Mumbai ushered in the 2025 monsoon with a grim reminder of its mounting plastic crisis. Four days of relentless rain, with some areas receiving up to 940 mm, left major corridors flooded not merely by water but by accumulated waste. Civic inspectors tracing the cause of sudden flooding at multiple storm water outfalls identified a familiar culprit: plastic-laden floating waste choking drains, outfalls, and nallahs, blocking the city’s primary escape routes for rainwater. This was not conjecture. As reported by The Indian Express, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) confirmed that plastic and floating waste obstructing drainage channels directly contributed to the mid-August 2025 waterlogging crisis.

The danger extends beyond the city’s streets. Offshore, the Arabian Sea reveals an even more troubling reality. An investigation highlighted by The Times of India found that seafood collected from Mumbai’s coast contained alarming levels of microplastics, with researchers reporting that every 100 grams of fish contained nearly 80 microplastic particles. The plastic clogging the city’s drains is thus entering marine ecosystems and, ultimately, the human food chain.

Collaborative actions in place

In response, the BMC has expanded its environmental budget, invested in waste-processing upgrades, and embedded plastic-reduction priorities into its annual Environment Status Report. Alongside municipal action, a growing coalition of non-governmental organizations, citizen groups, and private partners is driving measurable recycling outcomes across the city. Among the most prominent initiatives is the Project Mumbai Plastic Recyclothon, a long-running program that has mobilized over 400,000 volunteers, conducted more than 100 collection drives, diverted approximately 110 tonnes of plastic from landfills, and engaged schools, housing societies, and community groups in sustained segregation and recycling efforts.

National regulations have added further momentum. India’s Plastic Waste Management Rules 2024 (PWMR) and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework require producers to finance and document the collection and recycling of plastic packaging. A digital EPR registry overseen by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) supports compliance and transparency by tracking obligations, validating recycling certificates, and encouraging design shifts toward recyclability.

At the enforcement level, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) intensified action between June 5, 2024, and January 26, 2025, targeting Mumbai and the Mumbai Suburban district as part of a statewide crackdown on single-use plastic. Flying squads inspected retail outlets, seizing 13.43 tonnes of plastic from 901 shops and an additional 1.087 tonnes from storage facilities, while collecting fines totaling ₹26.36 lakh. The MPCB also directed the BMC to intensify inspections and penalties, strengthening compliance across markets and public spaces.

Beyond citywide drives, community-led initiatives continue to play a critical role. Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG) organized its second annual plastic collection drive in October 2024, drawing over 5,000 participants and collecting more than 10,425 kg of plastic waste in just six days. Smaller but impactful efforts include The Upcycled Project, which has conducted over 10 neighbourhood drives in areas such as Marine Drive and Colaba, transforming collected plastics into benches, cupboards, and other functional items. The Burhani Foundation’s Zero Waste and Sustainability program mobilised 19 community centres to collect over 100 kg of plastic during recent drives, reinforcing source-level segregation and recycling.

Grassroots recycling in areas such as Dharavi is supported through initiatives like Earth5R’s community plastic recycling model, which engages thousands of families in waste segregation, diverts approximately 1,500 metric tonnes of waste annually, and generates livelihoods through upcycled products. These initiatives complement Mumbai’s extensive informal recycling ecosystem, where collectors, small godowns, and micro-processors sort, wash, shred, and repurpose plastics into tiles, benches, woven materials, and craft products, sustaining livelihoods while feeding low-cost material back into the recycling chain. Across regulatory frameworks and emerging circular-economy studies, digital tracking of waste flows and transparent reporting are increasingly recognized as essential to reducing leakage, improving accountability, and aligning private investment with municipal goals.

Challenges persist

Despite these efforts, significant gaps remain. Mumbai generates approximately 6,400 tonnes of municipal waste daily, with plastic accounting for 3.2%. Yet only 12,402 tonnes of plastic were formally recycled last year, leaving the majority to enter landfills or waterways. Low levels of source segregation continue to produce mixed waste streams that reduce the quality and value of recovered plastics. Monsoon-related drainage clogging persists due to littering and improper disposal, amplifying flood risks. The heterogeneous nature of plastics generated across wards limits the efficiency of formal processing plants, while enforcement of producer responsibility obligations and local bans remains uneven.

Informal sector recyclers, who handle the bulk of plastic recovery, face insecure livelihoods, limited access to finance, and minimal exposure to advanced processing technologies. These structural challenges make it difficult to scale recovery rates, integrate formal and informal systems, and fully realize Mumbai’s circular plastic economy potential.

Mumbai nonetheless possesses the institutional capacity, civic engagement, and economic scale to convert its plastic crisis into a circular-economy opportunity. By strengthening segregation at source, rigorously enforcing EPR, upgrading processing infrastructure, and formally integrating informal workers, the city can protect coastal ecosystems, reduce microplastic pollution, recover material value, and generate green employment. Coordinated action across government, industry, and civil society can enable Mumbai to move beyond waste containment toward value regeneration, securing long-term environmental and economic resilience.