Indore, an education hub and the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, is situated on the Malwa Plateau. It generates about 1,029 tonnes of waste daily (392.4 grams per person per day).
The city, which was already famous for its food and its bangles, has now also earned the 5-star garbage-free city. Indore has also been ranked the cleanest city of India in Swachh Survekshan Surveys since 2017.
The city is not only Open Defecation Free, but has also earned the first Water-Plus Certification in the country. How did Indore become so clean?
Since 2015, the city has brought about systematic changes in the way it disposes garbage. Segregation of waste, followed by door-to-door collection is practised throughout the city. There are zero waste wards in the city, where its residents practice home composting and treat most of the wet waste in situ.
Most dry waste is sent to a material recovery facility, where it is segregated and sent for recycling. The wet waste which is not treated on site, goes to a central composting facility. Part of the wet waste is also turned into BIO-CNG, which is used to run public transport.