Waste dumped at Okhla landfill till 2025 cleared: Delhi government

An official said a total of 8.868 million MT of waste has so far undergone biomining and bioremediation at the site.

Waste accumulated at the Okhla landfill site until 2025 has been cleared through biomining and bioremediation, the Delhi government said on Saturday.

The Okhla landfill, spread over nearly 62 acres in south Delhi, has been undergoing biomining since 2019 following directions from the NGT to eliminate Delhi’s legacy waste dumpsites. (HT Photos )

According to officials, around 8.4 million metric tonnes (MT) of waste accumulated till 2025 has now been processed, while around 1.5 million MT of waste, generated over the past one and a half years, is targeted to be cleared by October 2026.

Chief minister Rekha Gupta said, “We have actually done work on the ground. We have increased the waste treatment rate at the Okhla landfill site, resulting in all legacy waste till 2025 being cleared. We will be able to flatten the landfill site. I will be visiting the site soon to review its progress.”

Okhla landfill site in numbers

“Around 70-75% of the processed material is inert. The inert fraction is scientifically utilised for reclamation and filling of low-lying areas; meanwhile, recyclable material is recovered, and refuse-derived fuel is supplied to waste-to-energy plants in accordance with environmental norms,” the official said.

The Okhla landfill, spread over nearly 62 acres in south Delhi, has been undergoing biomining since 2019 following directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to eliminate Delhi’s legacy waste dumpsites. The exercise involves excavating old waste, segregating recyclable material, producing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from combustible fractions and recovering inert material for scientific reuse.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has also been working to strengthen waste processing capacity through waste-to-energy facilities, including the proposed expansion of the Okhla waste-to-energy plant, while biomethanation projects have been planned to divert biodegradable waste from landfills.

Processed inert material from biomining has also been proposed for reuse in infrastructure and land reclamation works, subject to environmental norms. While around 1,800 MT of waste is processed at the Okhla waste-to-energy plant every day, the capacity is planned to be increased by 1,000 MT per day by March 2027, officials said.

The Okhla landfill has seen multiple revisions to its remediation timeline over the past few years. Earlier targets for clearing the site, including those set for 2023, 2024, July 2026 and subsequently October and December 2026, were revised as authorities cited continued dumping of fresh waste, monsoon-related disruptions and operational constraints.

The October 2026 target now depends on processing the remaining 1.506 million MT of waste and preventing fresh accumulation from offsetting progress, officials said.