Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, September 20, 2022 – Agra Nagar Nigam (ANN), together with The Society for Technology & Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance) and GoMassive have partnered to launch the first solid and liquid resource management (SLRM) centre and waste transport vehicles under the Nirmal Agra Project.
The public-private partnership aims to transform waste management by enhancing collection, sorting, and processing infrastructure to better address waste hotspots across the iconic city. This includes the initial development of five SLRM centres with a combined processing capacity of 25 tons per day. SLRM centres receive and sort dry waste, as well as enable the recovery of plastic waste for recycling. Discussions with the local government are underway for additional facilities to be built.
To enable wider, more efficient recovery of plastic waste from over 100 hotspots across the city, a fleet of suction vehicles, tippers & compactors will be rolled out in phases. These hotspots were identified following a detailed study to better understand disposal patterns across the city.
The programme also aims to introduce behavioural change programmes to help improve waste management literacy in homes.
Driving community engagement will be a key pillar of the project to foster long-term behavioural change. To help start community activation, the team organised a series of activities and a cleanup to mark World Cleanup Day in the lead up to the launch. Around 100 people participated in the cleanup at Mantola drain opposite the Agra Fort, an area frequented by tourists, where approximately 200 kg of plastic waste was collected and diverted from the environment.
Speaking on the occasion, Surendra Prasad Yadav, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Agra Nagar Nigam said: "We are extremely happy to join hands with TARA, the Alliance and GoMassive for this pressing issue. This partnership will strengthen our abilities to tackle the challenge of mismanaged plastic waste, which is a big hindrance in our endeavours to make the city of Taj clean and green."
"The reduction of plastic waste leakage in the environment is also critical to ensure resilient, sustainable cities and I am confident that this collaboration will take our work of effective plastic waste management practices to the next level," he added.
"A city where plastic waste is managed properly, is a dream of any environmentalist," said TARA's Maj Gen Rahul Bhardwaj, VSM (Retd), Chief Operations Officer and Associate Vice President, Development Alternatives Group. "With the joint efforts from Agra Municipality, AEPW, TARA and GoMassive, we hope to turn this dream into a reality. I am sanguine that when replicated, this can bring about a major transformational boom in the plastic waste management sector."
Esha Sar, the Alliance's Chief Advisor for South Asia, said: "We are delighted to partner with Agra Nagar Nigam, TARA and GoMassive on the Nirmal Agra project. Together, we aim to demonstrate how waste management can support both communities and businesses by contributing to sustainable end markets for plastic waste. We believe this will be a key driver to help the model scale and replicate further."
