WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has approved and notified the Jammu and Kashmir Circular Economy Policy 2026, laying out a 10-year framework aimed at transforming the Union Territory’s approach to waste management, resource recovery, recycling, green livelihoods and sustainable urban development.
The policy has been adopted by the Housing and Urban Development Department (HuDD) through a Government Order dated October 5, 2026, following the Council of Ministers’ decision of September 10, 2026. The Housing and Urban Development Department has been designated as the nodal department for implementation.
The policy envisages a shift from a conventional waste-disposal model towards a system based on reduction, reuse, recycling, repair, refurbishment, material recovery, waste minimisation, treated wastewater reuse, circular procurement, digital traceability and circular livelihoods.
It has been framed against J&K’s particular geographical and economic conditions, including its mountainous terrain, dispersed settlements, seasonal tourism, horticulture activity, pilgrimage circuits and fragile ecosystems. The document argues that waste from tourism, horticulture, packaging, food and biomass is not merely a sanitation issue but is directly linked to tourism sustainability, horticulture competitiveness, public health, urban management and ecological security.
A central feature of the policy is a three-tier system for Urban Local Bodies — Circular, Circular+ and Circular++ — designed to match obligations with the size, infrastructure, geography and financial capacity of individual ULBs.
Jammu Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Municipal Corporation have been designated as Circular++ cities, placing them at the highest level of the framework. The Circular++ package includes source segregation and recycling as well as small biogas and community composting systems, construction and demolition waste processing, compressed biogas and biomethanation plants, Bulk Waste Generator compliance and treated wastewater reuse through sewage treatment plants.
The policy covers all 80 ULBs under the Housing and Urban Development Department, while also extending selectively to peri-urban and rural material systems where they are connected to urban markets, tourism, horticulture, pilgrimage or circular-economy clusters. Circular+ is intended for proximate, corridor-linked and intermediate ULBs, with emphasis on segregation, recycling, community composting, small biogas systems and decentralised processing.
The basic Circular category is intended primarily for remote and smaller ULBs, where the focus will be on minimum viable systems for reduction, reuse and recycling, decentralised organic-waste management, dry-waste aggregation and periodic movement of material to regional processing centres.
These include achieving high material recovery and reducing dependence on dumpsites and landfills; establishing differentiated Circular, Circular+ and Circular++ governance; developing cluster-based circular value chains; integrating circularity with tourism and pilgrimage management; and converting horticulture and agri-biomass into productive value streams.
It also seeks to protect lakes, wetlands, rivers, forests and mountain ecosystems from material pollution; generate green livelihoods and formalise circular workforces; support startups, innovation and repair-based enterprises; strengthen artisan, handloom, wool and traditional material loops; establish a digital and traceable governance system; and integrate circular economy with climate resilience and low-carbon development.
The policy identifies several priority circular value chains, including municipal solid waste, organic and wet waste, dry waste, plastic and packaging, horticulture biomass and post-harvest residues, food-processing waste, tourism and pilgrimage waste, construction and demolition waste, wastewater, repair and refurbishment, e-waste, and traditional materials such as wool, handicrafts and handloom products.
It proposes cluster-based development rather than isolated projects, with priority clusters around Jammu metropolitan urban materials recovery, Srinagar Valley organics and lake-sensitive circularity, apple and horticulture biomass, pilgrimage and tourism services, artisan and repair activities, mountain decentralised circular livelihoods, and urban water reuse.
The government expects the cluster model to allow waste collection, sorting, processing and market linkages to be organised at an economically viable scale while retaining decentralised solutions in remote and difficult terrain.
The policy gives particular importance to tourism and pilgrimage because of their seasonal and geographical impact on waste generation. Hotels, restaurants, guest houses, event venues, shrine-linked facilities, transport nodes and market areas are expected to become active participants in segregation, food-waste management, material recovery and destination cleanliness. For horticulture, the policy proposes converting orchard residues, grading losses, peel and pulp waste, vegetable-market waste and pack-house waste into compost, bio-inputs, biomass products and other value-added streams.
