The capacity building workshop follows the launch of ‘NITI Aayog-UNDP Handbook on Sustainable Urban Plastic Waste Management’, released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, CEO Shri Amitabh Kant, Shri. Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, Secretary Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Special Secretary Dr K. Rajeswara Rao, and Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India last month.

Special Secretary Dr K. Rajeswara Rao, NITI, and Ms Nadia Rasheed, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP inaugurated the workshop which was attended by 40 governmentofficials from Urban Local Bodies, Urban Development Departments, and State Pollution Control Boardsin person and 100+ officials online.

“With the launch of Swachh Bharat 2.0, the Government of India is geared to make cities garbage free. Managing plastic waste better is critical to realise the goals of clean India. Through the workshop our aim is to provide practical solutions to the ULB’s to manage plastic waste more efficiently. The decentralized model for plastic waste management detailed in the handbook has been adapted globally and has shown potential of plastic recycling,” said Dr Rao.

“Maharashtra and Goa present before us numerous best examples to manage plastic waste and we are happy to launch our first workshop here. Learnings and solutions from this workshop will help in scaling up the workshops to other states in the coming months,” he added.

The Handbook has been jointly developed by UNDP India and NITI Aayog, in consultation with eminent experts and leading organizations in the domain of plastic waste. The discussion for the Handbook was initiated in February 2021. This was followed by over 20 virtual stakeholder consultations including Urban Local Bodies, Recyclers, Corporates, Civil Society Organizations, Academia. The format included expert interviews, focussed group discussions, and technical workshops covering 14 Indian cities and 4 South East Asian cities. The handbook presents best practices and examples from cities in India and Southeast Asia which face similar infrastructure and plastic waste challenges.

“UNDP’s Plastic Waste Management initiative promotes a sustainable model by collecting, separating, and recycling all types of plastic waste.It also ensures that SafaiSathis (waste pickers) are recognized and paid for their work. These workshops reflect our commitment to promote, scale up and replicate a sustainable model for waste management across cities to achieve the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0. We are proud to partner and work together with the Government of India, NITI Aayog, and urban local bodies in this endeavour,” said Nadia Rasheed, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP India.

The Handbook details plastic waste management through decentralized dry waste management. There are various waste management models in the country, and some of the important ones, such as the UNDP Plastic Waste Management Programme, have been captured here to help ULBs understand the process in a step-by-step manner. The Handbook also details different financial models which can be adopted for the economic inclusion and livelihood enhancement of waste pickers.

“Mumbai ranks high on the list of regions vulnerable to impacts of climate change. Sustainable plastic waste management is critical to managing climate change and the environment.The Mumbai Climate Action Plan to develop climate-resilient mitigation and adaptation already prioritizes waste management. We are already working with partners like UNDP to set up Swachhta Kendra to manage plastic waste and promote innovations that will help sustainably dispose of waste, create value, and help in mitigating climate change. We are thankful to NITI Aayog for this workshop and for providing a platform to urban local bodies of Maharashtra to share best practices,” said Shri Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

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The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is celebrating the sixth anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) by organizing a webinar titled ‘Swachhata Ke 6 Saal, Bemisaal’ on 2^nd October 2020.  The day, which also marks the 151^st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, will focus on celebrating the achievements of the past six years under the Mission along with experience sharing by States and cities and partner organizations. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C), MoHUA will chair the Webinar on the occasion along with Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA and Shri Kamran Rizvi, Additional Secretary, MoHUA.

The Minister will release a compendium and a dynamic GIS portal showcasing innovative practices for effective solid waste management (SWM) practices from across India. Alongside, a document on Response of Indian Cities Towards Covid-19: A Sanitation Perspective prepared by NIUA, ‘Frontline Stories of Resilience: India’s Sanitation Champions’ – a collection of inspirational stories of sanitation workers compiled by the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance and a Toolkit for Safety of Sanitation Workers prepared by Urban Management Centre (UMC) will also be released by the Ministry.

The second half of the session will focus on experience sharing of the past six years by select States and cities and chalking out the next steps towards a Swachhatam Bharat. The event will be an opportunity for all stakeholders to learn from each other and envision the next phase of the Mission.

Since its launch in 2014, SBM-U has made significant progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management.  4,327 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have been declared ODF so far. This has been made possible through construction of more than 66 lakhs individual household toilets and over 6 lakhs community/ public toilets, far exceeding the Mission’s targets. The Mission is now focusing on holistic sanitation through its ODF+ and ODF++ protocols with a total of 1,319 cities certified ODF+ and 489 cities certified ODF++ as on date. Additionally, over 59,900 toilets across 2900+ cities have been made live on Google Maps. In the area of solid waste management, 97% of wards have complete door-to door collection, 77% of wards have source segregation of waste while 67% of the total waste generated is being processed – a jump of nearly 4 times over 2014 levels of 18% processing. A total of 6 cities (Indore, Ambikapur, Navi Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot and Mysuru) have been rated as 5-star cities, 86 cities as 3-Star and 64 cities as 1-Star, as per MoHUA’s Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities. Moreover, from being a government program, the Mission has transformed into a people’s movement, a true ‘Jan Andolan’ with participation of over 12 crore citizens being recorded in Swachh Survekshan 2020, the last edition of the annual cleanliness survey conducted by MoHUA.  The Mission has also laid great emphasis on providing dignified livelihoods to all sanitation workers and informal waste pickers which is directly in line with Mahatma’s vision of ensuring equality and inclusion for all sections of society. To this end, the Mission has successfully integrated over 84,000 informal waste pickers into the mainstream while over 5.5 lakh sanitation workers have been linked to various welfare schemes under the Government.

Capacity building of officials and staff of ULBs has been an integral part of the Mission. As part of this endeavor, the Ministry, with the help of National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) has conducted over 150 workshops across India witnessing the participation of over 6,000 officials representing over 3,200 ULBs.

Swachh Bharat Mission, the flagship program of the Government of India, was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 2^nd October 2014 from Rajghat, New Delhi and aimed to achieve the vision of a ‘Clean India’ by 2^nd October 2019, the 150^th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. The urban component of the Mission which is being steered by MoHUA had the broad objectives of making urban India open defecation free (ODF) along with modern and scientific waste management through large scale behavior change among citizens.

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