Perinaz Bhada-Tata 
If you’re reading this blog right now, you have probably navigated to this website for one of the following reasons: You are either interested in learning more about the solid waste management (SWM) situation in India or you are a business in India or abroad looking to connect with other businesses in India. You might be a student or academic looking for updated information on policies and rules or a member of the public looking to find more information on what is happening with regard to SWM in your city. Or it might be a combination of more than one reason.
So why did we build this website? The answer is, to meet all of the above reasons! First as a student of solid waste management, and then as a researcher and professional, I found it hard to find information on various SWM-related issues in India. It takes time and effort to sift through pages and pages in a search engine, trying to figure out the most up-to-date numbers, the right contacts, the most recent policy updates, and so on. So, when ecoprog, a German consulting company, approached me with the idea to create an all-encompassing website dealing with this topic, I knew they were on to something that could not only act as an information portal but also as a networking hub.
At present, our aim is to build a website summarizing the news from various sources, including regional newspapers and websites, going back all the way from 2013 to the present. We’ve also launched a directory, which aims to connect businesses – in India and abroad – that are interested in connecting with other businesses (B2B) as well as consumers (B2C). We send out a weekly newsletter to keep you, the reader, informed about the latest in the fast-changing sector in India. You may have also noticed that we interview interesting people in this field so that you can learn first-hand about the market, their jobs, and opportunities for growth.
Soon you’ll be seeing short videos that are created especially for our website to act as a learning tool and to clarify SWM concepts. You’ll get a chance to read blogs from our curated guest blogger list. As our readership grows, you can expect to stay abreast on national and local laws, policies, and regulations, track municipal solid waste data from various cities, learn about local events and ways to get involved, and connect with other like-minded folks to grow your professional, personal, and neighborhood network.
So please take a minute to tell us, in the comments section below, what brought you to this website and what kind of information you would like to see here. The more feedback we get, the better we can make the website for YOU.
Perinaz Bhada-Tata is an independent consultant and has been working for more than a decade on issues related to solid waste management, cities, and climate change. She previously worked for the World Bank. Ms Bhada received her BA from Franklin & Marshall College and MS in Earth Resources Engineering and Master of International Affairs in Environmental Policy from Columbia University.