For pilgrimage areas, the framework provides for destination-level waste segregation, decentralised processing, refill systems, food-waste diversion and other circular services. A major component of the policy is its livelihood architecture.
Under the ambitious scenario, those figures rise to 18,000 trained persons, 90 startups, 4,500 artisan enterprises, 10,000 low-waste street vendors/micro-retailers and 25,000 formalised green jobs. The policy provides three indicative scenarios for its outcomes by Year 5. Under the conservative scenario, urban waste recovery is projected at 50–65 per cent, while the baseline scenario envisages 60–70 per cent recovery. The transformative scenario targets 75–80 per cent.
Segregation coverage is projected at 50–60 per cent under the conservative scenario, 65–75 per cent under the baseline and above 80 per cent under the transformative scenario.
The policy also envisages between 500 and 800 SHG/women-led circular micro-enterprises under the conservative scenario, 1,000–1,500 under the baseline and more than 2,000 under the transformative scenario. Circular startups and MSMEs supported by Year 5 are projected at 20–30, 40–60 and 75-plus respectively across the three scenarios.
The accompanying financial plan places the indicative 10-year requirement at three levels. The conservative scenario estimates an outlay of about ₹2,427.2 crore, the baseline scenario at ₹3,548.7 crore, and the ambitious scenario at approximately ₹4,877.7 crore. However, the government order makes it clear that the ₹3,548.7-crore baseline is only an indicative planning envelope and does not constitute administrative approval, expenditure sanction or a financial commitment for any particular project.
Individual projects will have to undergo DPR preparation, scheme-eligibility assessment, technical appraisal, administrative approval, financial concurrence, statutory clearances, procurement procedures and approval of the competent authority before expenditure can be incurred. Implementation has been divided into four broad phases. The preparatory phase, covering 0–12 months, will focus on institutional arrangements, baseline assessments, ULB tiering, scheme screening, digital and GIS systems and identification of priority clusters.
The roll-out phase, covering 1–3 years, will focus on pilot clusters, compliance protocols, organic-waste systems, bulk-waste-generator registration, procurement and livelihood actions. The scale-up phase, covering 3–5 years, will involve replication of successful models, expansion of ULB dashboards, stronger procurement linkages and wider market development. The consolidation phase, covering 5–10 years, is aimed at establishing mature circular systems, stronger climate and ecosystem integration and routine circular procurement. The policy proposes a J&K Circular Economy Digital Ledger as a common digital backbone for recording waste generation, segregation, transfer, processing, residual disposal, compliance and material offtake.
It also proposes a ULB performance and compliance dashboard, a GIS-based Circular Economy Planning Platform, citizen interfaces, field-app ecosystems and facility-level intelligence. The GIS platform is intended to map waste generators, MRFs, collection routes, bulk-waste generators, C&D yards, tourism circuits, pilgrimage routes and circular-economy clusters. The policy creates a proposed J&K Circular Economy Mission at the apex, with an Inter-Departmental Steering Committee and a J&K Circular Economy Cell.
The Steering Committee is to be headed by the Administrative Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, with representation from departments including Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Agriculture, Horticulture, Tourism, Jal Shakti, Forest, Ecology and Environment, Industries and Commerce, Finance, School Education, Skill/Higher Education and other relevant agencies.
At district level, District Circular Economy Cells are proposed under the Deputy Commissioners, while ULB-level implementation is to be supported by Circular Economy Coordination Committees, ward systems, Panchayats, SHGs and community-level institutions.
The government order authorises the Housing and Urban Development Department to issue executive instructions, model bylaws, standard operating procedures, user-charge frameworks, circular procurement advisories, digital reporting formats, implementation guidelines and monitoring formats required to operationalise the policy.
The policy will be reviewed every three years, or earlier if required, in light of changes in national rules, implementation experience, financing conditions or government directions. The government order states that it comes into force with immediate effect. The policy ultimately seeks to reposition circularity from a waste-management intervention to a broader development strategy linking urban services, tourism, horticulture, climate resilience, ecological protection, enterprise creation, employment and resource efficiency across Jammu and Kashmir.
