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1.11
The Circular Economy in India
India has enacted several significant policy changes in recent years to support the circular economy. These policies aim to encourage resource efficiency, waste minimization, and extended producer responsibility, shifting the approach across industries. So how far has India come in implementing these policies?
Circular Economy, Circular Thinking in India
In this video from Deutsche Welle Eco India, we see how India tries to tackle its growing e-waste crisis by promoting repair and reuse. The ‘Right to Repair’ framework aims to fight planned obsolescence, making gadget repair cheaper and more accessible than replacement. This push for sustainability also includes recycling waste tires into road-building material and upcycling plastic beach trash into crafts for local income. More about India Plastics Pact here.
Watch the ‘Circular Economy, Circular Thinking’ video here or click below.
India’s circular economy push in 2025
Circular Business Review summarizes the situation as follows in ‘India’s Circular Economy Push in 2025: Policy, Industry and Market Pressures Converge’.
With a population over 1.4 billion and facing growing resource scarcity and social and environmental degradation, the pressure to reconcile industrial expansion with sustainability is acute.
India’s shift to a circular economy involves major sectors like manufacturing, textiles, and construction piloting recycling and reuse initiatives. This push, driven by Net Zero goals and market pressure, faces barriers like high upfront costs and fragmented supply chains. Weak enforcement of tightening policies, such as Extended Producer Responsibility and the Green Credit Program, hinders uniform adoption and requires stronger oversight to realize full potential.
Further reading, learning and references
Deutsche Welle – Circular economy, circular thinking – Eco India https://p.dw.com/p/4euy0
Eco India – DW & Scroll.in https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw3TDbfl2YpMSJrPZi0Ipd-WmgcZOVEwu&si=VYQ4mmUFQstPbL_G
Circular Business Review – India’s Circular Economy Push in 2025: Policy, Industry and Market Pressures Converge https://www.circularbusinessreview.com/indias-circular-economy-push-in-2025-policy-industry-and-market-pressures-converge/
Sharma, R., Yadav, V. and Gaur, T.S. (2025). Barriers to adopting circular economy practices in Indian textile industries. Discover Sustainability, 6(1) https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01173-1
© Daniel Mossberg, CEMUS, Uppsala University and Sonali Phadke, studio Alternatives and Stephanie Foote