Overview

• Swachhta awards will commence on October 2, 2026 to recognise excellence in waste management among local bodies, self-help groups and businesses.
• From October 2, 2025 the state will ban single-use plastics in four major cities—Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Rajahmundravaram—and 17 other municipal corporations.
• Authorities have been instructed to establish 157 Reduce-Reuse-Recycle centres across 87 urban areas to improve segregation, reuse and recycling efforts.
• A circular economy policy is due within two months, accompanied by plans to launch three Circular Economy Parks in different regions by mid-2026.
• The government has set up 52 waste clusters to manage tens of thousands of tonnes of annual industrial, plastic and automotive waste and projects a ₹15,000 crore boost to GSDP alongside 100,000 new jobs.