In India, though 90% tenders for waste related services do not talk of source segregation and segregated waste collection, neither 90% of ULBs have bothered to include it in their municipal by laws, some development is always there in right direction. An excerpts from Dr. Almitra Patels writing
Kolar for example, a city three hours east of Bangalore with a population of 150,000 people, was able in just one month in June 2014 to achieve 100 percent doorstep collection and about 70 percent waste segregation at source into unmixed ‘wet’ waste and ‘dry’ recyclables, thanks to the excellent and united commitment of its District Collector, its appointed Commissioner and its elected President (mayor). Today, 22 months later, Kolar continues to be a dustbin-free dump-free city, earning Rs 30,000 a month profit from decentralized stack composting, auctioned to farmers for soil enrichment.
19 South Indian towns today are similarly near zero-waste, as both ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ wastes are converted to useful resources. The secret is micro-planning of doorstep-collection routes, providing non-mechanised pushcarts that enable further waste sorting at each doorstep and giving the doorstep collectors full rights for the sale of dry recyclables. Keeping the collection teams unchanged and undisturbed reduces absenteeism and improves collection performance and citizen satisfaction. At least 10 percent or more of these teams should be drawn from waste pickers or self-help groups.