Waste Management in Urban India and Role of Social Enterprises

Present article focuses on social impact evaluation of waste management models such as social enterprises and municipal-oriented PP Partnership with participation of waste pickers’ cooperative and community in Pune, India. Data has been collected through interviewing waste pickers and social enterprise management personnel and focus group discussions. Our evaluation focuses on social aspects and system’s contribution to better quality of life. It also evaluates the working conditions of waste pickers. Our study further analyzes waste management’s aspects in relation to broader social and environmental issues such as urban public health. Research findings show that social enterprise practices are effective in increasing the income of waste pickers and efficient in collecting and segregating waste. It shows that the social enterprise model is working efficiently and encourages competition for better service quality. This article begins by explaining the social enterprises model and Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and their techniques in handling waste management issues in India. It evaluates their social impact, profitability, and innovativeness. The social enterprise model has been analyzed in terms of its concepts, opportunities, potentiality, organization, shared value creation and recent developments. Finally we explored further on the model and systems to find out the best possible model to solve environmental issues and bring better quality life for the community.