India proposes draft rules for managing solid waste and advancing circular economy

India's Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has introduced the draft Solid Waste Management Rules, 2024, to address the adverse effects of unmanaged solid waste and implement the principles of a circular economy. The objective of these rules is to strengthen monitoring, reporting, and enforcement mechanisms across urban and rural areas to improve the quality of the environment nationwide.

The government has invited public comments within two months. Once received, these comments will be reviewed and considered for incorporation into the final guidelines. The Ministry has proposed implementing the Solid Waste Management Rules from October 2025.

Application areas
Solid waste management by local authorities within their respective jurisdictions will encompass the environmentally sound handling of solid waste, including dry waste, wet waste, special care waste, sanitary waste, horticultural waste, and agricultural residues. This will also include managing sanitary/operational landfills and remediating legacy waste dumpsites. These rules will apply to all urban and rural local bodies, including entities under government, private sector, or Public-Private Partnership (PPP) control. They will also cover units in special notified areas such as industrial areas/townships, special economic zones (SEZs), and food parks.

Additionally, the rules will extend to areas under Indian Railways, including railway stations, tracks, and adjacent land parcels, as well as airports, airbases, ports, harbors, defense establishments, public and private organizations, and sites of religious or historical importance. All landowners—public or private, individual or corporate—along with domestic, institutional, commercial, and other non-residential solid waste generators, must comply. Hazardous chemicals, biomedical waste, and radioactive waste are excluded from these rules.

Duties of waste generator
The Solid Waste Management Rules define duties of every waste generator. Under these rules every generator requires to adopt measures to prevent or reduce environmental pollution caused by solid waste, segregate and store the waste generated by them in four separate streams at source namely wet waste, dry waste, sanitary waste and special care waste; and handover segregated waste to authorized waste pickers or waste collectors.

Additionally, used sanitary waste such as diapers and sanitary pads must be securely wrapped in the pouches provided by manufacturers or in suitable wrapping material as instructed by local authorities. These materials must be placed in designated sanitary waste bins separate from dry or wet waste bins. Construction and demolition waste must be stored separately and disposed of accordingly. Similarly, horticultural and garden waste generated on premises must be managed as directed by local authorities. Waste must not be discarded on streets, public spaces, or water bodies.

Bulk generators
Bulk solid waste generators must register with the concerned local authority through a centralized online portal. The registration certificate will specify conditions for validity. Any updates to registration details must be promptly notified. New bulk waste generators must set up decentralized wet waste processing facilities to manage their waste. Existing generators unable to establish such facilities must procure Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR) certificates from the concerned local authority to ensure proper processing of their waste.

Decentralized composting and biomethanation facilities must also be registered with the local authority. Where this is not feasible, bulk generators must seek exemptions and engage third-party or local authority-approved services for waste processing. In case of existing bulk waste generators where it may not be possible to have composting and /or biomethanation facilities within their premises or under their control and management, they shall get the exemption from the local body and shall engage with a third party or concessionaire engaged by the local body for composting and/or biomethanation of wet waste

Extended generator responsibility
Only local body or registered third party/ concessionaire engaged by the local body is mandated to generate Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR) certificate for fulfilment of EBWGR obligation of bulk waste generator against the solid waste handed over to registered waste processing facilities /recyclers. The local body, or third party or the concessionaire, authorized by it, shall register themselves on the centralized online portal prior to generation of EBWGR certificates for solid waste collected from bulk waste generator and handed over to the registered waste processing facilities /recyclers.

EBWGR certificates generated against the wet waste shall be generated by the local body or the registered third party or the concessionaire, only after the corresponding registered wet waste treatment/processing facilities to whom the waste was handed over submit reports providing details of quantity of wet waste received and processed, on the centralized online portal.

The industrial units using solid fuel and located within specified distance from a solid waste based refused derived fuel plant shall make arrangements to replace their solid fuel requirement with combustible fraction produced from solid waste conforming with standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Fee charged by local body for issuance of each EGR certificate(s) to be shared with the concerned concessionaire or the third party as well as with the SPCB or could be used by local body towards development and maintenance of solid waste management.

Criteria for waste to energy process
Non-recyclable waste having calorific value of 1500 Kcal/kg or more shall not be disposed of on landfills and shall only be utilised for generating energy either or through refuse derived fuel or by giving away as feedstock for preparing refuse derived fuel as per standards prescribed by CPCB. High calorific wastes shall be used for co-processing in cement or thermal power plants or other furnaces.

The local body or an operator of facility or an agency designated by them proposing to set up waste to energy plant of more than ten tonnes per day processing capacity shall submit an application to the State Pollution Control Board, as the case may be, for authorisation. The State Pollution Control Board, on receiving such application for setting up waste to energy facility, shall examine the same and grant permission within sixty days. Establishment, operation and maintenance of waste to energy facilities shall be authorized by concerned State Pollution Control Board, in accordance with the guidelines issued by CPCB in this regard.


DILIP KUMAR JHA
Editor
dilip.jha@polymerupdate.com