April 2026 marks a defining inflection point in the India-Korea partnership as South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is visiting India.

Both nations are jointly committed to achieving USD 50 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. Discussions are expected to span semiconductors, green hydrogen, artificial intelligence, battery manufacturing, and defence. India's launch of the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 in February 2026, focused on equipment, materials, and intellectual property, aligns precisely with Korea's deep expertise in chip design and manufacturing ecosystems.

South Korea is globally recognized for its "Volume-Based Waste Fee" (VBWF) system, transforming from a nation struggling with landfill capacity to a world leader in recycling and circular economy practices.

South Korea faces a unique set of geographic and demographic pressures: a) High Population Density: With over 50 million people packed into a relatively small land area, space for landfills is extremely limited; b) Rapid Urbanization: The "Miracle on the Han River" led to explosive industrial growth, resulting in a massive surge in waste that traditional disposal methods couldn't handle; and c) Resource Scarcity: Lacking significant natural resources, the country pivoted toward "urban mining"—recovering materials from waste to fuel its manufacturing sector.

South Korea’s rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in the 1960s–1990s created severe problems of waste accumulation, polluted rivers, overflowing landfills, industrial discharge and poor urban sanitation given high density of 537 persons/Km2. The household waste increased from 1200 tonnes/day to 84000 tonnes/day between 1970 and 1990. By the early 1990s, many landfill sites around Seoul were reaching capacity, while rising consumption and dense urban living were increasing pressure on waste systems and public health.

In response, South Korea adopted aggressive waste management policies, including the Volume-Based Waste Fee system in 1995, stronger recycling laws, industrial waste tracking and food waste bans. The objective was not only to improve cleanliness, but also to reduce pollution, protect public health and improve urban liveability.

This paper, focused on waste management is organized in 5 sections. In the next section, focus in on the practices in Korea. In Section 3, the concept and development of Swachh Bharat is discussed. The comparison between South Korea and India is presented in Section 4. Finally, conclusion follow in Section 5.