Mumbai is India’s commercial hub and its most populous city, with a population density of 28,400 people per km², making it one of the densest megacities in the world. Rapid population growth has increased the demand for land, but with the city surrounded by the ocean on three sides, land availability is severely constrained. These factors make Mumbai particularly vulnerable to climate change hazards, including urban flooding, heat waves, sea-level rise, and storm surges. The city’s size further exacerbates its vulnerability to disaster risks.
Through the Urban Ocean program, Mumbai aims to identify gaps in its solid waste management system that contribute to leakage and leverage opportunities towards sustainable and circular waste management systems.
Project Statement
Reducing Landfilled Waste and Marine Litter in Mumbai tackles the city’s challenges by activating collaborative and cross-sectoral efforts, rooted in effectuating change on the ground and building momentum for a circular and resilient Mumbai with resilience co-benefits.
The Project Statement outlines the city’s vision for the project and the impact it aims to achieve, highlighting the urgency of the issue and the importance of taking immediate action.
Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) Report
Between December 2022 and May 2023, a team from the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), with guidance and support from the Circularity Informatics Lab, conducted fieldwork in the city of Mumbai, India. The CAP was conducted with support from the city’s local government, the Chief Resilience Officer and the larger Urban Ocean team.
The CAP, developed by the Circularity Informatics Lab at the University of Georgia, is a standardized method of collecting community-level data on plastic usage to inform decision-makers.
City Waste Management Profile
Mumbai’s Profile highlights challenges in solid-waste management, such as diverse stakeholders, low waste segregation, and climate vulnerabilities. Key opportunities include strengthening dry-waste centers, improving public awareness, and enhancing waste management in slums. Addressing these can lead Mumbai toward more sustainable practices and greater resilience.
The City Waste Management Profile evaluates a city’s waste management system, identifying risks and vulnerabilities to support resilience, reduce plastic pollution, and foster tailored solutions.
Urban Ocean is a capacity-building and accelerator program to end ocean plastic pollution and build more resilient communities in cities. Urban Ocean champions circular economy principles, builds awareness of ocean plastic, assesses waste management systems and supports cities to develop projects that address the interrelated challenges of ocean plastics and resilience. Since 2020, the program has been implemented in cities across Asia and Latin America. The program is jointly implemented by Resilient Cities Network, Ocean Conservancy and The Circulate Initiative.