A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999

The solid wastes generated in the urban areas have been increasing at alarming rates in the last few years. The major portion of these wastes is organic waste. Resources are present in these wastes and if tapped properly could be put to proper use. One such use is the conversion of organic manure into fertilizer. However the practice of the local bodies is to lift the waste and dump in into the dumping grounds. The present study aims at finding out the market potential for compost made from urban organic waste in the city of Hyderabad, India. It also looks into the efforts that could b undertaken by the local body, private sector, and NGO's to produce compost and market it. For this Bangalore has been taken as the city for best practices. Lessons drawn from the successful implementation of the composting initiatives in Bangalore are incorporated in the proposed strategy and recommendations for the initiatives that needs to be taken in the case of Hyderabad. The recommendation for this study has been a strategy with the help of various stakeholders and their insertion into specific steps of the composting processes. For this, stakeholder analysis has been done initially to understand the role of each stakeholder and their contributions in the composting activity. An action line has been proposed that would help in finding out a niche for the urban organic waste derived compost in Hyderabad.