Piloting a circular system for plastics in Haridwar and Rishikesh

Project description

Title: Aviral – Reducing Plastic Waste in the Ganga
Commissioned by: Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance)
Country: India
Lead executing agency: Haridwar Urban Local Body (ULB), Rishikesh Urban Local Body (ULB), Uttarakhand Urban Development Directorate (UDD)
Overall term: 2019 to 2022

 

Context

Aviral – the Hindi term for “continuous” – underscores the vision to establish a circular system for plastics and regenerate natural habitats. The ever-increasing quantities of plastic waste and pollution threaten human health, wildlife and biodiversity across the planet. Cities in particular face the challenge of managing growing plastic waste generation and mounting landfills. And they are often not able to harness the available values and resources to their full extent. By supporting cities such as Haridwar and Rishikesh in improving their sustainable plastic waste management practices, Aviral seeks to promote a new approach to plastics that prevents riverine and marine litter – thus ensuring the continuous flow of the river Ganga.

Objective

The amount of plastic waste entering the environment is reduced. New and innovative approaches for sustainable plastic waste management solutions have been developed. Replicable best practices are prepared to be scaled-up in cities across India.

Approach

Aviral – Reducing Plastic Waste in the Ganga is a project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and funded by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance). 
The initiative is building on the existing flagship programmes of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (Namami Gange) and the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Mission).

Aviral takes a multi-layered approach and is embedded in the broader plastic waste management ecosystem. It collaborates closely with municipalities, the private sector, informal waste workers, schools and local NGOs. This pilot concept is based on four key components:

Capacity enhancement: Improve municipal capacities and increase knowledge to develop a better strategic approach towards plastic waste management.
Value chain: Improve the infrastructure along the entire value chain while enhancing technical resources with a specific focus on waste segregation.
Innovation: Support local enterprises and start-ups to develop state-of-the-art solutions to manage litter and foster recycling.
Engagement and awareness: Change the behaviour of citizens and visitors towards practicing sustainable plastic waste management through awareness campaigns and clean-ups.

 

Last update: November 2020