Current good practices: A case study

documentation
















Published by:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

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GIZ Management of Organic Waste in India

Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
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Responsible
Mrs. Vaishali Nandan
Head of Project, Climate Smart Cities, GIZ

Authors
Mr. Babu KY

Submitted to:
Department of Urban Development, Government of Kerala

GIZ is responsible for the content of this publication

December 2021

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Alappuzha’s landmark tourist destination known
Alappuzha ULB MSWM demography
as “ The Venice of the East” attracts several 1 No of House Holds 57,415
2 Population 2,40,991
domestic and foreign tourists. Alappuzha is a 3 No of wards 52
scenic and beautiful town also known as Allappy. Waste Generation per
4 day 59 MTs
The silvery waves of the Arabian Sea sweep the MSWM coverage in
5 sq.Km 46 km
western side of the town, which is interconnected
No Decentralised Waste
by a variety of canals, bridges, and backwaters. 6 management units 36
No of Resouce
The Vembanad lake, India’s longest lake and the 7 Recovery Facility 1
largest in Kerala, is proximal to the town and Material Recovery
8 Facility 2
suited for boating. Three prominent rivers in 9 Mini MCFs 11
No of Thumburmozhi
south Kerala, namely Achankovil, Pamba, and 10 (Aerobic compost) units 452
Manimala flow into the lakes. 11 Bio Bins provided 7700

The annual water carnival at Punnamada Lake is regarded as the world’s largest snake boat
racing festival. The colorful boat spectacle, which precedes the boat race is a sight to
behold. The event features snake-boats ranging in length from 30 to 60 meters and are
manned by 100 to 150 oarsmen. Alappuzha is a potential centre for fisheries, coir , and
allied products production and exports. The Ambalappuzha Sreekrishna Temple on the
Kollam-Alappuzha highway is known as the Dwaraka of South India. Arthungal is known for
the St. Sebastian's church, which attracts a lot of tourists and the floating population, leading
to high solid waste generation in the district’s capital.

The name of the district Alleppey was changed to ‘Alappuzha’

in the year 1990. It is believed that the name of Alappuzha
was derived from the geographical position and physical
features of the place which means “the land between the sea
and the network of rivers flowing into it”.

Alappuzha Municipality

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 MSWM Project Objectives

• To maintain the Swatch Survekishiyan award-winning town, clean.

• Safe and scientific disposal of all kinds of waste.
• Engaging NGOs for BCC and project implementation.

Stakeholders
The primary public stakeholders in this initiative include resident welfare associations,
schools, elected members, the Karitha Karma Sena (Green Warriors), and the general
public. The stakeholders, from the government, include the Suchitwa Mission for technical
assistance and infrastructure finance, CKCL for non-biodegradable waste management, and
Karitha Keralam for organic waste management. Additionally, NGOs such as YMCA, SSP,
Green Warms are involved in the implementation and success of MSWM in Alappuzha.

Approach
Alappuzha Municipality has its own approach to cleanliness and the MSWM System, aids it.
Mr. Thomas Isac, the former MLA, had taken a special interest in wanting to keep the town
clean in the year 2013. In the year 2020, SS rankings for the ULB places it at 252 at the
national level and first in the state of Kerala, in the category of 1-3 lakh.
The effective approach for project implementation is based on several collective techniques
such as political will, people's active engagement, and the role of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in behavior change communication activities.

The significance of this project is

ü No door-to-door collection of wet waste. Although there is no provision for door-to-
door collection, any resident who brings separated waste to the decentralized units
will have it accepted for processing.
ü Dry waste collection on a rotation basis, done by Haritha Karma Sena once in 15
days.
ü All commercial wet waste collected is scientifically handled by the "Thumbormozhi"
(Aerobic) method of composting units 452 units in 36 decentralized areas dispersed
within a one-kilometer radius.
ü To promote and encourage home composting, a portable indoor composter (Bio Bin)
costing approximately Rs.1800, is distributed to the household that segregates waste
at the source and is interested in composting. (90 % subsidy and 10 % i.e., Rs.180
collected as beneficiary contribution)

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 ü All the collected dry wastes are further segregated by Karitha Karma Senas mainly
into four types - Paper, LDPE, PET, and MLP in Eleven mini MCFs. Subsequently, to
be transported to Resource Recovery units for further storage.
ü The ULB has reached an agreement with a private agency to collect meat waste
from chicken, mutton, and fish stores. As user fees, the agency might charge the
seller Rs.4 per kg. The gathered fish waste is then processed into poultry feed and
other meat waste is used in piggery units.
ü Individual biogas units (FRP flotting drum model) with a capacity of 0.5 to 1.00 CuM
costing about 15,000 to 18,000, is given to residents willing to pay 25 % beneficiary
cost (25 % Central Share + 50 % state Share + 25 % Beneficiary).
ü Techniques and mechanisms like shredding machines and hydraulic bailing are used
for plastic waste management.
ü Bio compost is generated and provided to farmers at no cost. Demonstration
agriculture plats are also offered in the mini MCFs for educational purposes.

ü The DEWATS system is operational, and it has received the SS-2020 award for
innovation.

Achievements
ü The MSWM system developed by ULB has been recognized by the SPCB award
continuously, for the years 2013 to 2019.
ü The swatch survekshiyan 2020 award is in the category of innovation.
ü The success is primarily premised on the decentralized approach.

Success factors
The success factors for Attingal are listed below -
• It is mainly because of political will, especially municipal councils' support, and the
MLA’s interest.
• Strong leadership from LAD.
• The role of elected members in persuading others.
• YMCA, SSP, and Green Earth NGO’s commitment towards proper execution of the
project.

Limitations
• The increasing plastic waste day by day especially MLPs due to more than 25000
floating pollutions in a day.

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 • Due to COVID, the usage of single-use plastic rose for hygienic reasons, therefore
the dry waste collection is more even though the state has banned single-use plastic
in 2019.

Future plan
• A tender has already been formulated for Rs. 3.10 crore to carry out the scientific
biomining procedure for the historical waste accumulated which has been closed for
a long time.

Sl. Acronyms Abbreviations

No
1 MSWM Municipal Solid Waste Management
2 SPCB State Pollution Control Board

3 CKCL Clean Kerala Company Limited

4 BCC Behavior Change Communication

5 LDPE Low-Density Polyethylene
6 MLP Multi-Layer Plastic
7 PET Poly Ethylene Trephatalate
8 KM Kilo Meter
9 YMCA Young Men Christian Association
10 SSP Sastra Sahitya Parish

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Annex-1: All of the above good practices are illustrated

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 Bio bins provided to the residents for
motivating home compost

Bio composting facility inside Collector’s office

as a demonstration site for the general public

Aerobic
composting bins
(Thumburmozhi
method)

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 Decentralized
composting units

Aesthetic entrance
of decentralized
unit with IEC
messages

Haritha Karma
Sena (Green
Warriors) are
busy
segregating
plastic waste

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 Material
Recovery Facility
with basic
machines

Manually
Segregated plastic
waste stored in
bags for sending it
to recyclers

Using the
produced bio
compost, the
agriculture
demonstration
plot is getting
ready

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 DEWATs unit
installed to
manage the
liquid waste in
a low-lying area

Individual Bio-gas
unit to promote
“Waste to
Energy” Concept

The sanctioned
biomining
project site; the
closed historical
waste dumpsite

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 The informal
workers migrated
from Tamil Nadu
collecting
recyclable waste
for their livelihood

The burning of
waste is also in
practice in a
few places

Despite all the

possible efforts
by ULB and the
ban of SUP, the
presence of
SUP is visible

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