Circular economy

Efficient waste management has economic and strategic dimensions

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recently unveiled the National Circular Economy Framework (NCEF) at the International Conference on “Waste to Worth”. It seeks to offer a road map for India’s transition to a circular economy. Circularity is not new to India — it is intrinsic to the fabric of Indian society, rooted in age-old practices that prioritise sustainability and waste reduction. However, with increased manufacturing and changing consumption patterns set to generate increased employment and per capita income, the effects of such higher production on the environment need to be managed and mitigated. With only 2 per cent of the world’s landmass and 4 per cent of freshwater resources, a linear economy model of “Take-Make-Dispose” would constrain India’s manufacturing and the overall economy.

To put facts into perspective, India ranks fourth on the mismanaged waste index (MWI), which represents the imbalance between the quantity of plastic produced and used, and the country’s ability to manage those volumes when they become waste. While India has the capacity to process 14.2 million tonnes of plastic waste annually — 71 per cent of the primary plastic produced — the country recycles only 12.3 per cent of its plastic waste and incinerates 20 per cent. The detrimental impact is no longer confined to the environment but to economic and strategic areas as well.

In this regard, the circular economy can be a powerful strategy to minimise dependence on natural resources, curtail waste, and encourage sustainable design practices. The NCEF has spelt out focus areas including municipal solid and liquid waste, electronic waste, toxic and hazardous industrial waste, faecal sludge, plastics, and construction material. By accelerating the transition to a circular model, the NCEF aims to reduce reliance on imported resources, decouple economic growth from resource consumption, reduce resource consumption and pollution, enhance resource security, improve competitiveness, and attract investment. During the launch of the NCEF, the industry body stressed the job creation potential of the circular economy. By 2050, the sector is likely to contribute $2 trillion to the domestic economy, and create close to 10 million additional jobs.

While the government has been formulating policies and promoting projects to drive the country towards a circular economy, the interest shown by private businesses and industries augurs well for the country. By applying circular economy in their applications, the private sector can get a first-mover advantage in securing green investment. As other nations impose instruments such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, India must adopt circular-economy models in hard-to-abate sectors as part of its efforts to reduce compliance costs and mitigate scope-3 emissions. Further, collaboration between companies should be the key to the exchange of byproducts across the manufacturing value chain. For instance, eco-industrial parks offer a unique opportunity for companies to co-locate and seamlessly implement the concept of industrial symbiosis, wherein byproducts of one become the raw material of another. India must also invest more in waste-management policies like extended producer responsibility (EPR), and the NCEF is clearly a welcome step in that direction. Managing waste and reusing resources offer a new paradigm that emphasises the need to take a comprehensive view of products and processes.