Alternative approaches for better municipal solid waste management in Mumbai, India

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Abstract

Waste is an unavoidable by product of human activities. Economic development, urbanization and improving living standards in cities, have led to an increase in the quantity and complexity of generated waste. Rapid growth of population and industrialization degrades the urban environment and places serious stress on natural resources, which undermines equitable and sustainable development. Inefficient management and disposal of solid waste is an obvious cause of degradation of the environment in most cities of the developing world. Municipal corporations of the developing countries are not able to handle increasing quantities of waste, which results in uncollected waste on roads and in other public places. There is a need to work towards a sustainable waste management system, which requires environmental, institutional, financial, economic and social sustainability.

This study explores alternative approaches to municipal solid waste (MSW) management and estimates the cost of waste management in Mumbai, India. Two alternatives considered in the paper are community participation and public private partnership in waste management. Data for the present study are from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and from the private sector involved in waste management in Mumbai. Mathematical models are used to estimate the cost per ton of waste management for both of the alternatives, which are compared with the cost of waste management by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). It is found that the cost per ton of waste management is Rs. 1518 (US$35) with community participation; Rs. 1797 (US$41) with public private partnership (PPP); and Rs. 1908 (US$44) when only MCGM handles the waste. Hence, community participation in waste management is the least cost option and there is a strong case for comprehensively involving community participation in waste management.

Introduction

Cities in the world are facing a high level of pollution; the situation in developing countries is more acute, partly caused by inadequate provision of basic services like water supply, sanitation facilities, transport infrastructure and waste collection (UNCHS (Habitat), 2001). There is a tremendous increase in the amount of solid waste generated in the cities due to a more affluent lifestyle. Municipal corporations in developing countries are not able to handle increasing quantities of waste, which results in uncollected waste on roads and in other public places. There is a need to work towards a sustainable waste management system, which requires environmental, institutional, financial, economic and social sustainability. There is an emerging global consensus to develop local level solutions and to involve community participation for better waste management (United Nations, 1992).

The trend of involving the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Mumbai has started in the recent past with involvement of private industries like Excel Industry Limited (1999) and NGOs like Stree Mukti Sangathan (SMS). There are a number of successful case studies of community and private sector participation in MSW management in developing countries (Anand, 1999, Poerbo, 1991, Ogu, 2000). A study done for waste management in urban Tanzania has advocated for a community based waste management approach (Kironde and Yhdego, 1997). However, these kinds of studies are missing in the Indian context and, therefore, this study will be a valuable addition to MSW management literature. The present study explores alternative approaches to MSW management and estimates the cost of waste management in Mumbai. The alternatives considered are as follows:

  • Community participation in waste management: a case of cooperation among community based organizations (CBOs), NGOs and local government.

  • Public private partnership (PPP) in waste management: a case of cooperation between the private sector and local government.

Section snippets

Data collection

Data and information were collected from various NGOs, the private sector and research organizations working on various aspects of MSW management, including SMS, Bhawalkar Ecological Research Institute, Excel Industry, Exnora, Pakruti, etc. Data were collected on waste generation, cost of collection, transportation and disposal. Personal interviews were carried out with concerned resource personnel in these organizations to obtain the necessary information and data for the present study. Data

Alternative approach I: Community based waste management

Community participation is a crucial element in solid waste management (Anschutz, 1996). Case studies from different countries have documented the success of community and private sector participation in waste management (UNESCAP, 2002). Community participation in waste management has been initiated in Mumbai as a result of a good urban governance campaign, which started as a joint project between the Government of India and MCGM, in collaboration with United Nations Center for Human

Alternative approach II: PPP for waste management

Public private partnerships in providing basic environmental services like waste management and wastewater management are gaining importance in many Asian cities. This aspect of waste management has been successfully demonstrated by various private sector companies participating in waste management; Excel Industry in Mumbai is one such case of demonstration. In the present study, the advantages of applying public private partnerships in waste management are demonstrated by considering the case

Results

Various costs and benefits associated with community participation and public private participation in waste management are calculated using the mathematical formulation outlined above. Following is the estimation of costs and benefits associated with both of the alternatives studied.

Analysis

Fig. 5 shows the net cost of waste management for three approaches: (1) waste is handled only by MCGM; (2) waste is handled with community participation; and (3) private sector participation in waste management. The cost per ton of waste management with community participation is Rs. 1518 (US$35), with PPP it is Rs. 1797 (US$41) and when waste is handled solely by MCGM it is Rs. 1908 (US$44). (When waste is handled only by MCGM, the value for recyclable materials is lower because recyclable

Conclusions

In the current study two alternative approaches to MSW management are explored. The first approach is community participation and the second is private sector participation. Data for the present study is from various NGOs and the private sector. Mathematical models are developed to estimate the cost per ton of waste management for both of the alternative approaches and to compare those costs with the cost of waste management by MCGM alone.

It is found that the cost per ton of waste management is

Acknowledgements

I thank my supervisors, Sudhakar Yedla and reviewers for their valuable comments on this paper. I gratefully acknowledge the scholarship received from IGIDR for completing this work.

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