India's Clean-Energy Push Faces A Worker Problem As Waste Burning Adds To Winter Air Pollution

Two new WRI India studies highlight how open waste burning worsens air pollution and how Bengaluru’s low-carbon building shift risks leaving workers without adequate protections.

Image Credit: karsten.wuerth (RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD., PENTAX K-S2)

India’s urban transition is confronting two linked challenges: poorly managed waste that contributes to air pollution, and the need to ensure that low-carbon buildings create better-quality jobs for workers.

Two new working papers by World Resources Institute (WRI) India highlight these gaps, calling for stronger municipal systems, targeted interventions, improved access to skills and stronger social protection.

Waste Burning Intensifies In Winter

One study, based on field surveys across 11 polluted Indian cities, found that open waste burning is substantially higher in winter, with low-income neighbourhoods facing the greatest burden.

India generates nearly 170,339 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily. Of this, 54 per cent is processed, 24 per cent sent to landfills, while 22 per cent remains uncollected or untreated, often burned in the open.

Estimates of waste burning vary widely, from 10 per cent to over 40 per cent, reflecting the lack of reliable ground-level data.

Researchers conducted transect surveys across 11 cities between 2019 and 2026, measuring burning incidence, quantity and composition of waste, and estimating particulate matter emissions.

Across all city tiers, mean waste burning and emissions were three times higher in winter than summer. Tier 3 cities recorded the highest winter incidence, averaging 49.6 incidents per sq km daily. Low socio-economic areas consistently showed the highest incidence, reaching nearly 84 incidents per sq km per day in Tier 2 cities.

The quantity of waste burned was also highest in Tier 2 cities, doubling from 20.9 tonnes per day in summer to 41 tonnes in winter. Plastics and paper made up about a quarter of the burned material, alongside leaves, textiles, wood, food waste and roadside debris.

Estimated annual per capita PM2.5 emissions from open burning were highest in Tier 3 cities at 0.09kg, compared with 0.05kg in Tier 2 and 0.008kg in Tier 1.

Drivers varied by city type: mosquito control beliefs in Tier 3, municipal staff burning in Tier 1 and Tier 2, and dumping outside collection areas in Tier 2 and Tier 3.

The paper recommends stronger monitoring and enforcement in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, scientific vector-control measures and awareness campaigns in Tier 3, and dedicated collection channels for garden and bulk waste.

Green Jobs In Bengaluru’s Buildings Sector

The second WRI India paper examines whether Bengaluru’s shift towards low-carbon buildings can create “decent green jobs.”

The city’s buildings sector accounts for around half of its greenhouse gas emissions. Opportunities are emerging in energy, water and waste systems, prefabrication, modular construction, low-carbon materials, retrofitting and demolition waste management.

The study, based on focus group discussions with 55 construction workers and stakeholder interviews, assessed decent work across wages, safety, job security, career prospects, worker rights and gender inclusion.

Unskilled workers earn Rs 500–1,000 daily, while secondary skilled workers earn Rs 700-1,500. Large projects generally had better safety compliance, but smaller sites showed weaker enforcement and higher risks.

Women accounted for only 2–3 per cent of workers on large sites. They earned Rs 200 less per day than men in unskilled roles, and Rs 300 less in skilled concrete gang work.

Social protection remains limited. As of September 2025, only 10.44 per cent of registered workers had received financial benefits through 10 schemes under the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. Migrant workers faced additional difficulties due to documentation requirements.

Linking Skilling With Welfare

The study argues that creating green jobs alone will not ensure a fair transition. Most existing construction roles need modest skill upgrades to work with greener materials, but employment conditions must improve alongside skilling.

Recommendations include employer-assisted welfare registration, simplified documentation, portability of benefits across states, site-level facilitation desks, stronger contractor accountability, compensation for wage loss during training, and use of welfare funds for climate-responsive safety.

Researchers also see scope for specialised formal crews and all-women crews, which could improve bargaining power, safety and job security while enhancing productivity.

Taken together, the studies show that India’s urban transition cannot rely only on cleaner technologies. Waste burning highlights how weak municipal systems worsen air pollution, while Bengaluru’s buildings sector shows that decarbonisation can create new work only if labour protections, skills and social security are strengthened.