Zero Waste Frame Works South Asia

1. 6th Zero Waste International Conference Puerto Princessa City 18 -21 November 2009 Zero Waste Frame WorksSouth Asia Shibu K. Nair Programme Director (Zero Waste) Thanal, India www.thanal.co.in

2. The Region Nepal Pakistan India Bhutan Bangladesh N Sri Lanka Maldives

3. Voluntary Organisations and Networks • Waste Not Asia facilitated by GAIA • National Networks – Not active • No separate network for South Asia

4. Priorities / Agenda • Zero Waste is not defined • Component wise specialization • Community based waste management systems • Mobilzation of Waste pickers • Rights and gender issues • Education and Awareness • Policy level interventions • Working on Pieces of Zero’s

5. Launching of Zero Waste in South Asia • Thanal, GAIA, and Greenpeace organized launching of Zero Waste Kovalam in Kerala, India – 2001 • Dr. Paul Connett – interpreted the spirit and philosophy of Zero Waste

6. Zero Waste Kovalam • Zero Waste Fellowship 2002, organised by GAIA and Ecology Centre expanded the level of understanding • Zero Waste Kovalam project tried to capture the full spirit of Zero Waste by going beyond managing ‘waste’ and translated theories into practice • Thanal is sharing the experiences and learning's to Governments, Communities and voluntary organizations through its Campaign on Zero waste.

7. Zero Waste in South Asia • Zero Waste Kovalam was showcased in GAIA, Waste Not Asia and IPEN networks • Government Delegations from Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan visited Zero Waste Kovalam • Ministry of Tourism – Govt. of Kerala, Ministry of Local Administration – Govt. of Kerala, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India appreciated and acknowledged the efforts of Zero Waste in the making

8. Government of Kerala • Government of Kerala adopted Zero Waste through its campaign against waste “Malinya Mukta Keralam” • Focus on • Waste reduction • Participatory planning • Emphasis on behavioral change and process • Source segregation • Decentralization • Resource Recovery and conservation • Capacity building • Integration and Convergence • Institutionalization

9. Government of Kerala • Developed handbooks, guidelines and standards (Non burn technologies) • Created resource groups for technical support at • Block Level (cluster of Panchayaths [LSGs]) • District Level (cluster of Blocks) • Regional Level (cluster of Districts)

10. Government of Kerala • Devised Process for planning, implementation and monitoring • Preparation of approach paper with citizens involvement for each LSGs • Sector wise approach (Households, Colonies, Commercial establishments, Markets, Public places..) • Made it mandatory to allocate 10% of budget of each LSGs for SWM • Money can be spent not only on buying bins / vehicles, but also for capacity building in the community, enterprise development, agriculture projects, soil and water conservation …

11. Government of Kerala • Redefined National Rural Employment Guarantee programme to utilize resources in the scheme to supplement SWM • Training and orientation were given to • Working group (Sanitation) members • Head of the LSGs • Officials • Volunteers and voluntary organizations in 999 Panchayaths,152 Block Panchayaths, 53 Municipalities and 5 Corporations.

12. Government of Kerala • Planning and implementation already started. • Segregated door to door collection in every urban LSGs • Encouraging source segregation and on site composting / biogas in rural LSGs • Encouraging alternate products and services that reduce waste. • Encouraging organic agriculture • Integration and convergence of development projects and schemes

13. Government of Kerala • People’s vigil committees formed for different sectors for monitoring • Zero Waste School programme initiated and work books are ready to go • Reworking and developing bylaws for urban LSGs for better SWM • Action Research initiated in selected areas across sectors.

14. Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India / UNDP • Pilot project in 6 States of India to introduce Zero Waste – 1 year project • Published the documented experience in the form of a simple handbook for other rural tourism sites in India to follow. • UNDP shown interest in taking it forward outside India.

15. Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India / UNDP • Pilot project in 6 States of India to introduce Zero Waste – 1 year project • Published the documented experience in the form of a simple handbook for other rural tourism sites in India to follow. • UNDP shown interest in taking it forward outside India.

16. Threats / Challenges • WB and ADB compelling Central, State and Local Governments with heavily funded projects such as Waste to Energy and Landfills. • The drama of ‘Banning Plastics’ continues to protect the interests of the plastic manufacturers and further tax cuts for the industry. • New Law on Plastics creating space for “bio degradable / compostable” plastics

17. The Way Forward • Regional level consultative process among organizations working on waste issues to get consensus on Zero Waste • Strengthen the campaign on Zero Waste for Zero Warming • Re activating the existing networks within India and outside - GAIA

18. Thank you zerowaste@thanal.co.in www.thanal.co.in