Prof K S Chandrasekar
vc@clujammu.ac.in
Indian economy has increased tenfold in the last three decades and is projected to be the third largest, with an estimated GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030. Jostling for the same, the economic growth has also led to an unprecedented increase in its annual material consumption, which grew from 1.18 billion tonnes in 1970 to 7 billion tonnes in 2015 and is projected to reach 14.2 billion tonnes by 2030. UN has given SDG long back for nation’s to follow so that they achieve the objectives by 2030. Suddenly, we have opened up to the UN SDG. Even though the deadline given is 2030, I think we can achieve the objectives only by 2045. Nations are taking actions. But are a bit late. We cannot blame them due to their own interests and commitments.As India strives to become a Viksit Bharat, a developed economy, by 2047, it must restructure its growth model to a more resource-efficient one by embedding circular strategies. This shift is not an environmental but an economic imperative that boosts jobs, growth, and sustainability. The linear economy which India followed since has not only caused industrial expansion but also led to enormous amounts of wasted goods. In the last 15 years, the global fashion industry doubled production, but by the time clothing is worn before being rejected halved, 73% of thrown away clothing is burned or buried.The shift from a linear economic model, characterized by extraction, production, and disposal, to a circular approach focused on renewal, refurbishment, and resource-sharing holds promise for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, notably Sustainable Development Goal 12, which focuses on sustainable use and creation of goods. Similarly, 5,000 million tonnes of plastic lie in landfills. World Bank studies find eight million tonnes of plastic leak into the oceans annually – by 2050, the seas could contain more plastic than fish. E-waste or discarded electronics measures 50 million tonnes.Comprising harmful minerals, including carcinogenic mercury and lead, e-waste is hazardous – yet, the UN finds only one-fifth of all e-waste is recycled, leaving mountains of discarded mobiles, batteries and remotes.
Sustainability is a dynamic process which enables all people to realize their potential and to improve their quality of life in ways that simultaneously protect and enhance the Earth’s life support systems.Indigenous communities, who have lived sustainability on Earth for centuries, typically define sustainability around principles of relationality, community-based governance, quality of life and health, and communal recognition of nature and external, non-human entities as life-givers and enablers.Sustainability clearly exists to find balance between economic, societal, and environmental needs, both now and in the future. It’s also a form of systems thinking which recognizes everything is connected, actions cannot be compartmentalized, and no individual, organization, or nation operates by itself.
Circular economy is a sustainable model, process, or economic system focused on re-use and waste elimination. It’s a method of achieving sustainability, or a representation of a sustainable ecosystem.In this sense, a circular product or supply chain is likely to be more sustainable than a linear, non-circular one – but circularity alone isn’t the only way to define something as sustainable.The shift towards a circular economy holds the potential to yield considerable overall health advantages, thereby aiding in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDGs 3, 9, 11, and 12. Several essential services vital to confined societies, such as energy provision, water supply, wastewater treatment, and waste collection, rely heavily on natural resources and environmental services. It aims to reduce the use of natural resources, recycling and repurposing commodities, saving Earth from more landfills and polluted ecosystems. It makes industries more productive. The World Economic Forum finds a global circular economy can bring material cost savings of one trillion dollars annually by 2025, recycled e-waste alone yielding over $62.5 billion. Its environmental gains are huge – applying circular strategies to cement, aluminium, steel, plastics and food could eliminate 45% of the emissions now heating the Earth.More than 30 percent of land area has been degraded through deforestation, over-cultivation, soil erosion and depletion of wetlands. That is why we are seeing the flash floods, cloud bursts, climate change across the country.
Circular economy prioritizes regenerative resources as material inputs and making the most out of existing resources and materials. It is based on three principles: design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, regenerate natural systems. Main pillars of action are known as the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.The aim of the circular economy is therefore to make the most of the material resources available to us by applying three basic principles: reduce, reuse and recycle. According to a 2019 European Union (EU) study, only around 9% of the global economy is circular. That means we primarily live and work in a linear economy characterized by unsustainable production and consumption. We take raw materials from the Earth, process them into products we consume (usually generating additional waste along the way), and then throw them away after use.
The World Institute of Sustainable Energy has developed an action plan to capture at least 60 percent of the electronic waste generated in the city of Pune, one of the largest metropolitan areas in India. Their approach is based on circular economy principles and has been embraced in stakeholder meetings with city officials as well as local residents and non-governmental organizations. Government from time to time has come out with rules and regulations to ensure circularity including The E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016,Battery Waste management Rules 2022 and Plastic waste management rules, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0, GOBAR Dhan scheme, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme and Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana. Companies including private have put in their efforts on the same as Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)’s initiative “Project Prithvi” which aims to create a circular economy for plastic waste.The project has resulted in the collection and disposal of over 5,000 metric tons of plastic waste. Indian Railways has implemented a circular economy model by repurposing discarded railway tracks. Godrej Group has implemented a circular economy model by repurposing discarded wooden pallets. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has implemented a circular economy model by repurposing plastic waste.There are 644 Circular Economy startups in India which include Lohum, Attero, GPS Renewables, Recykal, WeVOIS Labs. Out of these, 185 startups are funded, with 33 having secured Series A+ funding.2025 has seen the creation of 2 Circular Economy startups in India. Over the past 10 years, an average of 42 new companies has been launched annually. Notably, several of these startups have been founded by alumni of BITS Pilani, Indian School of Business and IIT Kanpur.Built environment also accounts for 40% of global carbon emissions, over 30% of global final energy use and consumes nearly half of the world’s natural resources. The unprecedented concrete jungles being built can cause more harm and this is where planned cities, townships which can provide more open spaces, vegetation can be of help.In many advanced economies, there is now increasing regulation on businesses taking extended responsibility for their products, even after these go into the supply chain. There’s legislation, government intervention and consumer pressure on businesses to think about recovering and recycling products. It is time India is moving towards an advanced nation needs to immediately address considering the population it has.
India’s Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar recently proposed the Cities Coalition for Circularity (C3) platform at the 12th Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum to promote resource efficiency and low carbon economy by connecting cities, academia, and tech innovators. Only about 2% of the Indian population currently own a car, but the demand for mobility is increasing. Demand for personal mobility in India is expected to double or even triple by 2030. Car sales are booming, and the country is expected to become the third largest market in the world by 2030, after China and the US. And by 2050, India will top the chart. Hence there is a need for hybrid and electric vehicles with scrappage policy announced by the Government to ensure better mobility.SEWA works in the textile waste sector, these are women workers who exchange old clothes for utility items, wash and repair these and sell them. Such old pieces of cloth are not thrown away, unlike in developed economies, which has a very positive environmental impact in terms of saving landscapes and water bodies from pollution and refuse.Traditional Indian society celebrated balancing one’s desires with respecting nature as the source of everything. India can offer this worldview to the world while it modernises its own circular practices. That’s why Swadeshi can provide an answer to these issues.
The principles of a circular economy are deeply embedded in the ancient Indian philosophy found in the Vedas, such as Ahimsa (non-violence), which extends to nature, and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the concept of the earth as a single family. These ideas promote a reverence for nature, interconnectedness, and a shift from resource extraction to sustainable practices, mirroring the modern circular economy’s goals of waste reduction, resource regeneration, and non-exploitative consumption. Our approach to circularity must shift from sustainability to a strategic priority that accelerates our economic growth, strengthens our energy independence and makes India self-reliant in order to be the Viksit Bharat by 2047.
(The author is Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu)
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