Udaipur Municipal Corporation
The Pitch
SUNYA – Towards Zero Waste transformed Udaipur’s waste management system through community-led waste segregation, women-led outreach, decentralized waste processing and community ownership, creating a cleaner, healthier and more climate-resilient city.
The Problem
For years, Udaipur relied on unsegregated waste collection and landfill disposal, generating significant greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to air and water pollution that disproportionately affected communities living near dump sites.
The Process
- Introduced a community-led zero-waste system centered on household waste segregation, decentralized processing and neighborhood participation
- Established decentralized biomethanation plants that convert organic waste into renewable electricity and nutrient-rich compost
- Conducted a citywide waste quantification and characterization study to better understand waste generation and inform planning
- Introduced door-to-door collection of segregated waste, providing households with separate bins for organic and recyclable materials
- Trained and employed women from local self-help groups as sanitation workers to lead household outreach, monitor waste segregation and build community ownership of the city’s zero-waste system
- Engaged residents, businesses, schools, sanitation workers and vendors through awareness campaigns, workshops and door-to-door education to encourage long-term behavior change Improved waste collection routes and decentralized waste processing and municipal operations to increase efficiency while lowering transportation costs
- Created a city-level committee to strengthen interdepartmental coordination and enable a stakeholder-driven approach to citywide scaling
- Created ward-level stakeholder committees — led by local councilors with representatives from Indigenous groups, religious centers and schools — to strengthen decentralized waste management
The Impact
- Expanded the initiative citywide, improving waste management services for approximately 500,000 residents across all 70 municipal wards
- Increased household waste segregation to approximately 70% in pilot communities, establishing lasting changes in community waste management practices
- Generated 165 to 200 units of electricity and 250 to 300 kilograms of compost each day through decentralized biomethanation of waste diverted from landfills
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by up to 1,437 tons of CO₂ equivalent annually while lowering municipal energy consumption through renewable energy production
- Improved Udaipur's ranking in India’s urban-cleanliness competition, Swachh Survekshan, from 310th in 2017 to 84th in 2018, reflecting major improvements in urban sanitation and public health
- Reduced open dumping and landfill dependence, improving air quality, sanitation and environmental conditions
