URBAN ORGANIC SOLID WASTE: PRACTICES INHYDERABAD 223
- identify some of the ways in which actors work together in organic waste man-
agement; - assess the partnerships in terms of resource recovery, socio-economic and envi-
ronmental health aspects; and - analysing how existing alliances can be strengthened. The previous sections have
highlighted the following types of co-operation between local actors: - truck drivers providing dumpsite waste to farmers;
- CBOs – NGOs working with local government, and
- single source generators selling organic waste to farmers and horticulturalists.
The first and last types of partnerships are market-driven, whereas the second is
representative of co-operation between local government and civil society organi-
zations.
Environmental Impacts
The environmental effect of these alliances has been examined in terms of source
separation, and promotion of reuse and recycling, and safe final disposal. The alli-
ances which utilised mixed organic waste drawn from the municipal waste flows
(truck drivers – farmers, and CBOs – NGOs) have not contributed to better source
separation and a higher quality of waste used for recycling. They did contribute to the
reduction of the volume of waste in the municipal stream, and have promoted recy-
cling. However, the co-operation between truck drivers and farmers has gone down
substantially as it became clear that the mixed urban waste affected soil fertility and
worker willingness negatively over a longer period.
Socio-economic Impacts
The socio-economic impacts of these alliances have been assessed in terms of finan-
cial viability, employment and income, legal legitimacy and social legitimacy.
All these alliances have problems with respect to financial viability. Farmers obtaining
waste from the dumpsites found that costs were increasing and the quality of the urban
waste was problematic. Single source generators found their co-operation with buyers
of organic waste remain financially viable. However, the vermicomposting under-
taken by NGO-local government sponsorship suffers from a lack of demand for the
compost made and a lack of social acceptance from immediate neighbours of the units.
The social legitimacy of the waste used by farmers was also low, as some farm
workers refused to take part in the process.
Generation of employment is not large in the case of the private sector partnerships. It
provides – for the group concerned – a relatively regular employment, with fringe
benefits.