Waste 101

Waste is the underbelly of how we live. How we design, what we eat, how we trade, our social transactions-all these produce waste. We already have too much waste-and the planet is paying for it. Our oceans are cluttered with plastics, and our land, air and soil is also being polluted thanks to what we discard. Infact, our bodies have our trash in them too. This section is focussed on enabling you to understand more about this complex issue.

Waste
Waste and Informal Sector
Circular Economy

What's the problem? Download an overview on waste in India.

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2018 marks 18 years since India got its first set of Solid Waste Rules, to mark the occasion Chintan has thoroughly researched what is happening in India in the State of Waste in India report.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Solid Waste.

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What’s the link between air pollution and waste? Plenty, as this cheat sheet will tell you.

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What do Indian laws say on Waste? Find out more here.

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Check out this cheat sheet on the informal sector.

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Does waste make you ill? You bet, Read all about it here.

How can anyone talk about recycling in India and ignore India's recyclers? In India and large parts of the developing world, recyclers are primarily informal sector actors. This includes wastepickers, waste traders and reprocessors. If it wasn't for them, India's recycling rate would be close to zero. Thanks to them, almost all the paper, cartons, recyclable plastics, metals and unbroken glass gets recycled. Curious how?

Read all about wastepickers in India in this comprehensive report.

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Check out this cheat sheet on the informal sector.

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Safai Sena means An Army of Cleaners. We are a registered group of waste pickers, doorstep waste collectors, itinerant and other small buyers, small junk dealers, and other types of recyclers. Safai Sena's vision is that adult waste handlers must be able to upgrade their work to green jobs, which means that apart from being good for the environment, our work should be safe, respected recognized and clean for us. Our dream is also for our children to go to school instead of becoming waste pickers.

Visit Safai Sena

Chintan suggests using this definition of the Circular Economy developed by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation:

Looking beyond the current take-make-waste extractive industrial model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, and designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital. It is based on three principles:

Design out waste and pollution
Keep products and materials in use
Regenerate natural systems

In the Indian context, it implies not only design innovation and new technology, but also, recovering traditions that are being increasingly forgotten. They could range from the ubiquitous neighbourhood cobbler, to rafugaars (those who repair clothes), to women who use otherwise forgotten parts of fruit and vegetables to cook. Most of all, the Circular Economy requires the middle class and above to simply have less and make it last more.

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Manbir Sodhi Q 1

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Manbir Sodhi Q 2

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Manbir Sodhi Q 3

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Henriette Fargeman Q 1

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Henriette Fargeman Q 2

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Henriette Fargeman Q 3

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Amitabh Kant

International Confrence on Waste Reduction AK Jain Q 1

International Confrence on Waste Reduction AK Jain Q 2

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Kuldeep Sangwan Q 1

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Kuldeep Sangwan Q 2

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Laurance Hughes Q 1

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Laurance Hughes Q 2

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Ashish Mehta

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Friolan Grate

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Ritu Sain

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Amrita Patil

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Dr Ken Lee Q 1

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Dr Ken Lee Q 2

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Saugato Dutta

International Confrence on Waste Reduction Shivani Wadhera

At A Glance End-Of-Life Vehicles

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At A Glance Sanitary Waste

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At A Glance E-Waste

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At A Glance Composting

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Construction waste is a massive problem

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Best Practices In Waste Management

Scientific Closure Of Gorai Landfill

Bio-CNG Plant In Pune

Solid Waste Management In Vengurla Municipal Council, Vengurla

India's Best Waste Recyclers

Segregation of waste at all levels, Mysuru

Hungry For More?

Here are 6 pieces you should read up.

May 18, 2018 . 5 min read

Waste-to-Energy and Recycling

This piece discusses the lack of context for waste-to-energy in India

May 18, 2018 . 5 min read

Why the Indian government must rescind GST levied on scraps of plastic, paper, cardboard and glass

This piece on GST on waste kicked off Chintan's successful campaign against taxing trash.

May 18, 2018 . 5 min read

What is a circular economy?

There's a new way to think materials. It's the circular economy.

May 18, 2018 . 5 min read

We won’t save the Earth with a better kind of disposable coffee cup

Greening consumption is not helpful, don't maintain status quo. Reduce consumption.

May 18, 2018 . 5 min read

World’s Top 10 Toxic Pollution Problems

What you consume has a life before it reached you. Sometimes, this life is toxic.

May 18, 2018 . 5 min read

As garbage continues to pile up in East Delhi, a lesson on how to better manage our waste

This piece suggests that the kind of strikes we see in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation will be endemic, unless we shift how we handle wet waste. A must read since the workers strikes have been repeated multiple times since this piece was written and it holds a wider lesson.

Does this make you want to do something?

We're happy to help. Email us at info@chintan-india.org

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