Horticulture Waste Management: Systematic Literature Review for Urban Policy

Riddhim joined CEEW's Clean Air team as a research intern, working within a sub-team focused on urban green waste and horticulture waste management. The team's goal was to produce a practical guidebook for urban local bodies across India, giving municipalities a clear decision framework for managing horticulture waste based on their specific conditions.

His assignment was to conduct the systematic literature review that would underpin the guidebook's recommendations. A systematic literature review is a structured, exhaustive process: it requires identifying every relevant published study within a defined problem scope, extracting data across a consistent set of parameters, and analyzing that data to produce findings that can withstand scrutiny. Riddhim ran this process using CADIMA, a specialized tool for systematic review management.

The review covered the major technological interventions available for horticulture waste management: biochar, composting, pelletizing, and biogas. The goal was not to discover new information — the technologies themselves are well understood — but to build a credible, exhaustive evidence base that could support a recommendation matrix without leaving gaps that critics could challenge.

The output of his work fed into a decision matrix structured around parameters like climate conditions, soil type, waste volume, and moisture levels. Depending on where a municipality sits across those parameters, the matrix points toward the most appropriate intervention. The guidebook was still in review at the time of his departure from the team, given CEEW's rigorous internal publication process.