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Improper waste management has been a serious issue in many countries, thus, home composting is considered as an effective method in solid waste management (SWM). Based on qualitative research methods, this study explores peoples' motives to choose composting and main problems confronted by them in home composting in Kaduwela and Moratuwa municipalities in the Western Province of Sri Lanka and proposes policy measures to improve home compositing.

This study was mainly based on qualitative research methods. A convenient sample of 40 households including 20 households from each municipal council (MC) has been selected using semi-structured interviews. Descriptive methods were used to analyze the data.

Citizens have chosen to compost mainly, for gardening, the influence of local authorities, economic benefits and environmental and health concerns. Fear of potential health problems, lack of resources, problems caused by animals, problems related to compost bins, limited knowledge and awareness about composting are difficulties encountered during home composting. Providing compost bins to people at a concessionary price or for free of charge, providing required facilities and financial assistance, promoting people's positive attitudes and awareness, encouraging the use of compost in households, improving the standard of composting and making relevant legal and institutional arrangements to promote people's participation in home composting are suggested for encouraging home composting.

This study used a small sample, which is the main limitation of this study.

The policy implication will help to improve composting solid waste practices of the Local Governments.

There is a lack of research on composting related to the selected municipalities. As composting is an effective method in SWM, the findings and the proposed policy measures of this study will help to improve the SWM of the Local Governments of Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately in India, most landfills are located along the banks of rivers flowing through the cities. The interaction of two big, diverse and delicate ecological systems – rivers and landfills – has been investigated in this paper. During 2000, the estimated quantity of waste generation was more than 9,000 tons per day. This is one of the biggest sources of environmental degradation in Delhi, India's capital. It contributes to river pollution in a significant way through landfill leachate and runoff, especially during the rainy season. Since the 1950s over 12 large landfills have been packed with all sorts of non‐biodegradable and toxic wastes from Delhi. The area covered by landfills is at least 1 percent (14.83 sq.km) of Delhi's total area. All the landfill sites except Tilak Nagar, Hastal and Chattarpur are located close (0‐6 km) to the river Yamuna. Further, these landfills are not engineered sanitary landfills and the waste is dumped at open sites without proper compaction. A high mountain of waste can be seen at all landfill sites without a cover. The leachate produced by landfills finally percolates to the porous ground surface at the landfills or finds its way to nearby drains. A large portion of landfill leachate and runoff produced by these landfill sites finally reaches the Yamuna through ground water flow or surface water flow through the drains. The results of analysis by investigations and environmental mapping during the study clearly indicate that river water quality is affected by the presence of landfill locations, i.e. landfill leachate and landfill surface runoff.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute original evidence about the conditions for formal and informal contracts for commodities and labour in the waste economy of a South Indian town.

Field research was exploratory, based on snowball sampling and urban traversing. The analysis follows capital and labour in the sub-circuits of capital generating waste in production, distribution, consumption, the production of labour and the reproduction of society.

Regardless of legal regulation, which is selectively enforced, formal contracts are limited to active inspection regimes; direct transactions with or within the state; and long-distance transactions. Formal labour contracts are least incomplete for state employment, and for relatively scarce skilled labour in the private sector.

The research design does not permit quantified generalisations.

Waste management technology evaluations neglect the social costs of displacing a large informal labour force.

While slowly dissolving occupational barriers of untouchability, the waste economy is a low-status labour absorber of last resort, exit from which is extremely difficult.

The first systematic exploration of formal and informal contracts in an Indian small-town waste economy.

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste from soft drink bottles was incorporated into palm olein alkyd to produce new polyol for use in polyurethane resins as surface protection on metal surfaces.

Alkyd was prepared from palm olein, glycerol and phthalic anhydride. PET underwent simultaneous glycolysis and transesterification reactions with the alkyd. Varying the amount of PET has led to polyols with different viscosities. Polyurethane resins were produced by reacting the polyols with toluene diisocyanate. The resins were coated on mild steel panels and cured. Performances of the cured films were tested.

The polyurethanes (PU) resin cured to a harder film with better thermal stability. Films showed excellent adhesion properties, while higher content of PET exhibited higher pencil hardness, better water, salt, acid and alkali resistance.

Other vegetable oils could also be used. The alkyd structure could be changed by formulation to have different functionality and the ability to incorporate higher amount of PET waste. Rate of glycolysis of PET could be increased by higher amount of ethylene glycol.

This method has managed to use waste PET in producing new polyol and PU resins. The cured films exhibit good mechanical and chemical properties, as well as excellent adhesion and thermal stability.

