The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has put forward an action plan to shift to alternate-day dry and wet waste collection, along with special drives for other components, as the new national solid waste management rules, which mandate waste segregation, come into effect on April 1.
A senior MCD official said that the action plan under which ward wise and zone specific blueprint for waste segregation will be enforced has been submitted to the mayor and shared with the 12 zones so that planning for its implemention can begin.
“All zones shall enforce the alternate day collection system as per the feasibility of the area, ward and location to reinforce segregation behaviour. Pilot projects will be scaled up for full enforcement,” according to the action plan, seen by HT.
Under the plan, wet waste will only be collected on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, while dry waste collection will be carried out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The civic body’s plan to improve segregation also include incentives in the form of property-tax rebates or development works on their recommendation; reassessmentof colonies declared zero waste where 100% segregation is being carried out; and in-situ wet waste processing at source; and a target to identify two to five new zero-waste colonies per month for expansion.
“We will also distribute aerobins (a type of composter) to CGHS (cooperative group housing societies) to motivate them to treat their wet waste at the source itself,” said the plan.
MCD covers an area of 1,397 km with an estimated population of 2.27 crore. Overall, Delhi is 1,483 sq km in area, with the rest of it falling under the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment.
The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change notified the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2026, on 27 January, superseding the rules from 2016. The revised rules integrate the principles of circular economy and extended producer responsibility, with a specific focus on efficient waste segregation and management.
They also mandate four-stream segregation of solid waste at source into wet waste, dry waste, sanitary waste and special care waste and prescribe a clear definition of bulk waste generators that have a mandate to fulfil Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR) —bulk waste generators are made accountable for the solid waste generated by them.
To be sure, the earlier SWM, 2016, saw delay in implementation with Delhi specific bye-laws being drafted by 2017 and notified in 2019. “Things will not change immediately on April 1 but we will start implementation of the action plan in phases. We are hoping that the new set of bye-laws will be finalised early this time, in coordination with the Delhi government to roll out the new rules,” said an MCD official.
The MCD has also fared poorly at implementing a large number of the earlier rules in the city, particularly in terms of household level segregation. Furthermore, landfill bio-remediation deadlines have been missed repeatedly; the user fee for garbage collection could not be enforced amid opposition from councillors and residents; and the registration of informal waste pickers has remained low. This has also been reflected in the repeatedly poor showing in the annual countrywide sanitation rankings.
The diversion of segregated waste under the new rules will also progressively reduce load on landfill sites, the official quoted above said.
Key provisions of the 2026 rules include a ‘zero landfill’ vision and a focus on resource recovery; compulsory decentralised processing with third-party audits and real-time reporting by Delhi Pollution Control Committee; and full cost-recovery model with graded user charges and environmental compensation. It also includes formal registration, safety provisions and social security for waste pickers.
For bulk waste generators, MCD must now ensure waste segregation and processing on-site or through authorised agencies covering all hotels, institutions, Resident Welfare Association, and Market Associations. This includes buildings with an area of 20,000 square metres or more, or water consumption of 40,000 liters per day or more. The new rules also introduce EBWGR, requiring bulk waste generators are required to process wet waste on-site as far as possible or obtain a certificate from urban local bodies
“To begin with, MCD will target the banquet halls, resorts, farmhouses, educational institutions, hotels and motels and quarterly verification of data uploaded on MCD 311 App by registered BWGs will be undertaken,” the plan further said.