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Madanapalle’s Journey Towards a Zero Waste City

Published 27 Jul 2026. Access the PDF directly or read the stored explanation below.

UPSC English 27 Jul 2026

Madanapalle’s Journey Towards a Zero Waste City

Prelims:

Environment & Ecology, Government Schemes

Mains:

GS Paper II-Government Policies and Interventions, GS Paper III-Environmental Conservation

Current relevance:

Madanapalle Municipality in Andhra Pradesh is implementing an integrated scientific waste management system under Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U) 2.0 to transform the city into a Zero Waste City.


Highlights:

1.      Zero Waste City Initiative: Driven by the vision of Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban 2.0, Madanapalle Municipality has adopted an integrated system of scientific waste management, source segregation, and resource recovery to transform the city into a Zero Waste City.

2.      Source Segregation:

§  A systematic source segregation mechanism has been implemented across the municipality.

§  Waste is segregated into biodegradable waste, non-biodegradable waste, upcycling waste.

3.      Wet Waste Management:

                    i.            Bulk Waste Generators are encouraged to establish on-site composting systems, while citizens are adopting home composting and terrace gardening to manage wet waste at the source.

                  ii.            Wet waste is scientifically processed through windrow composting to produce compost for parks, plantations, and gardening activities across the town.

                iii.            It also processes wet waste through vermi composting, producing nutrient-rich compost that reduces landfill burden and promotes sustainable waste utilization.

4.      Dry Waste Management:

                    i.            Dry waste is segregated at the doorstep into recyclable and non-recyclable categories to facilitate efficient waste management.

                  ii.            Recyclable waste is processed through the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for resource recovery and recycling.

                iii.            Non-recyclable waste is sent to cement factories for co-processing, enhancing waste utilization while generating additional revenue for the municipality.

5.      Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (RRR) Centre:

                    i.            Through door-to-door collection drives and the RRR Centre, the municipality collects E-waste, old clothes, toys, books, footwear.

                  ii.            These items are repaired, reused, or redistributed among slum communities, homeless individuals, and old age homes.

6.      Waste-to-Art Initiative

                    i.            Discarded tyre waste is creatively repurposed into artistic installations in parks and public spaces, promoting environmental awareness and supporting the vision of zero dumping.

                  ii.            The Waste-to-Art Park at NVR Layout showcases the innovative reuse of discarded materials as functional and aesthetic public installations.

7.      Integrated Waste Management Model

                    i.            Madanapalle's integrated approach includes source segregation, composting, recycling, upcycling, waste-to-Art, Bio-mining, legacy waste remediation, citizen engagement.

                  ii.            The municipality is progressing towards becoming a Zero Dump and Zero Littering City.

 

Source: PIB - https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2289853&reg=48&lang=1

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