Rethinking Manufacturing Sustainability: Circular Economy and Zero-Waste Strategies in Pune

Abstract : As a result of rapid urbanization in South Asia, there is a need to focus on the transition from linear to circular economy frameworks. This is particularly true for Pune, one of the top manufacturing and knowledge hubs in India, which provides an opportunity to study the circular economy and zero-waste initiatives in an emerging economy. This paper focuses on the circular economy and zero waste strategies in Pune manufacturing and knowledge hubs and is based on a fully conceptual/policy approach using secondary data from government reports, municipal papers and databases, institutional reports, and public sustainability assessments. This paper seeks to understand the extent to which the following industries in Pune- Automotive, Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Electronics, and MSMEs- incorporate circular economy principles and frameworks related to the value of waste, recovery of resources, recycling of waste from industries, and zero waste initiatives.

Pune has become a leader in using circular economies due to the development of strong policies from the Pune Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, and national programmes such as Swachh Bharat Mission and NITI Aayog guidelines. Pune is benefiting from innovative organic waste management, e-waste recycling, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste recovery programmes that are generating both environmental and economic benefits. Although these initiatives are paving the way for a transition to a circular economy in Pune, there still remain a number of challenges restricting the widespread acceptance of these practices, including lower levels of management awareness and a continued dependence on a linear design approach for products, poor levels of coordination among the various stakeholders, and an ingrained culture of ownership-based consumption. The research found that there are a number of opportunities to accelerate the transition to a circular economy through leveraging Industry 4.0 Technologies, integrating informal recycling actors into formal systems, and providing a framework to monitor performance-based results. The research strongly positions Pune as a market for replicating a circular economy platform in other urban industrial environments across South Asia.