Free waste service for bulk waste generators raises questions

With Greater Chennai Corporation authorising private conservancy operators, Ramky and Urbaser Sumeet, to collect waste from bulk generators at no fee, has the city’s push for in-situ composting taken a backseat?

The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 that came into effect on April 1, 2026 requires all bulk waste generators to process wet waste in-situ or obtain an Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility certificate stating that on-site processing is not feasible. Bulk waste generators are those who produce more than 100 kilos of waste a day or have a built-up area of 20,000 sq.m or consume 40,000 litres of water a day.

This should have ideally been an opportunity for municipal corporations and panchayats to push bulk waste generators such as large gated communities, sprawling IT parks and big commercial buildings to treat maximum amount of biodegradable waste at source or at least push them to find ways to create space to start composting in a small way.

GCC authorised Ramky and Urbaser Sumeet to collect waste from bulk generators as it was receiving many complaints of illegal dumping of waste in public spaces by some vendors who collect waste. Some bulk waste generators have also been unable to find the right vendors to dispose of the waste.

Other vendors in this business say Chennai has inadequate infrastructure to process the collected waste. The many micro composting centres that once thrived have reduced in number.

Mahmood Sait, CEO, Urbaser Sumeet, says if a property does not have space then it is better that government takes up.

Urbaser Sumeet collects all kinds of waste including hazardous waste if a community does not have its own treatment centre, but insists people segregate and hand it over to them in a specific bin.

“Earlier every bulk waste generator had to pay a vendor to do this; now they are not being charged but must give the waste to authorised concessionaires and we are responsible for zones IX to XV,” says Sait. Ramky is in charge of Zones I to V.

Since the new changes came into effect, Urbaser Sumeet is getting 40% of waste from bulk generators.

“Some have refused to give us the waste as they want an order from GCC. We have a list of apartment and commercial buildings that are not handing it to our team and we are discussing this with GCC,” says Sait.

Certain resident associations might be happy that they are saving money with the new system, but communities that have sustainable waste management practices hope the arrangement does not undo the good work they have done over the years.

Sumitha Iyer, waste segregation team, The Central Park South and committee lead, FOMRRA Swacch Bharat, says the new system is yet to pass muster among residents.

Central Park South in Sholinganallur, for instance, follows the practice of weighing the waste it generates before sending it out. Its organic waste vendor was selected after frequent checks of the composting site. It slaps a fine on residents who do not hand over segregated waste.

“We have built trust over the years with the vendor by seeing how they do, but we are yet to get the same confidence from the new system,” says Sumitha.

She has decided to wait till the end of the month before engaging with Urbaser Sumeet’s ground staff. Questions that many environment-conscious residents like her have are: where is the waste being sent? Is the waste getting mixed? How much compost is generated? Can they go and see it?.

Geo Damin, former member of Tamil Nadu Solid Waste Management and member of Poovulagin Nanbargal, says decentralised waste management system is the future.

He says, “With the new SWM Rules, GCC should have insisted on on-site composting. This would be cost-effective for the Corporation as it need not spend money on transportation and in finding sites to treat such waste.”

Damin also thinks levying a user fee for solid waste management depending on the size of the building could be considered.