Earth Day 2024: Transforming plastic waste into environmental money through circularity – sustainability news

– By Mahesh Girdhar

Earth Day serves as a loud call for global society to come together for decisive climate action. This year, the theme ‘Planet Vs Plastics’ serves as a sounding board for catalyzing momentum against plastic pollution through effective waste management. There is no denying that rampant plastic production and massive waste mismanagement have caused irreversible ecological damage.

Global plastic recycling rates, especially in developing countries, are generally low: just 15%. With a population of over 1.4 billion, India produces 26,000 tons of plastic waste every day. Needless to say, most of this is not recycled. If plastic is not efficiently recycled and phased out, it will remain a soil pollutant for generations.

However, amid the global challenge, new solutions are emerging to convert plastic waste into environmental money through a circular approach linked to a plastic credit system, similar to carbon credits.

Working together to recycle and monetize plastic

This is where the opportunity arises to ‘monetize’ plastic waste by moving to a circular economy model through the creation of livelihood opportunities to manage waste. As unique packaging materials, plastics have several critical and essential uses, making it impractical to stop their use completely.

However, it is imperative to manage plastic waste efficiently to minimize its impact on the environment. Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that almost half of plastic waste is sent to landfills.1 With global plastic recycling in the single digits, this presents a huge opportunity to improve collection and implement waste management systems for plastics. In 2019, India started its plastic waste management action plan by banning single-use plastics (SUPs) and putting 18 plastic items on the banned list.

Nevertheless, more needs to be done if we are to win the global war on plastics. To begin with, a collaborative model is imperative where individuals, institutions, government agencies, and public and private entities work together towards the common cause of reducing rampant plastic pollution. Institutional stakeholders must ensure that plastic is produced, collected, recycled and reprocessed responsibly. For example, plastic waste can be recycled into granules and used to make garden furniture, door and window panels, road dividers, etc.

Plastic Credit model and other innovative solutions

In addition, the plastic credit model must be used, with inspiration being sought in the carbon credit system. Such a model would allow companies to offset all plastics used in their operations by financing projects such as Waste To Energy and Waste To Bio Energy production plants that promote the management and recycling of plastics. To achieve this goal, companies must adopt the principles of circularity by applying for plastic credits while abandoning the take-make-waste model that is currently prevalent. The plastic credit model will provide available, accessible and efficient waste reduction measures in addition to cost savings. At the same time it can create an industry benchmark, motivating other companies to follow suit.

Yet this can only become a reality with concerted steps from all stakeholders, including financing efforts. According to the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) report, the entire circular economy will increase in calendar year 2021 segment received a paltry $6 million in funding. Conversely, the fintech sector earned $5,077 million, while edtech raked in $5,788 million.2 Fortunately, the interim budget focused on the circular economy. has allocated Rs10,000 crore to create 500 waste-to-wealth factories across India.

While organic waste is converted into fertilizer for agriculture, inorganic waste such as plastic, packaging materials, metals and the like can be recycled and reused, as mentioned earlier. Take the case of the construction and demolition sector, which is considered the second largest consumer of plastics at 2.6 tonnes. The segment has huge waste streams consisting of organic materials that can be converted into environmental dollars through segregation, recovery and reprocessing.

Apart from government agencies, private companies could join hands in the collective transition to a circular economy that emphasizes reducing and reusing waste through effective waste management systems. For this to become a reality, all stakeholders, including citizens, government and private companies, must be involved in the shift to a circular economy.

In India, there are several examples of grassroots-driven innovation as citizens take charge of protecting their communities and the environment. In 2021, a village in Manipur, Saihenjang, was declared a ‘Plastic Free Village’ after locals toiled for three years to rid their neighborhood of plastic.3

Policy interventions and re-evaluation of the role of plastics

Furthermore, policy interventions are crucial to support recycling and waste management measures. Significantly, policies such as the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) guidelines for plastic packaging through the PWM (Plastic Waste Management) rules have accelerated action at the grassroots level, steadily building momentum for circular plastic packaging. Such policy measures can be helpful in attracting more investment in high-quality recycling.

In short: the role of plastic in different value chains requires reevaluation. While banning SPUs is a good start, more needs to be done to regulate the production and consumption of plastic in industrial and commercial uses. Society as a whole must embrace a sustainable lifestyle practices and the principles of circularity using a cradle-to-grave approach. Accordingly, plastic waste should be reduced by designing products to easily allow recycling and reduce waste. On Earth Day 2024, pledging support for a circular economy is the least humanity can do to combat the effects of climate change.

(Mahesh Girdhar is the MD and CEO of EverEnviro Resource Management Private Limited.)

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