Despite Wasted Efforts, MCD Sets Sights On 90% Segregation At Source By Aug ’26

New Delhi: In 2019-20, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) decided to segregate waste at source in its areas. However, only 55% segregation at source has been achieved so far in its 250 wards, the civic body recently informed Supreme Court while promising to push it up to 90% by Aug 2026.
"Efforts will be made to increase the waste segregation at source on a half-yearly basis, and we are targeting to achieve 65% segregation at source by Feb 2025, 75% by Aug 2025, 85% by Feb 2026, and 90% by Aug 2026," MCD stated in the affidavit submitted before the court in Aug.
Officials said they had drafted plans to accomplish the targets. "We have around 519 zero-waste colonies and aim to add 100 more by May 2025. We have plans to add 250 more bulk waste generators (BWG) during the same period as a short-term plan," said an official.
Out of the 4,000 bulk waste generators, 738 are undertaking on-site wet waste composting, and MCD wants all BWGs to pursue the same. "MCD is developing a module on its 311 app for registering BWGs and monitoring waste management by them. A proposal is being floated for the empanelment of agencies for the waste management of BWGs," it stated.
This is not the first time that MCD has set such an ambitious goal. Over the years, MCD had conducted numerous meetings and installed waste processing units in multiple apartments, but these efforts had not yielded much results in the ground situation. Despite the solid waste management (SWM) bylaws being in place since 2019 and MCD also pushing for 100% waste segregation at source, only 353 colonies are adhering to the norms till the end of 2023, Delhi Pollution Control Committee reported in Jan.
Officials claimed they were planning for better transportation, management and processing of waste. "We have decided on route optimisation of collected waste from all wards within six months. It will include tracking of vehicles on GPS-enabled routes, vehicle route creation, and asset management using a mobile app," MCD said. The other steps include live monitoring of vehicles using a dashboard for daily statistics, sending alerts for route deviation, missed halt points, spot penalty generations, capturing all RFID data of all assets, and the monitoring of vehicles in the back date, it added.
By Dec 2024, MCD will have dedicated teams at the zonal levels to ensure waste handling as per the SWM rules.
Experts, however, said the level of infrastructure and awareness for 100% waste management was still missing. "Merely making announcements won't help unless it is backed by a robust system with proper analysis and intensive audit," said Ravi Agarwal, founder of Toxics Link.
"It is also important to constantly spread awareness and involve stakeholders on the ground, including residents welfare associations. After Covid-19, the success achieved in waste segregation has got reversed because of missing awareness," he added.