Indore’s waste model shows how circular systems can improve urban wellbeing

Waste treatment is still largely a collection and containment task in most cities. Garbage is collected from homes and streets, taken to a central location and finally disposed of at a distant facility. Yet the problem does not subside. Landfills grow larger, the air does not get cleaner, water becomes polluted and workers near waste sites risk their health every day.

Indore offers a more efficient alternative. The city has developed a waste system that not only processes garbage but also improves people’s well-being.

The Indore model is based on source segregation, door-to-door collection, composting and dry waste recovery. Waste is separated into wet and dry fractions at home and collected daily by trucks. Organic waste is sent to composting plants, while dry materials go for recycling. This ensures that resources are not buried. The city handles more than 90 per cent of its waste and has consistently ranked among the cleanest. Clean streets are one outcome, but there is more.

When evaluating a city’s waste system, factors beyond the amount collected must be considered. Does it improve air quality? Reduce open dumping? Support local jobs? Create safer neighbourhoods? These matter more than tonnes processed. This is where the circular economy intersects with the wellbeing economy. Circular systems keep materials in use, while wellbeing asks whether lives improve. Together, they reshape urban development.

The outdated model creates multiple harms. Waste workers handle mixed garbage, including broken glass, medical waste and rotting food, without adequate protection. Families living near dumpsites inhale smoke from burning trash, struggle with insects, foul odours and contaminated water. Children grow up with higher risks of illness and fewer opportunities. These outcomes reflect not just inefficient collection but poor system design.

In Indore, composting converts kitchen waste into soil for urban farms and parks. Regular collection prevents piles on streets. Processing plants are organised to minimise pollution leakage. These actions generate social returns.

A circular economy succeeds only when aligned with human habits. People do not change because of lectures about the environment; they respond to reliable systems. Indore enables participation through daily collection, visible bins and tangible results. Residents see compost being used and recycled plastics turned into new products. Trust builds and cooperation follows.

This highlights the importance of wellbeing. The circular economy describes resource flows; wellbeing measures human outcomes. Does asthma incidence decline? Are waste workers safer? Are neighbourhoods healthier? If yes, the system delivers real value. Indore demonstrates that waste management can become part of urban infrastructure rather than a mere clean-up service.

Here, policy becomes central. Slogans alone do not work. Cities need daily collection, mandatory source segregation, decentralised composting, service centres for repair and reuse and training for waste workers. Success should be measured through health gains, job creation and pollution reduction and not only through diversion rates. These elements create circular systems people want to belong to.

Indore’s efforts show the potential for scale. The transformation of one city improved the lives of 1.5 million residents. Cleaner streets reduced prevalence of vector-borne diseases. Compost enriched local soil. Informal scavenging declined with formal waste management. The model is spreading, with other cities adopting segregation and processing plants. Replication at the national scale could reduce the 62 million tonnes of waste India generates annually while improving urban health.

The lesson can be more fundamental. Cities cannot choose between environmental protection and human welfare. Well-designed circular systems can serve both. Waste becomes a resource when managed locally, transparently and reliably. Wellbeing improves through cleaner air, safer workplaces and stronger neighbourhoods. Indore’s transformation did not happen overnight; it was built gradually through credibility and results.

This redefines development. Progress is no longer measured by growing heaps of rubbish but by systems that support everyday life. It has translate into healthier children, dignified work, breathable air and usable soil. Waste management reflects a city’s attitude towards its residents.

Dica Acharya is a Bhutanese researcher pursuing an MSc in Ecology and Environment Studies at Nalanda University, with a background in development economics from Royal Thimphu College, Thimphu.