Extended Producer Responsibility And Municipal Solid Waste Management In Delhi: A Legal And Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management in Indian cities is at a crossroads. Urbanization, population growth, and changing consumption patterns have overwhelmed traditional waste management systems, resulting in severe environmental degradation. In response, Extended Producer Responsibility has emerged as a regulatory innovation that shifts the onus of post-consumer waste management onto producers, thereby internalising the environmental costs of production and promoting circularity. This paper investigates the implementation of EPR within the framework of MSW management in Delhi. It evaluates the legal architecture governing EPR in India, the operational challenges in its local implementation, and the institutional dynamics that shape compliance. The paper further engages in comparative analysis, studying Indore’s waste governance model, China’s EPR framework, and elements of best practice that Delhi could adopt. This paper proposes legal and administrative reforms through doctrinal analysis and policy critique to strengthen EPR as a core pillar of sustainable urban waste governance in India.

Keywords: Municipal Solid Waste, Extended Producer Responsibility, Delhi, Environmental Degradation, Sustainable Development, Waste Governance Model, Urban Waste Governance, India,