The Rules were earlier notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

• SWM Rules, 2026 will supersede the SWM Rules, 2016.

Key Provisions of SWM Rules 2026

• Mandatory Four-Stream Segregation: wet waste (kitchen/organic matter), dry waste (plastic, paper, metal), sanitary waste (diapers, tampons), and special care waste (paints, medicines, bulbs).
• Bulk Waste Generators (BWG) Accountability: Under the Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR), BWGs are required to obtain an EBWGR certificate where on-site processing is not feasible. 
  • BWGs are defined as entities with a floor area of 20,000 sq. meters, water consumption of 40,000 liters/day, or generating over 100 kg of daily waste.

• Polluter Pays’ principle for non-compliance and improper solid waste management practices.
• Centralised Online Portal: To track the entire waste management process, from generation to disposal.
• Duties of Local Bodies: collection, segregation and transportation of solid waste in coordination with Material Recovery Facilities (facilities for sorting of solid waste).
• Industrial Use of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF): Industrial units (such as cement industry) are mandated to substitute their solid fuel with RDF (produced by shredding and dehydrating municipal solid waste).
• Landfills have been strictly restricted to non-recyclable, non-energy recoverable waste and inert material.
• Special provisions for hilly areas and islands: E.g. levy of user fees on tourists and regulation of tourist inflow etc.