Exploring applicability of Lean Principles in SWM for Patna Municipal Corporation

Abstract

Rapid urbanization is driven by quality living aspirations; yet it has posed many challenges toward creating a sustainable built environment. One of the significant challenges is managing the enormous amount of waste created in the urban environment. The concern for sustainable municipal waste management is increasing with growing urbanization. The expected load of waste the urban region globally future has posed a significant threat to the environment. The problem becomes more critical for cities like Patna, where infrastructure growth has not occurred concerning the growing population density (Kumar M. , 2016). Being a riverside settlement, Patna has always been a choice of people with its trade opportunities. However, as the expansion can only occur on one side of the city, the density increased to a significant amount near the river coasts. Being responsible for the solid waste management of Patna, the PMC (Patna Municipal Corporation) is constantly working on increasing capacity, developing new plans, and keeping the city clean. With the additional responsibility of preventing the solid waste from being ended up in the river and maintaining the ghats of Patna, the PMC has come a long way in collecting the waste in keeping the city clean. Introducing lean Thinking (Womack & Jones, 1996, 2003) in waste management can provide an efficient model of waste management services that could manage the increasing quantity of generated waste without scaling up the system. A lean enterprise of waste management services can effectively manage the waste using the five principles of a lean enterprise. Furthermore, it can keep on growing towards perfection to manage the predicted increase in waste generation. It will help to identify and eliminate the gaps in the current municipal solid waste management system. Lean Thinking can be a robust tool/technique to benefit the urban local body manage municipal solid waste. The study explores the applicability of Lean Principles in Municipal Solid Waste Management by identifying the Value Chain and creating flow within the system in Indian and Global context. Further, the study analyses the present condition of Municipal Solid Waste Management in the region of Patna Municipal Corporation and identifies its Value Stream. Based on the Value Mapping and Data analysis for Patna Municipal Corporation, the study suggests the suitable Lean suggestions for improving the present condition of Municipal Solid Waste management in the area under jurisdiction of Patna Municipal Corporation. This guides the path for introducing Lean management in Municipal Solid Waste Management sector in future and improve the management capacity of ULBs with the optimum utilisation of available resources.