangladesh, plans to out of 31 wards of Khulna city. In the kg of compost is produced. One replicate this experience in three project area, community-based thousand households of Mirpur communities of Dhaka city. primary waste collection is section-2 of Dhaka city have been established. Garbage is collected included in the composting project. MFr morek fr Eniontuclah from individual households and Modified rickshaw vans were subsequently disposed of at a introduced by Waste Concern for Waste Concern, House 21 (Side-B) transfer point, from where the house-to-house collection, and for Road 7, Block G, Banani Model municipal truck picks it up and this service the households pay Tk 15 Town, Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh carries it to the disposal site. Barrel-type Composting For Low-income Settlements In Dhaka Waste Concern, with support from estimated that from one barrel, the UNDP's LIFE program, has compost worth Tk 2,000 (US $42) introduced a pilot project for solid can be produced every year. lrpsw -N, " N ca t waste management in two slums of The compost is purchased by ...t. A Dhaka city, which not only solves the Waste Concern every six months waste collection problem, but has from the slum dwellers. After economic benefits as well. screening and packaging, it is sold 4 , 1 =;S k7- _ K Under this project, a specially to fertilizer dealers. From next designed 500 litre bottomless year, Waste Concern will link the perforated barrel (drum) is supplied fertilizer dealers with the to the slum dwellers. One barrel is community to directly purchase the provided to two households. The compost produced by the r l r slum dwellers are motivated to community. The two households dispose of organic waste in the sharing one barrel share the -A.-g; g - * ~ - w barrels. Waste decomposes income (Tk 2,000) from the sale aerobically into compost over a proceeds of the compost. The slum period of six months. Generally, the dwellers are quite enthusiastic <Vtit-t,.-. -'e ,'~ <major portion (90 per cent) of the about the project and take solid waste in low-income areas is responsibility for the maintenance bio-degradable. In this project, it is of the barrel.  The project has established a strong partnership with KCC. ,- Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between KCC and Prodipan. This is the first agreement on NGO-public "- partnership in Khulna. The agreement allows Prodipan to collect money for the extra services they are rendering in addition to municipal ' conservancy taxes. Community groups have started to organize , primary waste collection with the . ' - help of Prodipan and it is expected 7' 'r V that within one year, they can independently organize and manage the collection in a technically and financially sustained manner. The initiative is a successful education activities, with the Although the monthly charge has partnership between the Ahmedabad collaboration of the Municipal gradually increased from Tk 10 to Municipal Corporation, the corporate Corporation and financial assistance Tk 20 per household to meet the sector and SEWA, a trade union of from RHUDO/USAID. operating costs, it is estimated that self-employed women. Ahmedabad The city of Chennai generates an with a marginal increase in rates, the Municipal Corporation provides a list average of 3,000 metric tons of operation can run at a profit. The of residential areas and initiates garbage every day; of this, the local project interventions have started to public awareness campaigns, the Municipal Corporation collects 2,000 have a 'multiplier effect'; corporate sector mobilizes funds for metric tons. At present, Exnora is communities in new areas are bags to collect dry recyclable responsible for 600 metric tons of the gradually taking initiatives to deal garbage, and SEWA has organized primary collection of garbage in with their own solid wastes in a paper pickers known as Arogya Chennai city alone, complementing similar fashion. Bhaginis for the collection of dry the efforts of the municipal recyclable garbage. Out of the authorities by reducing the number For further information, contact: estimated total of 30,000 paper of garbage collection points. Exnora Mr Monir Alam Chaudhury pickers in Ahmedabad, 6,000 are organizes street-level associations of Project Coordinator members of SEWA. Under the local communities called 'Civic Municipal SWM campaign, training and income Exnoras' to start self-help programs Management Project generating activities, and savings that address environmental Prodipan account and insurance in SEWA Bank problems. In total, about 1,500 such Khulna, Bangladesh are provided for the Arogya Bhaginis. neighbourhood groups are functioning today in the city of For further information, contact: Chennai. Street 'beautifiers', paid Collective Action Ms Beeial Bhatt through household collection funds, Can Make SEWA Reception Center are organized by Civic Exnoras to A ,Change Opp Victoria Garden undertake collection of garbage. The A Change Ahmedabad 380 001 garbage is taken to a common collection point where the In October 1994, after the Corporation vehicles take the solid outbreak of plague in Surat city of