Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) on October 2, 2014 with the objective to scientifically process all the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in all the urban areas of the country. To carry forward the progress made, SBM-U 2.0 has been launched on October 1, 2021 for a period of five years, with the vision to achieve “Garbage Free” status through 100% source segregation, door-to-door collection and scientific processing of all fraction of waste, safe disposal in scientific landfill, remediation of all legacy dumpsites by converting into green zones. Out of total waste generated i.e., 1.5 lakh MT/D across cities, a total of 1.14 lakh MT/D (75%) of waste is processed.
Remediation of legacy waste dumpsite is one of the integral components of SBM-U 2.0. It is envisaged that under SBM U 2.0 all the legacy waste shall be remediated and land will be recovered while achieving the Lakshya Zero dumpsite during the Mission period of 2021-2026.
Solid Waste Management (SWM) component of SBM-U 2.0 allows setting up of waste processing facilities such as Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), transfer stations, composting plants, bio-methanation plants, Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) processing facilities, plastic waste processing facilities, waste to electricity plants, Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste plants, sanitary landfill, mechanized sweeping equipment and Bio-remediation/ capping of all legacy dumpsites in all ULBs.
‘Swachhata Startup Challenge’ was launched on January 27, 2022 in collaboration with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to promote an enabling environment for development startups and entrepreneurs in the waste management sector.
Under the “Swachh Technology Challenge” launched on December 6, 2021, all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) conducted the challenge and submitted two best solutions to States followed by identification of maximum three best entries by the States/UTs. The ULBs provide implementation support to the winning solutions startups other than award money and State/City level felicitation.
SBM-U 2.0 Guidelines encourages adoption of locally innovated, cost-effective technology solutions and business models in sanitation and solid waste management by startups, through investment in Research & Design (R&D) and facilitation in Government-e-Market (GeM) portal.