Managing of Solid Waste through Public Private Partnership Model

Solid waste management is fast becoming an insurmountable challenge across urban India, requiring urgent solutions, especially in view of rapid urbanization and inability of local urban authorities to tackle it. Saharanpur, a small city in Uttar Pradesh, represents a microcosm of most large cities and towns in India, grappling with similar challenges. With a decadal population growth of over 19% during 2001-2011, which is higher than the national growth, the city is confronted with the task of managing a rapid growth in solid waste. In order to come up with viable solutions to this problem ITC Limited, in collaboration with Muskan Jyoti Samiti, an NGO, and the local municipal authority, initiated a pilot PPP project on solid waste management in the year 2006. With persistent focus on processing, recycling and user fee, this initiative has been able to surpass the national benchmark of 80% waste recovery set by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). The cost of collection and processing is covered through revenue from user fees and compost sale.