• Urban waste management has gained renewed global focus after COP30 (Belém, 2025) placed waste and circularity at the core of climate action, committing funds to cut methane emissions through initiatives like No Organic Waste (NOW).

Transforming a Waste-Ridden Urban India:

• It refers to India’s shift from a linear “collect–dump” model of urban waste management to a circular economy framework, where waste is minimised, segregated, recycled, and reused as a resource to reduce pollution, emissions, and health risks in rapidly expanding cities.

Trends / data in urban waste:

• Rising waste generation: Urban India is projected to generate 165 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually by 2030, reflecting rapid urbanisation.
• Future burden: By 2050, waste generation could rise to 436 million tonnes as the urban population approaches 814 million.
• Climate impact: Urban waste is estimated to emit over 41 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, mainly methane from organic waste.
• Construction debris: Cities generate about 12 million tonnes of construction and demolition (C&D) waste annually, a major contributor to urban pollution.

Organic Waste: An Opportunity

• Composting at scale: Large volumes of urban wet waste can be converted into nutrient-rich manure, reducing landfill pressure and closing the soil–nutrient loop.
• E.g. Under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme, 2025, ₹1,500/tonne subsidy enabled cities like Varanasi to supply Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) to regional farmers.
• Bio-methanation & CBG: Anaerobic digestion of organic waste produces Compressed Biogas (CBG), linking waste management with clean energy and mobility.
• E.g. By 2025, GOBARdhan facilitated ~750 CBG projects, with Indore’s 550 TPD plant fueling city buses and setting a national benchmark.
• Methane reduction: Diverting wet waste from dumpsites prevents anaerobic decay, significantly cutting methane—a potent short-lived climate pollutant.
• E.g. Alappuzha’s decentralised composting, cited in the India Zero Waste Alliance (2025) report, showed measurable GHG reductions aligned with India’s NDCs.
• Decentralised solutions: On-site waste processing eliminates transport costs, emissions, and secondary pollution from centralised dumping.
• E.g. Under SBM-U 2.0’s Swachh Campus (2025) norms, hotels in Srinagar and Pattan achieved 100% in-situ food waste processing.
• Livelihood generation: Circular waste systems formalise informal labour, creating dignified green jobs and local economic value.
• E.g. The SafaiMitra Suraksha Programme (2025) integrated SHGs like Green Roing (Arunachal Pradesh) into composting and MRF operations.

Role of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0:

• Garbage Free Cities (GFC) framework: A star-rating system institutionalises scientific waste processing and zero-dumping as measurable governance outcomes.
• E.g. In Swachh Survekshan 2025, Navi Mumbai and Surat achieved 7-Star GFC status through 100% processing and legacy waste clearance.
• Dump-site remediation: Bio-mining reclaims land by segregating legacy waste into soil enricher, RDF, and recyclables.
• E.g. MCD (Aug 2025) reported 25,000 MT/day bio-mining across Ghazipur, Bhalswa, and Okhla landfills.
• Source segregation push: Mandatory three-bin segregation improves recycling purity and processing efficiency across the waste value chain.
• E.g. Mizoram’s Adopt-a-Dustbin Scheme (2025) ensured near-100% segregation in Aizawl’s commercial hubs through community monitoring.
• Integration with climate goals: SBM-U embeds circular economy principles to reduce urban emissions, especially methane.
• E.g. MoEFCC’s 2025 Conclave linked SBM-U grants with reduction of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs).
• Behavioural change: Jan Andolan strategies make waste segregation a social norm through peer learning and nudges.
• E.g. Swachh Shehar Jodi (2025) paired cities like Ambikapur with laggards using gamified waste-tracking apps.

Challenges Associated

• Poor segregation at source: Mixed waste contaminates recyclables, damages machinery, and undermines waste-to-energy viability.
• E.g. Supreme Court (Feb 2025) flagged NCR cities like Gurgaon for <20% segregation, leading to WtE plant failures.
• Plastic waste complexity: Multi-layered plastics lack viable recycling markets, causing leakage despite EPR norms.
• E.g. CPCB EPR Portal (2025) showed shortages of food-grade recycled resin despite mandatory recycled-content rules.
• C&D waste enforcement gaps: Illegal dumping of debris clogs drains and worsens PM10 pollution in cities.
• E.g. CAG Audit (2025) found over 70% of ULBs lacked designated C&D waste collection points.
• Municipal capacity constraints: ULBs face shortages of funds, skilled staff, and technical oversight to run processing plants.
• E.g. NITI Aayog (2025) noted Tier-3 cities in UP lack sanitary inspectors to operate bio-methanation units.
• Market & quality issues: Poor compost quality reduces farmer trust and commercial uptake.
• E.g. India Zero Waste Alliance (2025) reported high rejection of city compost due to weak BIS enforcement and contamination.

Way Ahead:

• Strengthen circular economy laws: Effective implementation of Environment (C&D) Waste Management Rules, 2025 from April 2026 can fix accountability gaps.
• Scale EPR beyond plastics: Extending EPR to textiles, e-waste fractions, and packaging can shift the burden to producers.
• Urban wastewater reuse: Cities must accelerate reuse under AMRUT, as seen in treated wastewater supply to industries in Nagpur.
• City-to-city knowledge sharing: India’s Cities Coalition for Circularity (C-3) can diffuse best practices across Asia-Pacific urban centres.
• Citizen incentives: Linking segregation and recycling to user-fee rebates or carbon credits can convert citizens into stakeholders.

Conclusion:

• India’s urban waste crisis is no longer an aesthetic issue but a climate, health, and economic challenge. By embedding circularity, decentralised solutions, and citizen participation into urban governance, waste can become a resource. A decisive shift today will determine whether India’s cities remain swamps of waste or engines of sustainable growth.