Pune Tops in Plastic Waste Management; CPCB Survey Ranks Eight Cities
Pune, 26th September 2025: Pune has emerged as the national leader in plastic waste recycling, thanks to effective segregation at three levels – by individual citizens, waste pickers, and the municipal corporation. A recent nationwide survey conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) across eight major cities ranked Pune first in plastic waste collection, segregation, and recycling.
Since 2022, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has enforced a ban on single-use plastics, issued guidelines for producers to promote recycling and waste reduction, and amended the Plastic Waste Management Rules to ensure compliance. Local authorities are now required to undergo regular evaluations.
The CPCB survey covered eight cities: Vijayawada, Kolkata, Bhopal, Vadodara, Shillong, Mysuru, Pune, and Lucknow. Teams conducted detailed assessments at multiple waste collection and disposal points within each municipal corporation’s jurisdiction, from local collection centers to landfill sites.
In Pune, the sites included the Aundh and Ghole Road collection centers, Hadapsar depot, and Uruli Devachi landfill. Over eight days of monitoring, 5,696 kg of plastic waste samples were collected across various categories, with an additional 1,263 kg of samples taken from disposal sites. These samples were carefully segregated, and detailed observations were recorded in the final report.
According to the CPCB survey, Pune achieved a 98–99% score in the classification and recycling of plastic waste, including the segregation of single-use plastic items, making it the top performer among the surveyed cities.
