NGT to CPCB: Prepare new guidelines for India’s waste-to-energy plants in 3 months

The NGT has directed CPCB to present new Waste to Energy guidelines within three months, aligning with upcoming Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to present the new guidelines for Waste to Energy (WtE) plants in the country within three months. The guidelines will align with the new Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, set to come into force from April 1 this year, the pollution body told the tribunal.

(Photo for representation)

The previous guidelines by CPCB were “Guidelines on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) incineration-based Waste to Energy Plants”, but when States were invited for comments, it was decided that the report will be examined and framed to align with the new rules.

“CPCB submits that new Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 have been notified in January 2026 which are to come in force from April 1, 2026. She (CPCB’s counsel) submits that this exercise will be completed within three months. The prayer is allowed and CPCB is directed to place on record the new guidelines in respect of Waste to Energy Plants before the next date of hearing,” the bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said in its order dated February 10.

The NGT had in 2024 taken suo motu cognisance of a news report on WtE, questioning whether the technology was a smokescreen or a solution to waste management. Since then, the tribunal had sought details of WtE plants in the country and their parameters.

Further, CPCB has also told NGT that all four of Delhi’s WtE plants hold the required consent to operate (CTO), but minor non-compliances persist at three of these facilities. The findings are part of an affidavit submitted to the tribunal detailing the status of WtEs in nine states and one Union Territory in the country.

HT had on February 12 reported, citing CPCB’s latest submission in the matter, that minor non-compliances were found at three out of the four WtE plants in Delhi. The CPCB submission from February 9 had mentioned that while the units in Delhi are operating with valid consent issued under the Water Act, the Air Act, and valid authorisation issued under SWM Rules, 2016, the stack emissions at the Bawana WtE exceeded the standards for dioxins and furans – toxic compounds, often released during the combustion process at such plants.

At the Ghazipur and Tehkhand plants, the leachate treatment systems did not meet liquid effluent standards. Standards for total dissolved solids (TDS) and chlorine were not met at the Ghazipur unit, all parameters were met except for chlorine in Tehkhand.

Barring the Tehkhand facility, which was inaugurated in October 2022, all three have been fined in the past by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) for not meeting norms.

In February 2017, the Okhla WtE was fined ₹25 lakh by the NGT after Sukhdev Vihar residents had filed a petition questioning the plant’s proximity to the residential neighbourhood. The NGT had found the plant was not adhering to several pollution-related benchmarks, notably for dioxins and furans, a carcinogenic by-product of chemicals released post-combustion from waste incineration.

The plants at Okhla, Bawana and Ghazipur were fined ₹5 lakh by the DPCC in August 2021, when several parameters, including dioxin and furan values were found to be around 10 times more than the permissible limit.

The Ghazipur WtE plant was also shut for more than seven months in 2022 with old machinery needing upgrade.

The bench has scheduled the next date of hearing for May 21, 2026.