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The Union Environment Minister and the Chief Minister of Gujarat inaugurated the World Circular Economy Forum 2026 at Gandhinagar on 15 September 2026; it runs to 18 September.
The theme is 'Circular Economy: Transition for People and Prosperity', and this is the first WCEF hosted in South Asia.
It is jointly organised by the Central Pollution Control Board, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, MoEF&CC, the Government of Gujarat and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board.
As of August 2026, more than 83,000 producers and 4,802 recyclers were registered under India's Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks, with about 482.24 lakh metric tonnes of waste processed across regulated streams.
Two publications were released: 'Best Practices for Reuse of Treated Sewage' and 'Driving Sustainability - A Guide to India's Circular Economy and EPR Initiatives'.
A circular economy replaces the linear take-make-dispose model by keeping materials in use at their highest value. The 9R hierarchy ranks strategies: refuse, rethink, reduce (design-stage), reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose (product-life), then recycle and recover.
Simple Analogy: Recycling is the last resort, not the first one — the cheapest waste is waste never created.
Notified 2 November 2022, in force from 1 April 2023, replacing the 2016 Rules. Producers, manufacturers, refurbishers and recyclers must register on a CPCB portal and meet recycling targets certified through tradeable EPR certificates.
The amendment notified 12 August 2021 banned 20 identified single-use plastic items from 1 July 2022 and raised carry bag thickness from 50 to 75 microns (30 September 2021) and then 120 microns (31 December 2022).
The statute under which CPCB and the State Pollution Control Boards were constituted in 1974.
Nudge individual and collective behaviour towards environment-friendly consumption; proposed by India at COP26 in Glasgow and launched on 20 October 2022 at the Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, with the UN Secretary-General present.
Key: Three-pronged demand-supply-policy strategy aiming to mobilise a billion people over 2022-28; incubated by NITI Aayog, implemented by MoEF&CC.
Industry-led coalition launched at the G20 Environment and Climate Ministers' Meeting in Chennai in 2023, under India's G20 Presidency.
Key: About 39 founding companies from 11 countries; three principles — partnerships for impact, technology cooperation, finance for scale — and designed to outlive the Presidency.
Eleven committees set up in 2021, each headed by a Secretary or Additional Secretary, to draft waste-stream action plans.
Key: Streams include municipal solid and liquid waste, scrap metal, lithium-ion batteries, tyre and rubber, gypsum, end-of-life vehicles, e-waste, hazardous industrial waste, used oil, agricultural waste and solar panels.
Shifts end-of-life collection and recycling costs from municipalities to producers across e-waste, plastic, battery, tyre and used-oil streams.
Key: Tracked on CPCB portals; obligations discharged through tradeable EPR certificates issued against verified recycling.
Statutory body constituted in September 1974 under the Water Act, 1974; runs the EPR registration portals and co-organised WCEF 2026.
Finnish future fund and think tank that created the World Circular Economy Forum in 2017 and co-organises every edition; founded 1967.
State Pollution Control Board constituted under the Water Act, 1974; co-organiser of WCEF 2026 and State enforcement agency for the waste rules.
Nodal ministry that notifies the waste management rules, implements Mission LiFE and hosted WCEF 2026.
An Indian proposal made at a UNFCCC platform in 2021 that became a domestic mission in 2022 — the rare case of that direction of travel.
One of the few institutional outcomes India created during its G20 Presidency that was designed to continue after the Presidency ended.
By moving end-of-life costs from urban local bodies to producers, EPR changes who pays for waste — a standing GS2 theme on local government fiscal capacity.
GS Paper 3 > Environment > Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation
General Awareness > Current Affairs and International Events
General Awareness > Summits and Conferences
In India, 'extended producer responsibility' was introduced as an important feature in which of the following?
Answer: The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011
Consider the following statements: Statement I: Circular economy reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases. Statement II: Circular economy reduces the use of raw materials as inputs. Statement III: Circular economy reduces wastage in the production process. Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer: Both Statement II and Statement III are correct and both of them explain Statement I
The Government of India has established NITI Aayog to replace the
Answer: Planning Commission
Atal Innovation Mission is set up under the
Answer: NITI Aayog
In the context of which one of the following are the terms 'pyrolysis and plasma gasification' mentioned?
Answer: Waste-to-energy technologies
Circular economy, EPR and waste management rules recur in UPSC Prelims environment questions.
An economic model that keeps materials, components and products in use at their highest value, replacing the linear take-make-dispose chain.
A policy tool making the producer responsible for the end-of-life collection and recycling of its product, discharged in India through CPCB-issued EPR certificates.
The circularity hierarchy running from refuse, rethink and reduce through reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture and repurpose to recycle and recover.
Lifestyle for Environment — India's behaviour-change mission launched on 20 October 2022 at the Statue of Unity, proposed earlier at COP26.