Local governments, both urban and rural, bear a large part of the mandate for ensuring waste management, as ensuing from the Schedules of the Constitution as well as the Central Environment Protection Act, 2005 and the State Panchayati Raj and Municipal Acts. The challenges are manifold – new materials in construction, upholstery, electronic goods etc, changing societal behaviour, high urbanisation and widespread use of plastics and disposables, land constraints, technology limitations, climate change manifestations and the systemic inability by way of both resources and application to pay adequate attention to waste management and to enforce the regulatory framework. It is also seen that the more that waste is brought into the system, the greater the adaptation of the policy framework that is necessitated. It is an ever evolving paradigm. Global impact of poor waste management is manifest in our rivers and oceans, and is showing up on our beaches and in the food chain. 

Rising affluence, consumerism and changing lifestyles especially post Covid, have seen waste generation increase manifold in recent times in Kerala. This has been posing a major challenge to the local governments. Compounded is the second generation leachate issues in liquid waste management and the contamination of water bodies and sources from liquid waste. The strategy for handling black and grey water has faced enormous resistance from communities calling for innovative and iconoclastic solutions, including addressing the severe land constraints.