Job Opportunity for Project Lead – Externalities Accounting at Waste Warriors in Dehradun, Dharamshala

JOB DESCRIPTION

A large portion of the waste generated in our country is sachet plastic packaging and other multi-layered plastics (MLPs) as can be witnessed at dumping sites and as evidenced in brand audits. This waste is typically burnt, leading to severe air pollution or ending up in the waterways, resulting in pollution of our water and oceans. In some cases, these waste streams end up choking the drainage system, thereby resulting in life-threatening floods that affect the marginalized communities the most. In many heartbreaking cases, our wildlife has been found ingesting these plastics. One kilogram of littered plastic in eco-sensitive areas would have a higher cost than one kilogram littered in a large metro city.

However, costs often only account for post-consumer activities, such as waste collection and disposal (e.g. landfilling and incineration), while other impacts on public health and the environment are not factored in. Under this limited scope, EPR service fees paid by PIBOs to waste management companies or PROs could fund waste collection and disposal activities, but local governments, and in most cases, citizens, are still expected to shoulder costs of poor air quality (from waste burning), increased cases of respiratory ailments, non-compliance with labor laws and maintenance of landfills meant for hazardous bottom ash, among others. Moreover, producers are likely to continue business-as-usual operations and pay the corresponding EPR service fees to waste management companies, instead of earmarking investment in reduction and redesign measures.

Properly accounting for the cost of safely handling sachet waste will help local governments and public authorities strengthen and effectively implement the EPR guidelines, putting emphasis on reducing plastic pollution, as well as reuse and redesign measures. Likewise, it aims to achieve the following long-term impacts:

• Quantifying the external costs of handling sachet waste will motivate the local governments, and political and business audiences to take notice of the currently hidden costs of sachet waste management (& mismanagement).
• The segmentation of the findings through our communications strategy will lead to building the momentum to strengthen the EPR regulations & their implementation thereby reducing the externalized costs in the long term.

We will be partnering with IIM Bengaluru and multiple other data collection partners from across the country for this on year project. 

Roles and Responsibilities

• Overall project coordination with all internal and external stakeholders 
• Contribute to the development of research framework in collaboration with project partners. 
• Ensure data collection is accurate, and on-time across all locations.  
• Ensuring all project deliverables are met, within the available budget.
• Tracking & maintaining all bills and expenses, etc related to the project to ensure complete compliance with FCRA regulations.
• Deep understanding of the regulations in India around plastic waste, & suggesting ways to strengthen the EPR regulations. 
• Actively participate in BFFP meetings & forums to present the findings from the project. 

JOB REQUIREMENT

Must-Have Skills & Attributes 

• 5+ years of experience in working on research-related projects in the waste management/ environmental sustainability sector. 
• A Master’s Degree/ Ph.D. in Environmental Management or any similar program will be preferred. 
• Highly skilled in project coordination & campaign management. 
• Training the project team on various aspects of data collection, research methodology, etc as & when required 
• Ability to work independently: Take initiative, identify issues, and work towards addressing them with a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Willingness to spend lots of time on the field & to travel extensively between the project sites. 
• Very high on personal and professional integrity. 
• Strong professional communication skills – both verbal and written. 

Pay Range

Salary information is not available at the moment.