Published in: Asian Society for Environmental Protection (ASEP) – Newsletter, March 2003 1 pages 1-10 SANDEC / EAWAG Taking a closer look at decentralised composting schemes– Lessons from India Chris Zurbrugg*, Silke Drescher*, Almitra Patel°, H.C. Sharatchandra°° * Dept. of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (SANDEC), Swiss Federal Institute of Environ- mental Science and Technology (EAWAG), P.O. Box 611, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland. zurbrugg@eawag.ch , silke.drescher@eawag.ch ° 50, Kothnur Village, Bagalur Road, Bangalore 560 077, India. almitrapatel@rediffmail.com °° 66, 3 rd Main Road, Cholanagara, Amarjyothi Lay out, Bangalore 560 032, India. sharatchandra@vsnl.net All around India, various small-scale decentralised composting schemes are operating with various levels of success. Initiated and operated either by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), Com- munity-Based Organisations (CBO), or motivated residents. The great amount of know-how and experiences which have accumulated - if disseminated - can be used to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again. This short article summarizes some results of a study that assessed existing decentralised composting schemes in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Mumbai and collected information on their technical, operational, organisational, financial and social set up. The schemes were analysed systematically and lessons learned shall be further disseminated among interested stakeholders and especially among the responsible officers at the local govern- ment level. Decentralised organisational structures include neighbourhood and community initiatives (Com- munity-Based Organisations), company and institution initiatives for internal waste management, and private enterprise initiatives. All decentralized options initiated by organisations or individuals do not relieve the municipal authorities of their duties, although a well established partnership can significantly reduce the municipalities' operational efforts. It is still the authorities who are respon- sible for solid waste management and in charge of implementing solutions for improved organic - "wet" - solid waste management, in order to comply with the new Indian Municipal Solid Waste Rules. Setting a framework to support, involve and enter into partnerships with third parties operat- ing composting schemes can be a first step in facing the organic waste challenge. Introduction The garbage problem – a mess Indian municipalities have the overall responsibility for solid waste management in their cities, however are currently unable to fulfil their duties in ensuring environmentally sound and sustainable ways of dealing with waste generation, collection, transport, treatment and disposal. This failing service of the Urban Local Bod- ies (ULB) in India results in serious health problems and environmental degradation. Combined with the rapid urbanisation and unplanned development, the expected magnitude of problems give significant rea- son to initiate immediate action for improvement of this appalling situation. It was this desperate waste situation of Indian cities with little hope for alleviation in the near future, which gave cause to a public interest litigation filed in the Hon. Supreme Court of India. A committee constituted by the Hon. Supreme Court of India was then established to look into all aspects of SWM in the class I cit- ies of India and submit appropriate recommendations. On the basis of these recommendations (Committee Constituted by the Hon. Supreme Court of India 1999) national legislation was adopted with the “Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2000” (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2000). One sec-