Establishing Resilient Towns through SWM

Over the past five years, the consumption of plastic in India has seen significant growth, leading to a corresponding surge in plastic waste generation. Annually, the country produces around 3.4 million tonnes of plastic waste, with only 30% of it being recycled. The remaining plastic waste is either sent to landfills or improperly dumped into aquatic environments. According to SWM Rules 2016, urban local bodies (ULBs) are responsible for maintaining cleanliness in cities and towns. However, many ULBs face several   challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and strategic and institutional weaknesses, such as limited institutional capacity, financial constraints, and a lack of political will.

These poor waste disposal practices like dumping and burning hinder the progress towards achieving integrated solid waste management at the household level. In cases where an Urban Local Body has implemented a waste collection system and individuals contribute segregated waste, the high-grade plastics from the collected dry waste are sold to local scrap dealers. This is primarily due to the absence of aggregators and recyclers. However, a challenge arises when dealing with the remaining dry waste, which constitutes approximately 45-50% of the total collected waste.Inadequate waste management infrastructure in many Indian cities exacerbates the problem, leading to improper waste disposal practices.

The Attibele, Bommasandra, and Jigani Town Municipal Council (TMC) serves as a pivotal local governing body located in the Bangalore Urban district of Karnataka, India. Situated on the outskirts of Bangalore, these three TMCs oversee the management and delivery of essential services to approximately 45,000 households and commercial establishments spread across 23 wards within each TMC. These services encompass waste collection facilitated by dedicated waste collection vehicles and a temporary dry waste shed for storage and processing.The waste management initiatives undertaken by the TMC hold significant importance, as their successful execution stands as a blueprint for other regions, encouraging the adoption and expansion of similar waste management practices.

The collaboration between the TMC and corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding sources further reinforces the approach, ensuring a cooperative and sustainable endeavor towards efficient waste management in the area. Such initiatives play a crucial role in fostering a cleaner and more environmentally conscious environment, benefiting the entire community and contributing to the development of resilient towns.

Objectives :

•Implement Sustainable Waste Management in 3 Towns: Establish efficient and sustainable waste management practices, including proper collection, segregation, and disposal of waste in 69 wards of 3 towns (Attibele, Bommasandra & Jigani).

•Promote Circular Economy Principles: Foster the adoption of circular economy principles, such as waste reduction, reuse, repair and recycling, to minimize environmental impact and maximize resource efficiency across all the 3 towns in 3 years.

•Resource recovery by Enhancing Community Awareness: Educate and raise awareness among residents about the importance of waste management, promoting behavioral changes to encourage responsible waste disposal and recycling practices.

•Empower Local Stakeholders: Engage and empower local stakeholders, including community members, TMC officials & elected representatives to actively participate in waste management initiatives and take ownership of the process through capacity-building.

•Ensure Environmental Sustainability: Minimize the environmental impact of waste disposal by advocating sustainable practices such as composting organic waste and reducing the volume of waste sent to landfills.

•Enabling the towns to achieve Mission life - Mission Life aims to safeguard public health and environmental quality through pollution control, conservation, and sustainable development initiatives.

1. Resource recovery by diverting approximately 30 metric tons of waste per day, equivalent to 900 metric tons per month, away from landfills and water bodies thereby reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change.
2. To encourage 1700+ women to practice sustainable menstruation. Approx 900 households to practice home composting. This initiative aims to foster behavioral change in waste disposal practices for nearly 220,000 individuals.
3. Encouraging responsible waste disposal and source segregation among 35,000 households and commercial establishments.

SAAHAS

Saahas is a not for profit organisation. It was registered in 2001 under the Karnataka Societies Act of 1960 as one of the first non governmental organisations working in the waste sector. At Saahas, we believe that when waste is managed at source, it becomes a resource. Since 2001, we have been helping build communities across rural and urban India that manage their waste at source by reducing, reusing and recycling their waste and achieving 90% resource recovery. Saahas is headquartered in Bangalore and has a regional office at Gurgaon. Saahas is present in 12 states, 28 Districts, 9 Urban centres, 864 villages and has 345 staff. We have influenced waste to the amount of 170 TPD and set up 118 decentralised waste processing units.

Vision

• India to become a leading Circular Economy where Nothing is Waste.

Mission

• Pilot innovative resource management programs.
• Collaborate closely with communities, administrators, businesses and lawmakers.
• Evolve next practices for adoption of the Circular Economy

Our offerings and services are aligned with the following UN SDGs 

 #3 (Good Health and Well-Being ), #11(Sustainable Cities and Communities), #12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and #13 (Climate Action)

Website: http://www.saahas.org