Supreme Court Issues Directions For Proper Enforcement Of Solid Waste Management Rules 2026
The Supreme Court recently issued a comprehensive set of directions across the country for the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Rules(SWM Rules), 2026, which is set to come into force from April 1, 2026. It flagged the lack of compliance with the 2016 rules, particularly segregation of waste into wet, dry, and hazardous waste, in urban and rural areas and active massive dumpsites across metropolitan cities.
While issuing the directions, the Supreme Court orally remarked that India, as a country, has many tourist places that are 2000 years old, but due to poor waste management, people are discouraged from visiting those places.
A bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice SVN Bhatti passed the order on February 19, in a civil appeal preferred by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation against the National Green Tribunal's order, levying environmental compensation of Rs. 1.80 crores and Rs. 121, respectively, for alleged lapses in compliance with waste management norms.
Justice Bhatti, sharing his experience from his European tour, orally said: "A place which is 400 years old, they make millions and billions. We have places as ancient as 2000 years in our country, and still no tourists."
Justice Mithal also shared a similar experience. He orally remarked, "I was in Srinagar, I never found any water bottle in the lake or anywhere. They used to maintain it. People used to go for a picnic in the garden, they would eat but wind up by cleaning everything. Nothing was left on the ground. That type of culture we have to develop in all our cities."
Out of the directions passed, it has also requested the Chief Justices of the High Courts and the chairpersons of the Tribunals across the country to ensure compliance by courts and tribunals within their jurisdiction with the SWM Rules.
After issuing directions, Justice Bhatti orally stated that the Court will "restrain officers from taking salary if they don't do this[compliance]".
Country continues to deal with uncollected/unaccounted solid waste
Earlier, the bench had noted that despite continuous statutory changes, it had failed to yield desired results. Therefore, reiterating that a right to a clean and healthy environment is an intrinsic part of Article 21, the Court flagged certain issues in terms of solid waste management, which the country continues to deal with. For instance, it noted that as per the 2021-2022 annual report on waste management by the Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB), 1,70,000 tonnes/per day of municipal solid waste was generated in the country. Out of which, 1,56,000 were collected, about 91,000 were treated, and 41,000 tonnes were landfilled.
The bench, however, noted that the numbers do not affirm the "demographic" reality: "We note that even if the collection efficiency has improved in many cities like Bhopal and Indore, the rate of processing remains a big bottleneck. The waste that is unprocessed often ends up in unscientific landfills or legacy dumpsites. The uncollected and unaccounted solid waste generated in the local bodies is a perennial challenge in the country."
While addressing this issue, the Court also noted that often such waste ends up in slum areas.
"We are conscious that no human activity and human being can be said to be living without causing pollution either directly or indirectly. What is important in the constitutional and statutory scheme is that no one has a right to affect the lives of others through their acts of omission or commission in dealing with solid waste generated by them and their activities. Low-income group areas/slums/villages near corporations and municipalities are not dumping sites for solid waste generated in Urban Local Bodies."
Economic landscape of country linked with economic waste
The bench remarked that the surge in economic waste is also linked with the country's evolving economic landscape, in which equal parts have been contributed by the consumption of packaged items and online delivery. The neglect of the municipal solid waste affects health as much as the economy.
"Consumption of packaged goods, the move from a repair culture to a discard culture and the growth of online delivery services have introduced a massive influx of packing material as solid waste."
Directions issued
(i)The Councillor/Mayors and their Chairpersons, Corporator, or Ward Member, being the primary elected representative of the people, are hereby designated as the lead facilitators\ for source-segregation education. It is their statutory duty to enrol every citizen within their ward in the implementation of the 2026 Rules.
(ii) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), under the powers conferred by Section 5 of the EP Act, issues directions for the due implementation of the SWM Rules, 2026, to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, and further directs them to conduct
(a) Through the District Collector, infrastructure audits of solid waste management be carried out;
(b) The District Collectors shall communicate the identified problems and the steps taken by the stakeholders to the Chief Secretary in a time-bound manner;
(c) Every local body must establish and communicate an outer time-limit within which 100% compliance will be achieved.
(iii)The District Collector has the power to oversee the establishment, execution and handling of municipal solid waste by corporations, municipalities, gram panchayats within their jurisdiction. Any non-compliance must be communicated to the parent department in the State and at the Central levels.
(iv) Local bodies are directed to email photographic evidence alongside their compliance reports to the offices of the District Collector to verify actual progress in waste removal and infrastructure readiness.
(v) Pollution Control Boards are directed to identify and expedite the commissioning of infrastructure facilities required for the four-stream segregation, including bulk (Wet, Dry, Sanitary, and Special Care). Further, local bodies must communicate the SWM Rules, 2026 and a copy of this order to all identified Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) immediately. All BWGs must be fully statutory compliant by 31.03.2026.
