Uttar Pradesh cities forge ahead towards Zero Dumpsites goal

In pursuit of the 'Lakshya Zero Dumpsites' goal set within the timeline of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, slated for March 2024, major cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Agra, Prayagraj, and Kanpur, are on the brink of transforming into waste-free zones. A significant leap toward this objective occurred during a recent meeting that convened essential stakeholders in the initiative. During the subsequent round of consultations, leading companies such as RSPL Group, ITC, Awadh Sugar, Amul, Ultra Tech, Dalmia Cement, and Prism Johnson participated. The discussions, graced by the presence of Ashish Tiwari, the secretary of the Department of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and senior officials from Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), centred on waste collection for Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) production and the allocation of carbon credit points to the LMC. These companies expressed their commitment to collaborate with Lucknow Municipal Corporation, marking a significant stride in the right direction. Municipal Commissioner Inderjeet Singh announced that a final series of discussions involving selected brand owners, representatives from the cement industry, and waste management agencies are scheduled for November 2023. Singh stated, LMC has initiated the process of issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to select an agency for the remediation and reclamation of dumpsites through Bio-Remediation & Bio-Mining. We have also sought knowledge support from the Department of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change for the disposal of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) generated from approximately 18 lakh metric tonnes of waste, by creating a techno-commercial Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) based model.