Civic Inclusion waste for landfill and recycling. Bio- Gujarat, many cities around India In Solid Waste degradable garbage is processed become aware thWt a crisis like this Mstethrough vermi-culture, and used as bcould occur anywhere, given the Management compost or natural manure. The non- unsanitary condition of the degradable garbage is segregated environment. The plague was a .Since1 989, Exnora, a local NGO and sold by the street beautifiers. reminder that an organization in Chennai, has been involved in working in isolation cannot function community participatory For further information, contact: in crisis situations without the programs in solid waste Mr Anand Rudra concerted effort of all the management, urban environment, Associate Program Officer stakeholders. The mitigation and civic improvement. Exnora's Regional Urban efforts initiated in 1995 in program in Chennai and the Development Office Ahmedabad city are known as the neighbouring semi-urban districts USAID, New Delhi 'Clean Ahmedabad Campaign'. undertook development, design and  Emerging Issues And Actions For Factors For Sustainable Sustainable SWM Solid Waste Management Based on the case studies presented, the Working Group sessions The Seventh Urban Think Tank identified the following positive and negative factors: reached a consensus that given India's solid waste management 0 _ context, future interventions should address the following issues: + Segregation at source - Inadequate collection efficiency + Dove-tailing of projects to - Lack of coordination * It is crucial to foster positive create synergy - Lack of advocacy for policy relationships and linkages in + Political will and passion for a environment order to integrate formal, informal, cause - SWM low priority for the private, and municipal systems to + Involvement of waste producers urban poor benefit all stakeholders. + Education of all stakeholders - Lack of education on hazardous Relationships can be formalized by + Privatization through the waste establishing MOUs, legal agreements corporate sector - Lack of corporate sector between NGOs and user groups, and + Decentralization at the involvement by ensuring enforcement of such community level - Legal/social status of agreements. Even informal linkages + Partnerships with parallel sweepers/pickers should clearly define roles and organizations - Lack of synergy between responsibilities of all stakeholders. + Social recognition of sweepers stakeholders In general, there is a need to - Non-participation of the strengthen information-sharing on decision-makers policies, improve existing systems to match and facilitate integration, support NGO networking, create provide land and resources at ragpickers can be improved through models and pilots, and support nominal cost. trade union support and education. marketing incentives. Barriers and social taboos can be * Increasing the accountability penetrated by creating partnerships * Municipal Corporations should act and responsibility of service agents with the sweepers and ragpickers; as facilitators to develop a to users of municipal services is vital. they have the potential to participate sustainable and commercially- Efficient monitoring systems which formally in SWM through contracts. viable SWM system through could force the municipality to community-based approaches. improve performance are urgently * Mobilization and awareness- - Municipalities and the Ministry of required. raising is vital and must involve Urban Affairs should encourage Involving the communities in decision-makers, the private sector policy resolutions to involve the payment and monitoring of services and children. private sector in social development. can increase accountability and Involving the community at large The private sector, NGOs and the responsibility. Formal enforcement is through exposure, field visits, stickers community can contribute together to required in order to have an effective on lunch boxes and stationery, achieve a sustainable urban system. Monitoring by coupons is one national service schemes, working environment through commercially of the options. models, school curricula, private viable programs. sector donation in kind and labor, Decentralization of activities at the * The social and financial interaction with teachers, and media community level can be achieved by development of sweepers and involvement in solid waste demarcating and clarifying roles of ragpickers should be promoted, with management campaigns could all all actors, and the extent of support a focus on education and on the serve as effective media for provided by urban local bodies. rights and responsibilities of workers. mobilization. Municipalities could continue to Social status of sweepers and For more information on the Think Tank, please contact: The Urban Think Tank C/o UNDP-World Bank, Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia PB 416, 55, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110 003 Tel: (91)-(0)11-4690488/9 Fax: (91)-(0)11-4628250 E-mail: wspsa@worldbank.org Designed and produced by Media Workshop India Pvt Ltd, Noida. Fax: 91-4585 691 E-mail: mwipl@vsnl.com Internet: www.medindia.com