Climate Innovation Compass

Built Environment

Problem Overview: Immense volume of heavy and inert rubble generated by rapid urbanization today

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs estimates India generates between 150 million and 500 million tonnes of C&D waste such as concrete, steel, bricks, stone, and ceramics annually. This is around two times the total capacity of all the trucks currently registered in India and recycling rates for this waste remain extremely low nationally. Hyperlocal surveys have identified littered C&D waste and dumps in cities such as Mumbai, Thane, and Amritsar as sources of air pollution. Recycling infrastructure is growing at a slower rate as compared to construction projects and its geographical distribution remains misaligned with waste generation and demand centres. There is little evidence on effective utilization of C&D waste collection points, even those specifically built for bulk generators. Most cities today lack institutional capacity to manage this waste and the number of authorised recycling facilities remain low.

Core Bottlenecks: Low demand for recycled aggregates & high logistics costs

India’s C&D Waste Management Rules 2025 rules and EPR mandate investment in recycling and strengthen accountability across the value chain. However, we still face the following bottlenecks:

1. Supply Chain Logistics

Even if technical ability to recycle C&D waste is developed, under utilization of vendors occurs due to high transport & handling costs.

2. Customer Awareness

Processed materials like Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) face stigma regarding structural integrity.

3. Separation at Source

Demolition is haphazard without sorting materials like bricks, concrete, steel, and plastics. Once mixed, recycling into high-grade reusable products is significantly more difficult.

4. Traceability

Developers & authorities face major compliance pain under new national mandates for digital traceability, extended producer responsibility (EPR), and ESG reporting.

Existing Approaches and Technology Readiness

Mechanical recycling

TRL 9+

Processing materials into recyclables through crushing and sieving

Advanced screening and sorting

TRL 8-9 globally, India TRL 5

Usage of AI-powered robotics and automated sensors, adopted globally but not in India

Where is the white-space for innovation?

Although the processing technologies are highly mature, the sector struggles with market uptake and source segregation. Despite the Bureau of Indian Standards permitting the use of recycled aggregates in concrete manufacturing, end-user adoption by public and private contractors remains low due to lingering quality misconceptions. There is a need for innovation on 3 fronts: