Transitioning Indian Cities into Circular Economy

Akshita Yadav

UM4050

With India attempting to combat climate change and reduce its carbon footprint, and with its cities serving as growth engines driving rapid urbanization, it is becoming increasingly important to re-examine the linear functioning of our cities and attempt to transition it into a closed loop mechanism by addressing various types of waste and their management by urban local bodies. This research focuses on understanding circularity and waste management practices, as well as strengthening and applying the circular economy framework to assess the level of circularity of Indian cities in terms of municipal waste generated and the waste stream sectors that a city should focus on to achieve higher levels of circularity.

Report Content

Circular economy is an economic method aimed at reducing waste and ensuring the continuous use of resources.The traditional linear economy pattern follows the take-make-dispose scheme.

Circular Economy is one approach to sustainable development that is restorative and regenerative and minimizes the waste. Instead of destroying value of resources after the use phase, value is retained through cycles of reusing, repairing, remanufacturing, or recycling.

Most developed nations are currently working hard to transition to circular economies, and India is on the verge of deciding on and committing to a growth path that is restorative and regenerative by design.

Most developed countries are working hard to transition to circular economies today, and India is on the cusp of deciding on and committing to a growth path that is restorative and regenerative by design.

At the heart of reaching a circular economy are the nine “R’ strategies.

Based on this the waste streams that have been selected for further research are Biodegradable waste, non-biodegradable waste (Plastic and cloth) and C&D waste.

As “one cannot improve what cannot be measured”, hence establishing a framework becomes important in order to assess the exiting scenario of the cities. There are four key objectives that can be identified as a need to measure the state of the art, progress and impacts of a circular economy in our country.

Seven pilot cities chosen based on type to be accessed based on the designed framework.

A comparative analysis was conducted for the four areas and seven cities.In order to make the cities comparable and to bring them on a standardized single platform, the final scoring has been normalized.

For Solid waste Management, of the 7 cities analysed, the poor performing cities can look up to the management plan of better performing cities.