Circular Economy and Plastic Waste Recycling

Circular Economy

• A regenerative system that minimizes resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage by slowing, closing, and narrowing energy and material loops.
• Achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and closed recycling loops.
• Seeks to eliminate waste in the market, including wasted resources, capacities, life-cycles, and embedded values.

Stakeholder Expectations

• Consumers are more sustainably aware, with sustainability being one of the top 3 important purchase criteria by 2024.
• 64% of consumers will pay more attention to the environmental impact of their consumption.
• 55% say the environment will be a top priority in how they live and what they buy.
• 30% will pay a premium for more sustainable goods and services.
• 73% think brands have a responsibility to make positive change in the world.

Focus Areas

• 11 end-of-life products/recyclable materials/wastes that pose challenges or are emerging as new challenges:
  • Municipal solid and liquid waste
  • Scrap metal (ferrous and non-ferrous)
  • Solar panel waste
  • Lithium-ion batteries
  • Hazardous industrial waste
  • E-waste
  • Used oil waste
  • Gypsum waste
  • Agricultural waste
  • End-of-life vehicle
  • Tyre and rubber waste

Circular Economy Strategies

• R-strategy: Reduce
  • Higher efficiency in manufacturing and extended product use by consumers
  • Optimize consumption impact of end-consumer via data, build brand loyalty, smart and circular design
• Optimize
  • Use of product which is fulfilling all original functions by another consumer
  • Platform to facilitate trustworthy marketplace for used products
• Re-use
  • Repair and maintenance of a defect product to keep it in use
  • Provide “repair-sets” (e.g., from remanufacturing stream), digitalize service, standardization parts for repair
• Repair
  • Remanufacture
  • Recycle
  • Use of remanufactured parts in a “new” product
  • Build a market for remanufacturing
  • Process materials to obtain same or lower quality

Business Case Examples

• HP Brazil: Perpetual Closed loop solution with 800 tons of recycled resins
  • Reverse consumer waste plastic into high-quality ester
  • 25% less energy to produce than virgin plastic, delivering cost savings of 15%
• Cradle to Cradle Certified garment: Hundreds of perception millions USD in annual savings
  • Significant increase in basket size and consumer brand
• Venlo (NL): Danone-Evian Venlo City Hall from Cradle to Cradle Agricultural Methanization
  • Attracting innovative businesses
  • Elimination of and updating the city’s image while reducing costs and energy
• Schneider Electric: Product as a service as business model
  • Circular activities account for 12% of revenue and will save 100,000 metric tons of primary resources from 2018 to 2020

Plastic Waste Management

• Global plastic waste scenario: 60% of plastic waste is generated in high-income countries
  • Upper-middle-income countries: 40%
  • Lower-middle-income countries: 12%
  • Low-income countries: 4%
• Waste composition by income level: Food & Green, Glass, Metal, Other, Paper & Cardboard, Plastic, Rubber & Leather, Wood
• India plastic waste scenario:
  • 25000 million tonnes per year
  • Polymer demand: 7.1 lakh crores
  • Employment: 40 lakh
  • Processing unit: 30,000
  • Recycling rate (post-consumed): 60%
• India plastic waste recycling stats:
  • 40% of plastic waste goes uncollected
  • Recyclable and non-recyclable forms of plastic
  • Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for minimization of plastic waste
  • Classification of plastic packaging into four primary categories: rigid, flexible, MLP, and compostable