How India–Finland cooperation could set the global pace for turning waste into economic value

This growth is being channelled through ambitious national goals that explicitly link innovation with sustainability, notably India’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and its push to strengthen advanced manufacturing and global technology capabilities through initiatives such as Make in India and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes.

This approach to combining scale with responsibility positions India as an increasingly attractive partner for countries across the world.

Finland, a country renowned for innovation, clean technologies, and robust public and industrial systems, shares this forward-looking vision.

Finland’s national goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, a significantly more ambitious timeline than the European Union’s overall target of 2050.

The current annual bilateral trade value between India and Finland, at approximately €3 billion, remains modest relative to the potential of two innovation-driven economies. Over the coming years, the anticipated India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected to play an important role in unlocking this potential.

The circular economy—an economic framework aimed at minimizing waste and maximizing the value of resources through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling—is at the heart of India–Finland collaboration.

Studies estimate that a transition to a circular economy could generate economic value running into several trillion US dollars for India by 2030, while also creating green jobs, opening new markets, and significantly reducing emissions.

However, realizing this potential requires more than incremental change; it requires systemic transformation. A circular economy demands a holistic approach across the entire lifecycle of products: designing them for durability, repairability, and reuse; extending their useful life through maintenance, upgrading and introducing new business models; and, at end of life, ensuring efficient recycling so that materials are returned safely and effectively to new production cycles.

Having launched the world’s first national circular economy roadmap in 2016, Finland has established itself as a pioneer in maximizing the potential of this macroeconomic model.

More than a decade of policy development and implementation demonstrates that the circular economy is not an environmental add-on but a business-driven strategy that strengthens competitiveness and supply-chain security.

Finland’s progress towards its 2035 carbon-neutrality target provides practical evidence of how circular solutions can support rapid decarbonization in an industrial economy.

With India’s fast-growing industries and manufacturing base placing rising demands on resources and waste-management systems, the circular economy is more than a policy concept—it is an economic imperative.

It can also reduce India’s dependence on imported critical raw materials by enabling the recovery of valuable materials—including certain critical minerals—from domestic waste streams.

The commitment to translating this shared vision into concrete action is further supported by the India–Finland DESI framework, which focuses on digitalization, education, sustainability and innovation.

DESI serves as a structured platform for cooperation to advance clean energy transitions, green growth and climate-resilient development.

The practical nature of this collaboration was evident during my recent visit to Mumbai with a Finnish business delegation.

Maharashtra is one of India’s most important hubs for Finnish companies and plays a central role in building strategic commercial relations. The delegation explored concrete opportunities for collaboration with public and private sector partners in areas such as digitalization, sustainability and advanced manufacturing.

Finland’s experience shows that ambitious national targets, combined with clear and predictable regulatory frameworks, provide businesses with the certainty needed to invest in circular economy solutions.

Such frameworks reduce investment risk and accelerate the transition from linear to circular business models. For India, this implies embedding circular economy principles directly into policy and regulatory architectures.

Beyond regulation, the next key focus area is modern technology and value-driven recycling. While investment in essential waste-management infrastructure remains critical, increasing attention is turning to unlocking the economic value contained in discarded materials.

The rapid growth of electronic waste, driven by India’s digitalization and expanding electronics manufacturing, presents a major opportunity. E-waste contains significant quantities of valuable materials, including metals such as lithium and cobalt, which are essential for electric mobility and electronics.

Here, Finnish expertise in advanced material recovery and recycling technologies can help formalize and scale the sector, transforming an environmental challenge into a secure domestic source of critical raw materials.

Looking ahead, India’s role as host of the World Circular Economy Forum in the autumn of 2026, together with the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, will provide an important global platform to showcase circular economy solutions and policy approaches.

By combining Finland’s systemic expertise and long-term decarbonization goals with India’s scale and manufacturing capabilities, the partnership offers a model with relevance far beyond the bilateral context—turning waste into value and economic risk into resilience.

The need for systemic change is upon us, and Finland is committed to partnering with India in co-leading the world towards a truly sustainable century.

The author is the ambassador of Finland to India.