(vi) MoEFCC, in terms of Rule 33 of the SWM Rules, 2026, issues appropriate directions to ensure that Solid Waste Management practices are appropriately included even in school curriculam.
(vii) To bridge the awareness gaps, the summary of the SWM Rules, 2026, specifically the portions involving individual households/citizens, shall be translated into the local languages of the respective States/Union Territories. The translated summaries will be disseminated via calls, notices and social media announcements to every household through the elected Ward Representatives or their offices.
(viii) Local bodies are directed to maintain a strict binary approach to waste management with effect from 01.04.2026 in accordance with the SWM Rules, 2026, where
(i) the four-stream segregation of wet, dry, sanitary, and special care is mandated; and
(ii) a separate, time bound action plan is activated to address, treat and remedy legacy waste dumpsites
(ix)The failure to comply with these rules shall no longer be treated as a mere administrative lapse, and there will be three tiers of enforcement:
Tier 1: Immediate imposition of fines for initial non compliance by generators or local authorities.
Tier 2: Continued disregard will result in criminal prosecution under the environmental laws.
Tier 3: Prosecution will extend to all persons responsible for contributing, abetting, or neglecting their statutory obligations, including officials who fail to exercise their oversight duties.
(x) Under the environmental laws, the offences related to the mismanagement of solid waste are penal in nature and punishable. The deployment of mobile courts is also under consideration to address real-time violations.
(xi) The MoEFCC shall objectively classify all major corporations in the country based on a performance bar. This classification will compare achievements under the SWM Rules, 2016, against the rigour and mandate of the SWM Rules, 2026. The results will be published on a centralised online portal to ensure public knowledge and accountability.
It has also been asked to set up a multi-tiered monitoring task force before March 15, with the task of micro-level monitoring.
Further directions
1. The Court has asked the newly impleaded authorities to file a joint affidavit, certifying the foundational digital and physical infrastructure specially, the registration of the local body on the Central Pollution Control Board's centralized portal, the operationalization of Material Recovery Facilities, the procurement of four-stream compartmentalised vehicles, and the establishment of the escrow account for environmental compensation are made available.
2. Mandate the immediate convening of the State Level Implementation Committee and the deployment of Block-Level and Ward-Level Nodal Officers. These officers must submit to their respective Chief Secretaries a framework ensuring that four-stream segregation and BWG [bulk waste generator] compliance protocols are enforced in time.
3. To ensure that any BWG failing to process wet waste on-site or procure the required EBWGR certificates by 01.04.2026 will be subjected to immediate Environmental Remediation and Compensation, without further notice, in accordance with Rule 17.
4. Direct the State Education Department to submit a binding timeline for the integration of solid waste management protocols into the educational curriculum in accordance with Rule 33. It is further directed that state-level competitions are initiated to ensure the sustained, enthusiastic participation of students for community awareness on the SWM Rules, 2026.
The impleaded respondents 2-11 are to submit a 10-page report on the spadework done by the ministries for the implementation of the SWM Rules. This order is to be communicated to all the Chief Secretaries of the States and the UTs.
Multi-level committee
Lastly, the Court has directed that a multi-level Committee under the SWM be constituted, if not already. At the State level, it must be chaired by the State Secretary. At district level, the District Magistrate will review the performance of local bodies at least once in a quarter. At block level, Gram Panchayats must plan and implement Solid Waste Management at the village level, ensuring no open dumping or burning occurs.
The Ministry of Education and State Education Departments are mandated to ensure the inclusion of solid waste management appropriately within school curricula. State Urban Development Departments are directed to organise competitions and grant recognition awards to the best-performing schools, colleges, and institutions in terms of SWM at both the state and district levels.
The matter will be heard on March 25.
Cause Details: BHOPAL MUNICIPAL CORPORATION VERSUS DR SUBHASH C. PANDEY & ORS.|CIVIL APPEAL NO(S). 6174/2023
Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 182
Appearance: For Appellant(s) Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR Ms. Gunjan Chowksey, Adv. Ms. Ankeeta Appanna, Adv. Mr. Siddhant Yadav, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Arpit Gupta, AOR Ms. Akansha Agarwal, Adv. Divya Pratap Parmar, Adv. Mr. Aadil Yar Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Harshvardhan Pandey, Adv. Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, AOR Mr. Akshat Kashyap, Adv. Mr. Ram Kumar, Adv. Mr. Mahendra Pratap Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhinav Srivastav, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR Mr. Jaskirat Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Pranjal Pandey, Adv. Ms. Ngacheitharin Chiphang, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Balwani, AOR Mr. Chirag Pathor, Adv. Mr. Vikramaditya Singh, AOR Mr. Qasim Ali, Adv. Mr. Arjun Singh, Adv. Ms. Yashika Gupta, Adv. Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR Mr. Peeyush Katara, Adv.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati
Officers appeared online Mr. Sourabh Sood Mr. Rajendra Kumar Trivedi