Economic and Environmental Implications of Multiple Players in Solid Waste Management

This Research Project was initiated by Latisha Khattar and Vasundhara, students of Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi under the mentorship of Dr. Govind Singh.

Initial Project Summary: Waste management is becoming an increasing challenge in all urban settings in the present day. The 3Rs of Reuse, Reduce and Recycle have now been forgotten and the landfills in all Indian cities are overflowing with waste. The three major landfills in Delhi (Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla) have also turned into mountains of waste even as Delhi continues to struggle to manage its waste load. At the same time, while the aggregate waste management industry in the developed countries is worth billions, it is only worth a few millions in India. There is thus a need for innovative interventions in the sector of ‘Waste Management’ as the sector has a promising scope. Such interventions could not only be wonderful business ventures, they could also help solve the challenge of waste management, which is a huge urban crisis.

The project explores the waste management sector from the perspective of formalizing it. The project will strike partnerships with NGOs  and corporate houses and make an inventory of existing and innovative waste management solutions at the individual, colony, municipality and city level. The project will be focused on Vijay Nagar (Near University of Delhi) and will study the existing waste management practices to bring out the need for taking suitable interventions. The project will also attempt at developing a business model after establishing the role of all existing stakeholders (e.g. households, daily waste pickers, sweepers, ragpickers, MCD, NGOs and companies.) The project will also integrate the ‘segregation of waste’ component which has been missing in the Delhi urban landscape.

The Project Report was submitted to Cluster Innovation Centre and was evaluated.


Click here to Download the Project Report.


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