Project Name:
Circular Economy - SWM
Client:
Ahmedabad Minicipal Corporation
Year:
2023
Project Area:
1924 sq.km
This project began as a broader exploration of municipal solid waste management in Ahmedabad, conducted collaboratively with my colleagues from Urban Infrastructure. While mapping the sector, I was particularly drawn to Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste, owing to my architectural background and deep curiosity about the material cycles of construction, demolition, and reconstruction.
What started as a fascination quickly became a dedicated inquiry, driving me to delve deeper into the hidden potential of C&D waste as a resource stream within circular economy pathways.
I initiated this project to challenge a fundamental perception in urban development: that demolition is an end-of-life event. it was merely a point of resource genesis. The journey began with a rigorous diagnostic of the existing ecosystem, revealing critical gaps in the value chain. By projecting the city's exponential growth, the future scale of this crisis was established.
The response was to design 'Cbud,' a circular economy model that moves beyond mere recycling to high-value and luxury repurposing materials. This culminated in a fiscally robust, market-ready framework, proving that sustainable urbanism is not just an ecological imperative but a compelling economic opportunity.
The stakeholder engagements and on-ground assessment quantified a staggering gap: only 1000 TPD of waste was officially collected, against a much larger, unaccounted volume being generated. With a mere 7.5% of the SWM budget allocated to C&D waste, we identified critical failures: regulatory loopholes, chronic under-investment, and a non-existent market for recycled materials, all of which created a thriving, unregulated informal sector.
With the present-day problem defined, it's crucial to foresee future. Our city expansion simulations and demographic projections showed Ahmedabad on a trajectory of explosive growth. The forecasted C&D waste stream was to surge over 5,600 TPD by 2041. This forward-looking analysis was essential; it allowed us to frame my solution not as a response to a current problem, but as an essential strategy to avert a future crisis.
My intervention, 'Cbud,' was designed as a market-driven solution. The 'Call Before You Demolish' platform is an aggregator that directly connects waste generators with a network of recyclers and artisans. It’s underpinned by six principles that champion a new aesthetic in luxury interior decor market. To translate our concept into a tangible product, a functional prototype of the Cbud digital platform and a portfolio of product applications was developed. It showcased how repurposed materials could be transformed into premium wall panels, modern furniture, and bespoke décor, even integrating AR visualization to enhance the client experience.
To ground our hypothesis, we first had to deeply understand the existing terrain. The research began by mapping the solid waste sector in Ahmedabad, situating C&D waste within statutory plans and institutional frameworks. We mapped Ahmedabad's entire Solid Waste Management ecosystem, and its alignment with global targets like SDG 11 and 12. This initial diagnostic revealed that C&D waste was a siloed, under-prioritized component within a much larger, complex system.
Ultimately, sustainability must be sustainable economically. This fiscal analysis was the capstone of this work, designed to prove the bankability of our model. The C&D processing plant is structured under a DBFOO based Public Private Partnership (PPP), diversifying revenue streams. The financial projections, based on a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methodology, confirmed the project's viability, yielding a positive Net Present Value (NPV) and an attractive Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 20%.
