Winter waste burning in Indian cities three times higher than summer, WRI study finds

Open waste burning in Indian cities rises sharply during winter, with the average number of incidents, the quantity of waste burned and the associated emissions as much as three times higher than in summer, according to a working paper by the World Resources Institute (WRI) India, made public on Thursday, September 10, 2026.

The findings are released as cities enter the post-monsoon period, when falling temperatures and stagnant atmospheric conditions typically make it harder for pollutants to disperse.

The study is based on field surveys conducted between 2019 and 2026 in 11 polluted Indian cities, whose names have not been disclosed. Tier 2 cities, with populations between 500,000 and five million, recorded the highest quantities of waste burned among the cities examined. Tier 3 cities recorded the highest winter incidence of burning, at an average of 49.6 incidents per square kilometre per day, compared with 46 in Tier 2 cities and 39.4 in Tier 1 cities.

Open waste burning was not the dominant source of citywide particulate pollution. It contributed less than 1% of total citywide PM2.5 and PM10 emissions in the cities assessed. However, because burning often takes place close to homes, streets and waste dumps, it can increase short-term exposure to toxic smoke for people living nearby.

The burden was also strongly associated with socio-economic conditions. Poorer areas recorded substantially more burning than higher-income areas, with the highest incidence in the study — nearly 84 incidents per square kilometre per day — recorded in the poorer areas of Tier 2 cities during winter. The researchers say the pattern points to disparities in waste collection and other municipal services.

In Tier 2 cities, the quantity of waste burned nearly doubled, from about 21 tonnes a day in summer to 41 tonnes a day in winter. Across the cities studied, paper and plastics were major components of the material being burned.

Meteorological factors play a part. Winter brings weaker winds, more stable atmospheric conditions and, in many places, temperature inversions that restrict the dispersion of pollutants. The WRI study also attributes the increase partly to the burning of waste for warmth, alongside seasonal waste disposal practices.

The findings come shortly after the Commission for Air Quality Management announced steps to curb open waste burning in the National Capital Region. The initiative will identify locations where waste is repeatedly dumped or burned, assess the measures needed at these “waste-sensitive” sites, train waste management workers and conduct public awareness campaigns. It will also develop pilot solutions that could subsequently be expanded across the National Capital Region.

The Commission has also called for a zero-tolerance approach to open waste burning and continued inspections under its ‘Operation Clean Air’. In May, the Union Environment Ministry urged Delhi authorities to augment waste processing capacity by September and to deploy adequate enforcement teams to prevent winter burning, while recommending heating facilities for workers as an alternative to burning waste for warmth.

The paper is a working paper and has not been presented as a peer-reviewed study. The decision not to name the cities surveyed limits independent verification of the site-level figures, although the broad pattern — more burning in winter, and more of it in poorer neighbourhoods and smaller cities — is consistent with earlier observations of seasonal waste burning in India.

Taken together, the findings underline that while open waste burning is a small share of total citywide particulate pollution, it remains a localised source of smoke near where people live and work, and one that appears to be closely tied to gaps in municipal waste collection and disposal services.