Every day, cities around the world quietly bury possibilities beneath mountains of trash. A plastic bottle tossed aside, a pile of vegetable scraps swept away, an old phone forgotten in a drawer, each holds value that is too often ignored. Urban waste management has therefore become one of the most pressing environmental and governance challenges facing Indian cities. Rapid urbanisation, shifting consumption patterns, and population growth have pushed municipal solid waste (MSW) generation to unprecedented levels. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (2021), urban India produces over 160,000 metric tonnes of waste daily, much of which remains untreated and ends up in overflowing landfills. Conventional linear systems of “collect–transport–dispose” are proving unsustainable, highlighting the urgent need for a paradigm shift toward regenerative approaches aligned with circular economy principles.
This urgency will only intensify as India’s
urban population is projected to reach 600 million by 2036 (MoHUA, 2021),
resulting in a dramatic increase in pressure on municipal waste systems. Despite the
introduction of frameworks such as the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) and
initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission and Smart Cities Mission, implementation
has been uneven. Urban local bodies often lack the capacity and resources to
manage solid waste efficiently. Many cities remain dependent on landfilling,
hampered by inadequate segregation at source, limited material recovery, and
insufficient inclusion of informal waste workers.
Reliance on centralised waste systems
compounds these challenges by requiring long-distance transportation, which
generates high emissions, escalates costs, and distances citizens from
participation in waste management. Localised waste loops present a compelling
alternative. By processing waste close to its source, turning biowaste into
compost, recyclables into raw materials, and used products into refurbished goods
these loops embody the circular economy’s core principles: reducing material
inputs, designing out waste, and keeping resources in use for as long as
possible. When designed to include informal waste pickers, who currently
recover over half of India’s recyclables (Chaturvedi & Ghosh, 2019), these
systems become not only environmentally sound but also socially inclusive.
Economists from Adam Smith to modern thinkers
like Peter Wallström have long emphasised that prosperity depends on the
efficient use of scarce resources. Yet our prevailing “take–make–dispose”
habits convert potential wealth into pollution. In today’s resource-constrained
world, that approach is untenable. Rethinking waste as value reframes discarded
materials as untapped resources a mispriced asset that, with innovation,
thoughtful policy, and active community participation, can be transformed into
engines of local opportunity and sustainable growth. From
an economic perspective, this transformation aligns with foundational
principles of production economics. Classical economists like Adam Smith and
David Ricardo emphasised the optimal use of scarce resources to maximise societal welfare. In this light, waste is not merely garbage it represents
inefficient resource allocation, inputs that failed to produce utility. As
Peter Wallström has argued, waste need not remain an endpoint of inefficiency.
It can become an input for alternative value chains if we have the knowledge,
networks, and entrepreneurial vision to reconfigure it. Industrial by-products
such as heat or sawdust, once discarded, can now be redirected into energy
systems or composite materials, effectively extending the economy’s production
possibility frontier, achieving more without consuming more.
Further,
the waste can also be a source of value addition. The new idea of waste-to-energy generation has been taking shape for some time. While the idea of generating
energy or heat from the ‘waste’ looks attractive, the challenges are enormous.
It includes high initial investment costs, a need for an ample and consistent supply
of the feedstock to produce energy, etc. Though waste-to-energy projects have
been running in India for decades, many of them have been shut down because
of financial infeasibility, less efficiency and non-compliance to environmental
standards. Despite these challenges, new innovations are trying to deal with
waste-to-energy projects as opportunities rather than challenges. This requires
systemic change from collection to disposal to combine this with the principles of the circular economy.
Once
this is done, these ideas resonate powerfully with the circular economy. By
internalising what were once external costs, like disposal and emissions, circular systems reintegrate waste into productive cycles. Firms that recognise value in what was previously a sunk cost can shift their cost structures,
achieve efficiency gains, and sometimes even create Pareto improvements
benefiting multiple stakeholders without harm to others. However, realising this potential requires coordination. What one producer dismisses as worthless
may be highly prized by another. Without waste exchanges, regulation, or
digital platforms to connect these actors, markets fail, and value remains
locked in landfills.
This
revaluation of waste is not simply about accounting it is about culture and
behaviour . India’s LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) mission reinforces the role
of individuals in this transformation. Small acts like segregating wet and dry
waste, composting at home, or choosing products designed for durability and
repair become the seeds of systemic change. These actions are not trivial they
generate demand for circular goods, create local jobs, and reinforce the idea
that value continues well beyond the point of consumption.
Economists
such as Schumpeter remind us that innovation is born from new combinations of
existing resources. Waste, viewed through this lens, becomes a frontier for
entrepreneurial creativity: a broken chair repaired and sold, textile scraps
turned into affordable fashion, or organic waste composted to enrich local
soils. Even seemingly idle processes like drying time in production may enhance
quality and user satisfaction, showing that what appears to be inefficiency can
sometimes be hidden value.
As
urban India generates more than 160,000 metric tonnes of waste every day, with
nearly a quarter unmanaged, the stakes are enormous. Treating this unmanaged
fraction as an opportunity rather than a liability can generate local
enterprises, reduce municipal costs, and ease environmental burdens. Rethinking
waste as value is not just a slogan it is a strategy for resilient, inclusive
growth.
This
approach also acknowledges fairness. Millions of informal waste workers have
quietly sustained recycling systems, salvaging value from society’s discards.
Recognizing and integrating them into formal circular systems provides dignity,
fair wages, and efficiency. Without their expertise, much of the hidden value
in waste would remain unrealized.
The
circular economy calls us to rethink design, production, and consumption not as
isolated steps but as part of a dynamic, living system. It challenges
businesses to design out waste, cities to build local loops, and citizens to
see themselves as stewards of value. It calls for dynamic efficiency, where
innovation in reuse and recycling sustains value across generations, rather
than extracting resources today at tomorrow’s expense.
Every
discarded item has a story that isn’t over. A kitchen scrap can nourish soil, a
plastic bottle can become a new product, and a repaired appliance can save a family
money. In a circular economy, these are not trivial examples; they are the
building blocks of stronger local economies, cleaner environments, and more
equitable societies.
Rethinking
Waste as Value: Building Local Opportunities Through Circular Economy is, at
its core, a vision of possibility. It asks policymakers to craft enabling
regulations, businesses to innovate boldly, and communities to participate
actively. It asks all of us to pause before we throw something “away” and to
see, instead, its potential to enrich our shared future. When waste is
recognised as value, every end becomes a beginning, local, sustainable, and full
of promise.
The article is authored by Dr. Savitha K.L. and Chaitanya Deshpande.
About Authors:
Dr. Savitha K.L is an Assistant Professor (Economics) at Christ University, Banglore.
Chaitanya Deshpande is a Doctoral Scholar at the Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
