BioCircularR

Towards Zero-Waste through Bio-based Circular Recovery Model – Lessons for Managing Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste from Sweden and India (BioCircularR)

This project proposes a bio-based circular recovery model, aiming to achieve sustainable biowaste management goals in cities through Indo-Swedish collaborative research.

Background

Cities generate around 2 billion tonnes of solid waste annually, and one-third of the waste is not managed in an environmentally benign way. With increasing population (9.2 million by 2050), the food and energy demand, and urbanization, the global waste production is expected to grow to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050 (World Bank, 2021). As urbanization continues to grow, cities may suffer from multitudes of environmental and socio-economic problems if generated municipal solid waste (MSW) is not appropriately managed.

The global status of MSW management highlights the shortcomings of this linear economic model. There is a huge untapped potential to use resource recovery as a pathway to close resource loops. In this research project, we aim to investigate the conditions, state-of-art knowledge, challenges and opportunities, technological conversion routes, MSW management strategies, and pathways towards zero-waste carbon neutral cities in Europe (Sweden) and Asia (India).

India has been facing challenges related to waste policy, waste technology selection and the availability of appropriately trained people in the waste management sector. Sweden has been pioneering MSW management practices through several policy measures/practices, strict rules, and a high-level of public awareness.

The Sustainable Development Goals framework, and the Swedish initiatives, C40 and Viable Cities for making cities climate-neutral, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Initiative), Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India), and sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation (SATAT) initiative in India will be considered as a starting point for realizing the roles of civil society, private sectors, academic, and public activities.

Aim and objectives

The overarching aim is to develop an innovative circular recovery model and feasible solutions for the management of OFMSW in cities. It evaluates the existing practices, examines the effects of established and new solutions, and identifies challenge-driven solutions considering cross-sectoral interlinkages, optimal utilization of resources, and stakeholders’ perceptions in the choice of technology and policy options in Sweden and India.

More specifically, BioCircularR project aims at achieving the following objectives:

To map the circularity of OFMSW streams in the selected cities
To investigate challenges and opportunities to circular management of OFMSW
To identify/benchmark best practices considering a circularity concept
To develop of scenario-based geospatial and optimal model for an integrated assessment of bio-based circular recovery model
To consult the local communities and facilitate the stakeholders for implementation of bio-based circular solutions
To showcase a zero-waste and carbon neutral road map for viable cities

We focus on case studies in India and Sweden, selecting individual municipality and/or a cluster of appropriate municipalities that would be of utmost importance in the circularity, zero-waste, considering the socio-technical system transition approach. The study also serves to guide municipalities in the region in making transitions towards zero-waste carbon neutral cities.

Project partners

The BioCircularR project will be jointly developed by the four premier universities in Sweden (KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Lund University) and India (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and India Institute of Technology, Patna) and counts the support of a consortium of Swedish and Indian organizations within academia, and the public and private sectors.

The project is funded by the Formas - Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development.