India's Circular Economy in Action : Learnings from Traditions and Margins

This book presents a series of case studies which highlight culturally embedded circular economy practices of reuse, repair, and regeneration in India.

This book presents a series of case studies that highlight culturally embedded circular economy practices of reuse, repair, and regeneration in India. Far from innovations, these traditions reflect ways of living that have long sustained communities within ecological limits. From terracotta clusters in Rajasthan to bamboo-timber houses in Sikkim, palm-leaf artefacts in Kerala, and community commons in Chhattisgarh, they demonstrate that circularity is not an abstract policy goal but a lived inheritance. Against this backdrop, Purva Tavri explores how practices from the margins can offer valuable lessons for the affluent world, wherever it may be located. Drawing on her lived experiences in India and professional work in the UK, Tavri maps the social, cultural, economic, and ecological impacts of these traditions against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, framing them as reverse learning with replicability and scalability for advancing circularity and resilience. At the same time, she raises a caution: as the affluent increasingly appropriate practices from the margins, policies and systems must protect these communities from displacement, or loss of ownership over their traditions. India’s Circular Economy in Action will be of great interest to citizens, students, scholars, and professionals whose research and work relates to the circular economy, resource consumption, sustainable development, and waste management.