On 29th June 2021: Under the project, “Waste Wise Cities: Tackling Plastic Waste in the Environment” funded by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), UN-Habitat India office conducted an online workshop on Action Plan for Solid Waste Management in Mangaluru based on the application of the Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT) on June 29, 2021 from 11:00 to 13:00 hrs.
WaCT is developed by UN-Habitat, based on SDG indicator 11.6.1 parameters, to support cities and countries in undertaking a comprehensive diagnostic of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to aid scientific and evidence-based development of projects and investments, the tool standardises the methodology or waste data collection in the city.
In the month of April 2021, UN-Habitat India team conducted a detailed ground assessment study to understand the existing waste management scenario in Mangaluru through the application of WaCT with support from Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), Hasiru Dala and APD Foundation. A sample size of 90 households (HHs) from high-, middle- and low-income groups participated in this study. The activities included distribution of collection bags (2 bags each for wet and dry waste) to HHs and commercial units (CU), collection of segregated bags from HHs and CUs for eight days for a detailed characterisation, interviews of CU's and resource recovery centres, disposal facility assessment and characterisation, mapping of the formal and informal resource value chain and estimating plastic leakages in the city.
The workshop was attended by thirty seven stakeholders representing MCC , local NGO’s, recycler associations, institutions, bulk waste generators, private companies, informal sector representatives and citizen groups.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Akshy Sridhar, Commissioner, MCC emphasised on Mangaluru’s plan to transition to sustainable and circular waste management systems. ‘The extensive data assessment being done by UN-Habitat will give us a clear idea of where Mangaluru city stands with respect to solid waste management at multiple stages starting from household segregation to the landfill site. The data generated after the application of WaCT will help the city in preparing a clear-cut roadmap of solid waste management which will include usage of resources, stakeholders and utilisation of technology’, he added.
Ms. Parul Agarwala, Country Programme Manager, UN-Habitat India mentioned about UN-Habitat’s mandate for SDG 11 and intention to continue to work with local governments and keep its relevance by action on the ground.
Ms. Swati Singh Sambyal, Waste Management Specialist, UN-Habitat India shared the ground assessment results with the group – 'Mangaluru city generates 391 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste of which 110 TPD goes for resource recovery (only 25 per cent recovery rate) through formal and informal facilities. Over 30 resource recovery facilities were mapped by UN-Habitat India team which will further enhance the recycling inventory for MCC for future engagements and reporting. As per the assessment, about 65 per cent of the waste still goes to the landfill site and the city needs to redefine its existing systems to ensure this waste can be diverted for processing. Additionally, the city also has significant plastic leakages contaminating land and water resources.'
Based on the assessment results, four priority areas of intervention were identified for action − Awareness and capacity building with focus on waste minimisation, segregation and zero waste systems; decentralised resource recovery by boosting recycling interventions and bringing efficiency and coordination in resource recovery; improvement of disposal site operations and financing and circular investments. After sharing the results, the stakeholders were divided into four breakout sessions for discussion on these four areas of intervention.
The four breakout sessions discussed on problems in the group specific themes and on solutions and ideas that could be translated as activities in the City Action Plan.
In her closing remarks, Swati added that the inputs to the priority action areas for Mangaluru city on solid waste management will be incorporated into a concrete action plan that will be shared with MCC. Also, in coming months, the UN-Habitat India team will engage with stakeholders in preparing investment ready proposals on resource recovery interventions and will continue to work with MCC to ensure the city reinvents its existing waste management systems to a more resource efficient one.
Recording of this online event including Breakout Room discussions, have been uploaded on our YouTube Channel and can be accessed at: https://youtu.be/DVJ30ly5Zhc