International Recycling Incubation Summit 2026

About the Summit

The International Recycling Incubation Summit (IRIS) is a flagship programme of IPCA Centre for Waste Management and Research, TERI SAS, designed to address diverse aspects of waste management and its interlinkages with other sectoral and sustainability goals.

The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Integrating sustainable waste supply chain logistics and low-carbon pathways for a circular economy’ and is scheduled to be organised on 16-17 January, 2026 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, India. It is a unique platform that brings together all key stakeholders—government, industry, startups, youth, NGOs, and researchers to promote inclusive dialogue to co-create solutions for sustainable waste management and circular economy.

The waste management sector presents significant opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs and shows a high employment-GDP elasticity. We believe that India has the potential to become a world leader in the waste recycling industry and urban mining. This can be achieved by integrating IT, AI, management, behavioural sciences, and engineering disciplines within the recycling industry. We believe that this will serve multiple objectives of the Government of India, such as Viksit Bharat, rural tourism, becoming a top global economy, generating employment, alleviating poverty, achieving net-zero carbon emissions, and empowering youth and marginalised communities. Our goal for this summit is to enable cross-sectoral learning and collaboration among researchers, practitioners, investors and the government that contributes to the development of the waste management sector and inspire youth to consider careers in this field.

Who should attend

Opportunities for participants

Industry leaders’ meet: Industry leaders will be able to showcase their pioneering work to a new audience, which often receives inadequate attention.

Presenting innovations: Government departments, Urban local bodies, unicorns, start-ups and NGOs will showcase their innovative solutions/ best practices in the field of waste management and circular economy at a premier venue.

Breakthroughs in research: Global researchers will have the opportunity to present their transdisciplinary research to inspire youth and generate interest among industry leaders and policymakers in adopting alternative solutions. All accepted papers will be published as online conference proceedings while selected papers will be published as chapters in an edited book of a leading publisher. A certificate of paper presentation will be awarded to the participants.

Capturing ideas from youth: Unique opportunity for youth in colleges and schools to generate and present fresh solutions for persistent problems of waste management and learn from others in the Summit.

Exhibiting sustainable/low-carbon solutions: A dedicated space for industries, start-ups, recyclers, and organizations will help them in exhibiting their technologies, products, and services contributing to waste management and circular practices.

Listening and networking: Individuals who want to learn, understand the latest and innovative developments, and network in the sector should especially attend the summit.