How Hyderabad Tamed Its Mountain of Waste

Introduction: From Garbage Crisis to Urban Cleanliness

A few years ago, Hyderabad faced a mounting garbage crisis. With over 6,000 metric tonnes of waste generated daily, the city’s landfills were overflowing, streets were frequently clogged with uncollected trash, and citizen complaints were mounting.

Fast forward to 2025, and Hyderabad is now being hailed as one of India's best-performing cities in solid waste management. From reclaiming giant garbage dumps to establishing advanced waste-to-energy plants, the city’s transformation is nothing short of remarkable.

This is the story of how Hyderabad tamed its mountain of waste—and what other Indian cities can learn from its success.

The Challenge: Waste Crisis in a Growing Metro

As one of India’s fastest-growing metropolitan cities, Hyderabad’s booming population and expanding infrastructure led to a massive surge in waste generation during the past decade.

• In 2014, the city generated 3,500 tonnes/day of solid waste.

• By 2020, that figure had nearly doubled.

• By 2025, estimates put daily waste generation above 6,500 tonnes.

The city’s two major landfill sites at Jawahar Nagar and Autonagar were overwhelmed, both environmentally hazardous and visually appalling. Residents living near these dumps faced serious health issues, groundwater contamination, and foul odors that lingered across kilometers.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was under immense pressure to act—and fast.

The Turning Point: Policy Reforms Under Swachh Bharat Mission

The game-changer came in 2015, when the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) gathered national momentum. Hyderabad, being a prominent smart city candidate, became a pilot ground for modern sanitation and waste handling reforms.

The GHMC, in collaboration with state government departments, set out to overhaul waste collection, segregation, transportation, and disposal under a comprehensive Urban Solid Waste Management (USWM) policy.

Some of the major objectives included:

• 100% door-to-door garbage collection

• Waste segregation at source

• Elimination of open dumping

• Scientific treatment and disposal

• Integration of informal waste workers

• Creation of waste-to-energy infrastructure

Segregation at Source: Educating Households First

The first big task was changing citizen behavior. The GHMC launched an intensive awareness campaign in collaboration with NGOs and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs).

• Households were encouraged to segregate wet and dry waste.

• Free green and blue bins were distributed to more than 25 lakh households.

• School programs, street plays, and door-to-door volunteers helped spread the message.

Within two years, over 70% of Hyderabad’s households were segregating waste at source—a feat that many other metros continue to struggle with.

Door-to-Door Collection: GHMC's Fleet Modernization

To tackle uncollected trash, GHMC invested heavily in its sanitation fleet:

• More than 4,500 Swachh Auto Tippers were deployed with GPS tracking.

• Sanitation workers were trained in digital attendance and route optimization.

• A robust centralized dashboard monitored collection in real-time.

Each vehicle was assigned to a micro-route, covering roughly 600–800 households. The collection network was optimized to reach even the densest urban slums and gated communities with equal efficiency.

Jawahar Nagar: From Toxic Landfill to Waste-to-Energy Beacon

Perhaps the most remarkable turnaround was at the Jawahar Nagar dump yard, which had become infamous as a “garbage mountain” visible from kilometers away.

Here’s what changed:

• A 19.8 MW Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant was commissioned in 2020.

• Two additional WTE units totaling 43 MW were added by 2023.

• Scientific capping and remediation techniques were employed to reclaim the old landfill space.

• Leachate treatment plants were set up to prevent groundwater contamination.

Today, Jawahar Nagar powers thousands of homes with electricity generated from processed municipal waste.

Empowering Informal Waste Pickers

Hyderabad also focused on the integration of waste pickers—often overlooked in formal schemes but crucial to the ecosystem.

• GHMC partnered with NGOs like SWaCH and Hasiru Dala to formalize jobs.

• Over 15,000 ragpickers were issued occupational ID cards.

• Many were trained and employed as segregators, recyclers, and collection partners.

This not only improved working conditions but also significantly boosted segregation and recycling rates.

Decentralized Composting and Biomethanation

To reduce pressure on central landfills, Hyderabad adopted a decentralized approach to handling organic waste.

• 192 decentralized composting units were set up across parks and colonies.

• 6 biomethanation plants were installed, producing clean biogas from food and horticultural waste.

• RWAs and gated societies were incentivized to handle organic waste on-site.

This helped reduce wet waste transported to landfills by nearly 40%, leading to cost savings and emissions reduction.

Recycling & Circular Economy Parks

Dry waste—especially plastics and packaging material—was another major challenge. To address this, the city established Dry Resource Collection Centers (DRCCs) in every zone.

• More than 180 DRCCs now process dry recyclables daily.

• The GHMC signed extended producer responsibility (EPR) agreements with FMCG companies and packaging firms.

• Recovered plastics are routed to Plastic Waste Recycling Units or reused in road construction.

In 2024, Hyderabad launched India’s first Circular Economy Park dedicated to waste upcycling industries—turning trash into tiles, furniture, bricks, and fuel.

Smart Waste Management: Using Tech to Monitor and Manage

Hyderabad’s waste system is powered by digital tools:

• The GHMC Swachh App allows citizens to log complaints, track garbage pickups, and access recycling info.

• IoT sensors in bins trigger alerts for timely emptying.

• AI-based route optimization helps reduce fuel use and time lags in collection.

• Real-time data dashboards allow zonal commissioners to intervene where service gaps are found.

This tech-driven model has made Hyderabad one of India’s most responsive municipal systems.

Budget & Finance: Waste as an Investment, Not an Expense

Far from being a cost center, Hyderabad’s waste reforms have created a circular revenue model:

• Sale of compost and recyclables generates over ₹80 crore annually.

• Waste-to-energy plants contribute to state electricity grids.

• Public-private partnerships have brought in investment exceeding ₹2,000 crore.

The GHMC's annual sanitation budget has been repurposed from mere collection expenses to infrastructure creation, innovation, and service enhancement.

Recognition & Replication

Hyderabad’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed:

• Ranked in the top 3 cities in the Swachh Survekshan 2023.

• Won the Best Waste Management Initiative award at the Smart Cities Expo.

• Replication projects are now being adopted by Pune, Indore, Surat, and Chennai based on the Hyderabad model.

Even global observers, including World Bank and UN Habitat, have praised the city’s waste transformation as a template for rapidly urbanizing nations.

Challenges That Remain

Despite the enormous progress, some issues still linger:

• Waste segregation in slums and old city zones remains inconsistent.

• Illegal dumping on urban outskirts continues to pose environmental risks.

• E-waste and hazardous medical waste management systems are underdeveloped.

• Enforcement of penalties for non-compliance is still patchy.

However, city planners remain optimistic, armed with data, citizen support, and political will.

Future Outlook: Toward Zero Waste Hyderabad

GHMC has now set sights on a more ambitious target: becoming a zero-waste city by 2030.

Planned interventions include:

• Expanding EV garbage fleets to reduce carbon emissions

• Installing 100% smart bins across commercial areas

• Rolling out RFID-enabled waste tracking for households

• Establishing more WTE plants using next-gen pyrolysis

• Launching waste literacy programs in schools

With continued focus and innovation, Hyderabad could soon join the ranks of global sanitation leaders like Singapore, Seoul, and Zurich.

A Clean Lesson in Civic Responsibility

Hyderabad's journey from a city drowning in garbage to one leading India’s waste revolution is a testament to policy innovation, technology adoption, and civic engagement.

It offers a powerful lesson: When citizens, administrators, and technology work together, even a mountain of waste can be brought to its knees.

The rest of India—and indeed, much of the Global South—would do well to study how Hyderabad cleaned up its act, quite literally.