October 6, 2017

CHENNAI | WASTE | YOU & I

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On October 2nd Chennai corporation has made source segregation a mandate for citizens. Many activities are planned across the city by the corporation to promote and mandate this. Many citizen groups and residents welfare associations are planning discussions and events around this.

In past, many initiatives that were taken in this direction had lost steam.How can we ensure this one succeed? Below are a few suggestions that I think will ensure effective implementation this time.

Accept — We are talking about a behavioral change program with 8 million + people. We need to accept that no such activity is going to be an overnight success. We need to allocate sufficient time and plan for multiple years to achieve a goal such as this. Making a city like Chennai zero waste is a process that needs to happen over 8 -10 years.

Vision– Individual actions and activities in silos are not going to create an impact. We need to align our actions towards a larger goal. We need a compelling vision that will bring all stakeholders ( you and I included ) of the city towards this goal. ( Something like — Zero Waste Chennai:2025 )

Stop complaining — We need to stop complaining and start thanking for the efforts being taken by the corporation. We need to recognize the efforts to build a dialogue for change. Change will not happen in hostility.

Innovative Financing — The lifeline of any activity is its financing. If we do not ensure sufficient flow of resources to back the vision we will fall flat in our efforts. Apart from the tax money from the corporation, we should look at attracting other financial sources like World Bank, Asian development bank and possibly CSR backing too. We should look at the investment as something that will yield future savings to the corporation ( less waste to landfills means less cost in transportation and handling in future ). The fund utilization should be made transparent. This will help us to measure impact better.

Learn and Unlearn — We need to learn why the past initiatives have not worked. Unlearn certain practices that have not yielded results, but which we continue to pursue.

Innovation– Foster a city level innovation for the same. encourage startups, corporates and institutions to involve in creating solutions for the challenges city face due to waste.

Continuous learning program — Establish a continuous learning program that will measure the impact of each activity undertaken. Assign this task to a capable institution.

Empanel and train service providers — All service providers should get empanelled and should attend a city level training annually.

Leadership and Accountability — A professional and passionate leadership team should be established and accountability should be set. A special purpose vehicle ( SPV ) might make sense.

Celebrate success — The city should come together to celebrate its solid waste management (SWM ) success stories every year. The best corporation employee, best corporate, institute, service provider and inspiring individual stories should be awarded and recognized annually.

These are just 10 ideas here, but I am sure you have plenty more in your mind. This is a great time for us to put our ideas together and build a framework for zero waste Chennai.

Let’s get started

#sustainability #circulareconomy #solidwastemanagement #Socent #smartcities #cleanchennai

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