Moving Towards Healthier Cities: The Launch of The CLEAR Project
From turning household organic waste into clean energy to using digital tools to improve transparency and creating useful products from difficult-to-recycle waste, three innovators showcased their solutions during the launch of Clean Land, Equitable Air and Resilience (CLEAR), highlighting practical approaches to building a more efficient and circular waste management system.
CLEAR, is a four-year transdisciplinary action research programme supported by the Wellcome Trust and led by the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), in partnership with IIT Madras and the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER). The project is aimed at exploring the impact of mismanaged solid waste on climate and health in Warangal and Chennai.
Among the key highlights of the launch was the showcase of start-up companies that have been working at different points of the solid waste management chain and with different types of waste.
Carbon masters showcased how organic waste can be converted into clean energy and useful byproducts, creating circularity. Recyclink showcased digital technology that can increase transparency across the waste management value change to increase efficiency and accountability. Without presented products that have been created from difficult to recycle waste into useful material while integrating waste-pickers into a more formal system.
The launch brought together city leaders, practitioners, innovators, academics, and other stakeholders to address a key question: How can we protect the environment and the lives of communities living around these dumpsites through improved municipal waste management?The conversations highlighted that to achieve the goals of clean land and air, governments, institutions, and public and private entities must all come together and play their part responsibly to enable a circular waste management system to exist and function. Different cities face different challenges, and the need for integrated and evidence-based solutions was at the center of the discussion.