Chennai, India, the capital of Tamil Nadu along the Bay of Bengal, has three rivers flowing into the bay, a network of canals, and numerous man-made lakes (‘erys’). However, it faces significant waste management challenges with the highest per capita waste generation in the country – 0.71 kg of solid waste per day (Greater Chennai Corporation, 2021). In one instance, after heavy rains caused flooding of the Adyar River in 2021, the city collected 218 tons of plastic from a single location in the southern part of the city (Omjasvin, 2021).
Through the Urban Ocean program, Chennai aims to identify gaps in its solid waste management system that contribute to leakage and leverage opportunities towards bringing circularity in the city’s solid waste management.
Project Statement
Bringing Circularity in Chennai’s Solid Waste Management focuses on collectively addressing solid waste management and leakage challenges by leveraging collaborations across active and interested citizens, local officials, private companies and NGOs to move the city towards becoming a near zero waste and plastic free environment.
The Project Statement outlines the city’s vision for the project and the impact it aims to achieve, highlighting the urgency of the issue and the importance of taking immediate action.
Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) Report
Between September 2021 and December 2021, a team from Okapi Advisory Services, with guidance and support from the Circularity Informatics Lab, conducted fieldwork in the city of Chennai. The CAP was conducted with support from the city’s local government, the Chief Resilience Officer, and the larger Urban Ocean Team.
The CAP, developed by the Circularity Informatics Lab at the University of Georgia, is a standardized method of collecting community-level data on plastic usage to inform decision-makers.
City Waste Management Profile
Chennai’s Profile outlines challenges like low segregation rates, lack of awareness, ineffective processing, hazardous conditions for informal workers, and frequent waste leakage. It suggests increasing awareness, integrating informal workers, fostering waste processing innovations, and developing an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) plan for better plastic management.
The City Waste Management Profile evaluates a city’s waste management system, identifying risks and vulnerabilities to support resilience, reduce plastic pollution, and foster tailored solutions.
Urban Ocean is a capacity-building and accelerator program to end ocean plastic pollution and build more resilient communities in cities. Urban Ocean champions circular economy principles, builds awareness of ocean plastic, assesses waste management systems and supports cities to develop projects that address the interrelated challenges of ocean plastics and resilience. Since 2020, the program has been implemented in cities across Asia and Latin America. The program is jointly implemented by Resilient Cities Network, Ocean Conservancy and The Circulate Initiative.