ABSTRACT
Mysuru, a mid-size city, was crowned as the cleanest city in India in 2016 when it participated in a country-wide cleanliness survey called Swachh Survekshan (SS). SS has now grown into a much more competitive annual event, but Mysuru continues to maintain a position as one of the cleanest cities in India. Mysuru’s success is mainly due to the methodical proactive actions taken over the past two decades in managing its Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). However, this success achieved in the past 20 years is very much built on and benefitted from the city’s centuries-old philosophy of wanting to be a clean city. The same has also made a city population that has high MSW management awareness and eagerness to participate. This makes Mysuru a story worth telling. Mysuru is a good example for other cities to learn about the importance of waste management in achieving SDG 11. How Mysuru created jobs and an income through recycling/composting shows us that MSW management through circular means goes far beyond pollution control aspects, to also address socioeconomic aspects of sustainability. As this study shows, Mysuru is hardly perfect, but it is already on the right path and much ahead of many of its peer cities.
