The Waste Challenge

India generates 62 million tonnes of waste every year, of which less than 60% is collected and around 15% is processed. With landfills ranking third in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in India, the burgeoning cities and rapidly exhausting landfill sites pose a great threat to the environment. A paradigm shift in end of the line waste management to reuse and recycle waste at source offers a plausible solution.

Recyclable dry waste contributes to nearly 25% of the total solid waste generated in India with e-waste and plastic waste being the major contributors. The CPCB National action plan for MSW 2015 has proposed the setting up of Material Recovery Facilities to segregate and recover valuable materials from household waste. Such recovered materials can be utilized directly or after reprocessing. This presents a great opportunity for large- scale upcycling of waste. While several entrepreneurial ventures have sprung up with the intent of up cycling waste and initiatives like plastic roads are gaining traction, large scale policy level measures and consumer sensitization could be the answer to managing the increasing concern of solid waste.

This session aims to facilitate dialogue around waste upcycling strategies for value addition and minimizing waste disposal into landfills. The panel will discuss the challenges, solutions, efforts taken towards Solid waste management at the source.