How Madanapalle is building a Zero Waste City

Madanapalle Municipality in Andhra Pradesh, under the Swachh Bharat Mission‑Urban 2.0, is pursuing a ‘Zero Waste City’ vision by instituting systematic source segregation of its approx. 62 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste into biodegradable, non‑biodegradable and up‑cycling streams. Wet waste is composted via windrow (≈15.5 TPD) and vermi‑composting (≈3 TPD), yielding 4.65 tonnes and 1.20 tonnes of compost daily respectively, which are used for parks and gardening. Dry waste is split at the doorstep into recyclable and non‑recyclable fractions; recyclables go to a Material Recovery Facility, while non‑recyclables are co‑processed in cement factories, generating revenue and improving calorific value. Legacy waste of 36,512 metric tonnes has been remediated through bio‑mining, reclaiming 9.40 acres, with 5 acres converted to green spaces, and waste‑to‑art initiatives have been created for public awareness.