The non-biodegradable PET has created environmental pollution problems connected to littering and illegal landfilling. It has become necessary to pay greater attention to recycling PET bottles for obtaining valuable products.

This approach is different from the earlier reports, where PET was recycled to recover the raw materials.

India has taken a successful step towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by providing access to basic amenities such as safe drinking water, waste management, drainage systems and bio-compost pits in households. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that significantly impact access to such basic amenities in villages in two states in the hilly regions of India.

Village-level secondary data collected from the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) website has been analyzed using multiple linear regression and non-parametric statistical tests. Socio-economic and demographic variables are the independent factors in regression whereas availability of basic amenities is the dependent variable.

Findings reveal that in Himachal Pradesh, gender ratio, annual income per family, percentage of BPL households, percentage of pucca houses, and percentage of village population above graduation, significantly impact access to piped water in village households. Also, literacy rate and percentage of population with education above graduation significantly impact availability of compost pits. Further, in Uttarakhand, percentage of pucca houses influences access to waste collection system and availability of compost pits. Availability of drainage systems is influenced by literacy rate. A comparison between the two hilly states reveals that Himachal Pradesh is better off in terms of ease of access to drinking water whereas Uttarakhand is ahead in terms of other amenities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other studies have used socio-economic and demographic variables to study access to basic amenities in villages in hilly states in India.

After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, major resettlement programmes were implemented in the affected countries including Sri Lanka and India. New settlements were built from scratch on vacant land, which consisted of building new houses and provision of infrastructure and services. Some of these programmes in Sri Lanka and India were reviewed in an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research and this paper presents and analyses some of the findings of the research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research is based on interviews of residents and representatives of agencies involved in planning and implementing the resettlement programmes, and on-site observations. The investigation examined critical aspects of settlement development including site planning, transport, drainage, water supply, sanitation, waste management and security.

Very little site planning guidelines were available specifically for resettlement programmes; in both the case study countries, general planning guidelines were applied. Provision and management of infrastructure and services presents great challenges in developing countries as high capital investment and good technical skills for design, implementation and maintenance are required. Some of the resettlement schemes had the advantage of being centrally located and hence had access to schools, health centres and other facilities. However, others were in isolated locations and beneficiaries faced problems in accessing basic facilities. Drainage was a problem – most schemes did not have any surface drainage plan; low areas had not been elevated, slopes not levelled, and land not compacted before construction. Electricity and water supply had been provided in all the programmes, but conditions and quality varied. In many of the schemes, sanitation presented a problem. However, in Chennai, the sewage system worked well and this was one achievement all interview respondents praised. Solid waste management and security posed additional problems.

In the global context of increasing frequency and intensity of disasters due to climate change, adequate planning and implementation of reconstruction and resettlement programmes has become more important than ever. In this regard, the lessons gained in this paper should be of value and can provide guidance to post-disaster resettlement programmes in developing countries.

The aim of this paper is to assess the trend of changes of nutritional status and environmental quality of different decomposing organic wastes in different phases of vermicomposting utilizing an indigenous earthworm's species Perionyx excavatus.

Four different organic wastes were selected as basic ingredients for vermicompost production. Dried waste materials (2 kg) of each were mixed with dried cow dung and placed in experimental plastic trays with 60 individuals of selected earthworm species. Samples were collected from each tray at an interval of 15 days. Six trays were used: three were with both wastes, three trays having only wastes were treated as control.

Regression equation has shown the rate of change of nutrients – both in control and experiment vermicomposting units over time – which revealed significant changes of C, N, P and C/N ratio during different phases of vermicomposting.

Vermitechnology is now being considered as an eco‐friendly, user‐friendly and cost‐effective biotechnological tool for the conversion of decomposable organic wastes into valuable organic manure, ensuring pollution abatement, self employment and sustainability in agriculture.

The paper helps to identify the potential of locally available earthworm species and organic materials for the mass production of vermicompost involving local peoples and locally available bioresources.

Argues that the serious environmental degradation occurring in two “low island” Pacific states, Kiribati and Tuvalu, can be directly attributed to the lack of allocation of rights of access to, or the lack of exclusion of non rights‐holders from, common property resources. A recommendation, resulting from research in the countries concerned, is that the governments must enforce their rights over lands and underground water, if these resources are to continue to provide benefits to the community and if disease incidence in the population (an outcome of open access to public resources) is to be reduced. For the management of inshore fisheries resources, it is suggested that rights of Island Councils are confirmed and reinforced by central government. In the case of the nations’ ocean resources, co‐operation between Pacific island states is required to manage access and exploitation by foreign vessels.