The mismanagement of chemical waste poses significant risks, from environmental degradation to public health crises. With traditional linear model of production and disposal no longer sustainable, the time has come to fully embrace a circular economy, where recycling and effective chemical waste management are not just options but imperatives.

Leading experts discussed the possible steps by the chemical industry towards transition to a circular economy at the 4th edition of NextGen Chemical and Petrochemical Summit 2024 organized by the Indian Chemical News in Mumbai on July 11-12, 2024.

The thirteenth session, ‘Chemical Waste Management, Recycling and Circular Economy’ was moderated by Swapan Ray, Secretary General, Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment.

Emphasizing the importance of incorporating sustainability practices within chemical industry operations. Sachin D. Watarkar, VP - Business Operations, Re Sustainability Limited said, “We have consumed the natural resources up to that extent that what we have to give back to nature is not being done with the same proportionality. The sustainability is basically a natural system function to remain diverse and produce everything systems need for ecology to remain in balance. That means for each of our actions as an organization should not deteriorate the environment and for that matter we have to basically minimize the waste. We have to recycle and reuse everything. Moving from a linear to circular economy is bringing sustainable challenges in the field of environmental and waste management. We must be providing solutions in sustainable way whether it is is liquid waste, water treatment or solid waste or whether it is hazardous waste, the sustainability word is not just a buzz word but there is a lot of meaning and our future generations to come would be thanking us after another 100 years for the actions that have to be taken from today.”

“The chemical Industries are generating huge quantities of waste and, therefore, these require very cleaner and sustainable technologies to handle this waste. We as a company are definitely finding an opportunity to offer wastewater recycle reuse technologies where the water can be purified and again the industries can be using the recycled water for either their boiler feed or cooling water systems. Reducing the dependency on the fresh water sources, we are also into recovery of precious metals. We offer solutions for recovery of certain catalyst from the waste and we are having our own facilities for material recycling facilities where we are processing and recycling waste by converting into pellets and then manufacturing the bags which are being supplied to the hospitality industry and other Industries. Apart from the challenges, opportunities are also immense and we find our privilege being a part of cleaning the environment,” added Watarkar.

Sharing latest trends around plastic consumption in India and need for recycling technologies, Tushar K. Bandopadhyay, Technical Director, Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment said, “India is the third largest consumer of plastics in the world after China and USA whereas India produces 50% of it. So there is a huge gap between consumption and production. Bringing down the raw material consumption is not possible for countries like India because we have to develop waste management.Plastics is the least energy consumer among the metals, glass and paper and alternative materials which consume huge amounts of greenhouse gasses. By virtue of some other compulsion the government had to come out with some regulation of single use plastics and all that for some period up to 2030. The results will be seen after that and further decisions will be taken but already plastics are the least energy consumer, least greenhouse gas emitter. The plastics business in India was about US $ 100 billion in 2022 and it it will be going further up because the car is more than 10% in Plastics but our responsibility is to minimize it as the government has brought out the EPR regulations that every product in selected 4-5 sector categories have to increase the consumption of recycled plastics into the products including food product. To begin with, all Coke and the drinking water bottle are now made from some amount of recycled plastics just to encourage recycling.”

“From 1950 to 2015, out of the 9 billion tonnes of plastics produced, only 9% of plastics have been recycled. This is going into the heads of everybody because it came from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) but it it is not correct because about 30% of all plastics produced since 1950 was much less actually. It will be 1970 that 30% of plastics are still in use and they will be in use up to about 100 years because a lot of plastics in the some sectors such as piping, cable, have a life expectancy of more than 100 years. Hence the calculations are not accurate and these are some myths about it. India has brought the regulation that plastics have to be recycled from 20% to 30% and to 50% but as a chemistry it is not possible worldwide as there is no scientific standard to determine or estimate what is the percentage of recycled material that has gone into the product,” added Bandopadhyay.

Demystifying the concerns raised about plastic use, Jayesh K. Rambhia, Managing Director, Premsons Plastics P Limited calls the fear mongering unnecessary. "While we see a lot of videos about plastics causing pollution on beaches and marine life getting badly affected, I did some calculations. I was surprised that plastic waste in ocean is less than 0.06% of the total pollutants in the ocean. For some smart people, it is huge business opportunity to mint money.”

At the same time, Rambhia exhorted the industry to adopt the lesser harmful versions of plastics. “Looking at chemicals of concern which are being used by the plastic sector, they are saying that there are 18,000 chemicals and sometimes the number is even bigger. They are looking at each chemical and if you are able to find chemicals which can be replaced with little less harmful to nature or health or environment even if a little more expensive, start working in that direction. Because to become a chemical hub we have to match compliance not only with Indian ones but the countries you are supplying to, such as Switzerland, Germany or the UK. To beat the competition, start working in that direction as consumers will want to live longer, healthier, and safer.
The well aware consumers and willing to pay a premium for good sustainable products, That is why our industry is bearing the brunt as we are being forced to change. Plastic industry is undergoing a lot of changes, for example multi-layer packaging is being shifted to one material. All the chemicals and additives which go into plastic are being looked at with a microscope and they are changing fast. It is a big opportunity for all players because if you look at those chemicals, a few might be outdated as they may have been banned in the US,UK and Europe 20-30 years ago. Therefore, to thrive, we must adopt and change or perish."

The Summit was supported by DCM Shriram Chemicals as principal partner, Somaiya Vidyavihar University as academia partner, Cadmatic as platinum partner and Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB), Govt. of Andhra Pradesh as state partner.
Gold partners for NextGen Chemicals & Petrochemicals were Epsilon Carbon, Forbes Marshall, Gharda Chemicals, Indofil Industries, Ingenero, IPCO, Jaaji Technologies, Moglix, PIP, Port of Antwerp - Bruges, RIECO and Re Sustainability. Associate Partners are: HPCL and Nuberg EPC.
Supporting partners included Aarayaa Advisory Services, Archroma, India Glycols and Tata Steel Special Economic Zone and industry association partners are: ACFI, AMAI, CropLife India, Gujarat Chemical Association and PMFAI.