Why J&K needs a circular economy

From Waste to Wealth

Dr Romesh Chander Sharma

sharmaromesh81@outlook.com

Jammu and Kashmir's economy is inseparable from its natural environment. Its mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and valleys sustain tourism, agriculture, horticulture and thousands of livelihoods. Yet the very activities that depend on this environment are generating a growing challenge: waste.

Every tourist season leaves behind plastic bottles, food packaging, glass, cardboard and other refuse across destinations such as Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Jammu and emerging tourist areas. Rapid urbanisation and changing consumption patterns are adding to the burden.

The scale of the problem is significant. J&K generates nearly 1,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day. Srinagar accounts for around 550 tonnes and Jammu about 380 tonnes. Smaller towns such as Anantnag, Udhampur, Katra, Sopore and Baramulla add substantially to the daily load. Tourist destinations, including Pahalgam and emerging circuits such as Gurez, Keran, Bangus and Tangdhar, face their own waste-management challenges.

But waste should no longer be viewed merely as a sanitation problem. It should also be seen as an economic resource.

That is the basic idea behind the circular economy-moving away from the traditional "take, make and dispose" model towards one based on reuse, repair, recycling, refurbishment and recovery. In simple terms, what is waste for one activity can become a raw material for another.

Tourism can become part of the solution

Tourism offers one of the most immediate opportunities. Hotels, restaurants, roadside eateries and tourist camps generate large quantities of food waste, plastic, glass and cardboard. If waste is segregated at the source, much of it can be processed locally.

Organic waste can be converted into compost or biogas. Paper and cardboard can enter recycling chains, while glass and plastics can be recovered and processed into new products. The result would be a simple economic loop: tourism generates waste, waste generates raw material, and raw material generates employment.The real opportunity, therefore, lies not simply in collecting waste but in developing local processing capacity.

Small and medium enterprises could establish units for plastic recycling, paper and glass recovery, composting, biomass utilisation and construction-waste processing. Recycled plastic, for instance, can be converted into furniture, boards and containers, while construction and demolition waste can potentially be processed into aggregates and other construction materials.

Cities must become resource centres

Jammu, Srinagar and other urban centres have traditionally focused on collecting, transporting and disposing of waste. Those functions will remain important, but municipalities also need to become facilitators of a waste-to-resource economy.

Waste mapping can identify where different materials are generated and allow local authorities to establish decentralised collection and processing systems. Material recovery facilities and small processing centres can reduce the need to transport mixed waste over long distances while creating local employment. This approach is particularly relevant to J&K because of its geography. A single large facility cannot efficiently serve scattered hill towns and remote tourist destinations. Smaller, decentralised facilities suited to local waste volumes may prove more practical.

An opportunity for youth

The circular economy can also become an avenue for entrepreneurship and employment. Young people can participate in collection and logistics, waste sorting, recycling, composting, product design, technology and marketing. A young entrepreneur does not necessarily need a large factory. A segregated-waste collection service for hotels, a composting unit serving farmers, a small plastic-processing facility or a digital platform connecting waste generators with recyclers could all become viable enterprises if the right ecosystem is created.

Agriculture and horticulture can join the cycle

J&K's agriculture and horticulture sectors generate substantial quantities of organic residues. Pruned branches, crop residues, fruit waste, peels and seeds can potentially be used for compost, biomass, bioenergy and other applications. Fruit-processing clusters could be linked with enterprises that utilise these by-products. The principle is straightforward: where technically and economically feasible, one industry's by-product should become another industry's input.

What government needs to do

The transition to a circular economy cannot depend on awareness campaigns alone. It requires an enabling institutional framework. J&K needs reliable data on the quantity and composition of waste generated by cities and tourist destinations. Segregation at source must become standard practice, supported by both enforcement and incentives. Local governments should facilitate land, infrastructure and basic services for recycling and processing enterprises. Access to affordable finance should also be strengthened for micro, small and medium enterprises entering the sector.

Universities and technical institutions can contribute by developing low-cost technologies suited to J&K's geography. Government procurement can also help create demand for recycled products. Without a dependable market, recycling businesses will find it difficult to remain viable.

What J&K ultimately needs is a network of local circular-economy clusters linking households, hotels, municipalities, collection agencies, recyclers, entrepreneurs, research institutions and buyers. Waste should move through this chain-from generation to collection, processing and eventually back into production and consumption.

A change in mindset

For decades, waste has largely been treated as something to be removed from sight. The circular economy requires a different mindset. A discarded bottle can be a raw material. Food waste can become compost or energy. Construction debris can become an input for another construction activity. Used paper can re-enter the production cycle. For Jammu and Kashmir, this is more than an environmental issue. The health of its natural environment is directly linked to the health of its economy. The question, therefore, is not simply how to dispose of the waste generated by our growing cities and tourism industry. It is how to turn that waste into wealth without damaging the environment that creates our wealth in the first place.

J&K does not necessarily need to invent new technologies. The greater requirement is institutional coordination: connecting waste generators with collection systems, processing facilities, entrepreneurs and markets.

The goal should be a Jammu and Kashmir where waste is not merely transported to a dumping ground but becomes the raw material for the next generation of local industry.

The circular economy can thus become more than an environmental policy. Done properly, it can become a pathway towards cleaner towns, sustainable tourism, new enterprises and local employment-while protecting the natural assets on which J&K's economy ultimately depends.

(The author is Assistant Professor of Economics, Govt. Degree College, Ramban)