Business of Change Compendium 2026

India stands at an important point in its development journey. Economic growth, urbanisation and rising consumption are creating new opportunities, but they are also placing increasing pressure on our infrastructure , water and natural ecosystems. How we manage these resources will have significant implications for India's future.

Circularity must therefore be understood as much more than a waste-management strategy. It is an opportunity to strengthen resource security, climate resilience, economic competitiveness, public health and livelihoods, while reducing the environmental footprint of India's continued growth.

Over the past decade, India has made significant progress in municipal solid-waste management. More than 80 per cent of the municipal solid waste generated in urban India is now reported to be processed—a substantial improvement from where the country stood a decade ago.

The next challenge, however, is to move beyond processing towards genuine circularity.

This means preventing avoidable waste wherever possible, maintaining segregation at source, preserving the value of materials, recovering resources of reliable quality and ensuring that only genuine residual waste reaches disposal facilities. It also means creating markets in which recovered materials can compete, businesses can invest with confidence and circular products can find dependable buyers.