April 30, 2025, marked a turning point on Majuli, the largest river island on the planet. For the first time, a tonne of waste was ferried across the Brahmaputra River. The waste management non-profit Sahaas led this effort, breaking away from the old habit of dumping waste into the river. Bibhash Bormedhi, Sahaas's Project Manager, highlighted the significance of this change.
On Independence Day 2024, villagers from Zemithang Circle in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang District took a bold step. They sent 4.4 tonnes of garbage on a 390-km journey to scrap dealers in Tezpur, Assam. This 12-hour trek was the region's first attempt at waste segregation, a significant feat given its location between 6,900 and 8,000 feet in the Himalayas.
India churns out 1.7 lakh tonnes of waste every day. Of this, 22% ends up in landfills and 17% remains untracked. Rural waste data is sparse, as Siddharth Singh from the Centre for Science and Environment noted. The Supreme Court recently scolded both national and state authorities for not enforcing the Solid Waste Management Rules 2026, stressing the urgent need for proper oversight and infrastructure.
Globally, waste management services are missing for about 2.7 billion people, with 2 billion living in rural areas. Here, waste is often dumped or burned, raising severe environmental issues. Brojen Pegu, a local from Majuli, described how waste was usually tossed in fields or rivers, with floods sweeping it away annually.
Efforts to tackle these problems have been underway. Between 2017 and 2022, the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Public Health Engineering Department set up Central Material Collection Facilities (CMCFs) in 19 of 20 panchayats in Majuli. Initially, these were underused. But in 2024, Sahaas teamed up with local bodies to activate waste management systems, engaging the community and planning logistics.
In Tawang, the Further and Beyond Foundation's Himalayan Fringes Project expanded a community-driven waste management model in Chullyu, Keyi Panyor district. This model, now adopted by a third of Tawang district and parts of Keyi Panyor and Upper Siang districts, depends on households sorting waste and holding monthly 'collection days' for community sorting.
So far, 26 villages have organized over 150 Swachchata Divas, gathering 30 tonnes of waste. This waste is processed at material recovery facilities (MRFs) in Zemithang, Lumla, and Daporijo, with smaller community-led MRFs in Chullyu and Gobuk. These initiatives have raised Rs 3.53 lakh by selling over 20 tonnes of waste to recyclers.
Cost poses a major hurdle in waste management, especially for collection and transport. The Himalayan Fringes Project tackled this issue by cutting costs tied to sanitation workers and door-to-door collection. Instead, they devised independent financing, with households paying Rs 50 monthly and shops Rs 100.
Deewan Mara, a former Zemithang Circle Officer, emphasized financial sustainability's role in keeping waste management efforts alive. Though some shopkeepers resist, most villagers comply with the fee system, said Ahi Sitek from Gobuk village.
