The 12th Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum in the Asia & the Pacific was held from March 3 to March 5, 2025 at Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The theme of the 2025 forum is ‘Realizing Circular Societies Towards Achieving Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and Carbon Neutrality in Asia-Pacific’.
- The 3-day conference was organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the Government of India(GoI) in collaboration with United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), and Institute for Global Environment Strategies (IGES).
Key Participants:
i.Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, MoHUA inaugurated the 2025 forum. 800 delegates from 33 states and Union Territories (UTs), 15-line ministries, private sector, and technical institutions represented India at the forum.
ii.24 member countries from Asia-Pacific region participated at the forum in person. Also, ministers from Japan, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Maldives attended the event.
About Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum :
i.The forum was originally launched in 2009, aimed at promoting 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) principles, sustainable waste management, resource efficiency, and circular economy principles across the region. It provides a unique platform for policy dialogue and capacity building.
ii.The latest edition of the forum was supported by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP); Ministry of Environment of Japan; and various other international and regional organisations.
iv.The last edition of the forum (11th) was hosted by Cambodia in 2023.
- Previously, India hosted the 8th edition of the forum in 2018 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh (MP).
Highlights of the Forum 2025:
i.While addressing the inaugural session of the forum, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced the launch of Cities Coalition for Circularity (C-3), a multi-nation alliance for city-to-city collaboration, knowledge sharing, and private sector partnerships.
ii.Union Minister Manohar Lal along with Bhajanlal Sharma, Chief Minister (CM) of Rajasthan jointly inaugurated the 3R India Pavilion.
- The pavilion featured the International 3R Trade and Technology Exhibition, which demonstrated more than 40 Indian and Japanese businesses and start-ups working on waste management and circular economy solutions.
iii.A key Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS 2.0), a flagship initiative of MoHUA which aimed to promote integrated waste management and climate action, was signed, which marked a major milestone in urban sustainability initiatives.
- Rs 1,800 crores worth of agreements were signed to implement in 18 cities across 14 states of the country.
- The initiative will receive financial assistance in the form of loans of equal amounts by the AFD (French Development Agency) and KfW German Development Bank amounting to Rs 1,496 crore and a grant of Rs 264 crore from the European Union (EU).
Key Points:
i.India declared its candidacy to host the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2026, during the forum.
- The WCEF 2025 forum will be held in May 2025 in São Paulo, Brazil.
ii.Other key initiatives launched were: the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Waste to Wealth PMS(Portfolio Management Service) portal; International Finance Corporation(IFC) Document Reference Guide: Business Models and Economic Assistance for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) projects; and India’s Circular Sutra, a compendium of 126 best practices compiled by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
- In addition to that, a study on best practices in solid waste management in million-plus cities, prepared by New Delhi (Delhi)-based non-profit research institution, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) was released.
- A key MoU was signed between Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and MoHUA to promote scientific research and innovation in circular economy solutions.
Adoption of Jaipur Declaration:
On March 5 2025, the forum concluded successfully, with the adoption of the ‘Jaipur Declaration (2025-2034)’ by the member countries.
- It is a non-political, non-binding commitment that will guide the next 10 years of efforts towards resource efficiency and sustainable urban growth.
i.As part of Jaipur declaration, a collaborative knowledge platform as global alliance C-3 has been agreed upon by the member countries of the forum.
ii.The declaration highlighted various waste streams and circular economy goals for each of them. It further underlined about the resource
iii.A guidance document has been developed that will suggest indicative strategies to countries as per national policies, circumstances and capabilities.
Key Progress Made by India in Circular Economy and 3R Policies:
i.Under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban(SBM-U), India has achieved 108.62% success in household toilet construction, where the mission target was 58,99,637 and the constructed number stands at 63,74,355 as of February 27, 2025.
- Also, 80.29% of solid waste in India is being processed successfully.
ii.At present, Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-Dhan) scheme has covered 67.8% of the total number of districts in India, with 1,008 biogas plants being fully operational as of February 27, 2025.
iii.As of December 2024, for Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25), the quantity of e-waste collected and recycled stood at 5,82,769 Metric Tonne (MT) and 5,18,240 MT respectively.
About Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA):
Union Minister- Manohar Lal Khattar (Constituency- Karnal, Haryana)
Minister of State (MoS)- Tokhan Sahu (Constituency- Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh)
