Why Guwahati is a Good bet for a Zero-Waste Challenge

Only a fraction of waste generated in Guwahati is recycled; the remaining end up at dumpsite or is littered around.

Guwahati is most of the 3 towns selected with the aid of using Waste Aid, a United Kingdom-primarily based totally non-profit, with a purpose to quickly release a Zero Waste Cities Challenge. The goal is to discover marketers with revolutionary commercial enterprise thoughts which could assist lessen or recycle waste and create inexperienced employment opportunities.

Two winners in each city will be awarded €10,000 (Rs 892,146) and business mentoring support to help make their idea a reality. Waste control is the number one obligation of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), which overlooks the everyday operations and affairs together with number one series, secondary series, domestic composting, processing, and disposal of strong waste. The city, with a populace of over a million, is split into 31 wards — every of that is assigned to a non-income chargeable for doorstep series, road sweeping, and series of person charges.

The city generates approximately 550 tonnes per day (TPD) of solid waste — more than 85 per cent of which finds its way to the dumpsite located at Boragaon, apart from the numerous other small garbage vulnerable points which can be seen in the city. Guwahati has a windrow technology compost plant of 50 TPD in Boragaon. It has been functional since 2010, and a proposal for augmenting its capacity to 200 TPD has been proposed.

GMC initiated a project for purchasing dry waste from its citizens to promote the segregation of municipal solid waste (MSW). Awareness and home composting are being promoted through pilot projects. Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur has been engaged by GMC as a consultant to help improve the municipal waste management system in Guwahati.

Despite all these steps, Guwahati ranked 356 in the Swacch Survekshan 2020 survey, an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene, and sanitation in villages, cities, and towns across India.

This shows that efforts positioned on my own through government won’t be sufficient and we want a much in depth engagement which takes its power from the individuals who need to make a distinction to their cities. Young marketers with novel ideas, and residents who care and need to make a distinction through replicating present fashions of pleasant waste control practices have an extremely good opportunity.

Only a fragment of waste generated in Guwahati is recycled; the final finally ends up at dumpsites or is littered around. Waste Aid believes that locality improvements preserve the important thing to a inexperienced financial system and may make the surroundings cleanser and more healthy for the city’s population.

Michelle Wilson, Waste Aid Circular Economy Network Director said:

“We are really excited to launch this competition in Guwahati today. There are already some fantastic examples of the circular economy in the city. We hope that through the Circular Economy Network activities, and in particular the Zero Waste Cities Challenge, we can help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality.”

The Zero Waste Cities Challenge will run over six months. The utility procedure is open till June 19, 2021. In July, 12 semi-finalists could be decided on and could obtain in depth commercial enterprise aid to hone their concept and create a pitch. The very last spherical will contain pitching at a Shark Tank occasion in the front of a panel of enterprise experts.

Source About: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/waste/why-guwahati-is-a-good-bet-for-a-zero-waste-challenge-76973