Aafrin Kidwai SolidWasteIndia, in partnership with Theistic Business Consultants, is organizing a series of regional virtual roundtables with key public and private sector leaders to discuss some of the biggest challenges – and solutions to India’s waste management sector.
The first session was held recently for a select group of invitees from the Western region. This roundtable saw top officials from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa sharing their views on issues related to waste collection, segregation, and processing. “It’s time to think out of the box and not be minimalistic in our approach to waste management. Instead, we need to bring scale and skill to the industry to achieve our goals,” said Mr Sameer Unhale, Mission Director, SBM Govt. of Maharashtra.
Mr Praful Jadhav of the MCGM categorized the three top priorities of his corporation: reducing the burden on landfills, recycling dry waste, and waste to energy. The MCGM is keen to collaborate with private partners to address these issues based on sustainable and innovative financial mechanisms to fund its ambitious plans. Lack of public awareness of the importance of waste segregation emerged as one of the biggest roadblocks facing the civic authorities, Mr Jadhav said. A similar sentiment was echoed by Mr Mitesh Shah, Dy Director, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation who said there is a dire need for IEC activities in the sector to raise public awareness on waste segregation.
The session also saw industry experts Mr Ulhas Parlikar (MRAI), Mr Pankaj Shah (Indian Plastics Institute) and Mr Siddarth Shivakumar of the Trans Thane Creek Waste Management Association sharing their perspective on issues plaguing the sector. Mr Parlikar highlighted how the real problem lies in the absence of sound financial mechanisms for municipalities to execute proper solid waste management.
Participants invited from the private sector provided relevant information on the services and technologies they can provide to the municipalities to address these issues. These included The Shakti Plastic Industries, Blue Planet Environmental Solutions, EnKing International, Social Lab Environmental Solutions, Ecoreco, Sorbacal India, SwitchEko and GMS Plastic Machinery Private Ltd, among others.
