Long Road For India To Achieve Zero Waste Future: Experts

Waste management serves as a conduit at the intersection of inputs from producers, users and outputs to environmental compartments. Interestingly, an estimated 33 per cent of the 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid garbage produced annually around the world is not handled in an environmentally sustainable manner.

At BW Businessworld's Sustainable World Conclave 2023, industry experts shed light on the overall objective of waste management and how it can eliminate residues and repurpose cleared materials and natural resources. 

Hitesh Mehta- General Manager, Advanced Materials, Honeywell India said, "There's a long distance that we need to travel for zero waste future. It's an evolving area, especially with all large corporations committed to net zero and most of them having an ESG roadmap. It's become really important to start taking note of what are the technologies available."

On the biggest challenges that businesses and individuals face in transiting to zero waste future, Rinika Grover, Head Sustainability and CSR, Apollo Tyres said, "There's a fact that says that point seven kilogrammes of per capita waste is generated. It's kind of a challenge that a significant percentage of that is not processed. When we look at the picture from a bird's eye view, a report from the World Bank said that 70 per cent of the waste was likely to increase by 2050. Because of this population explosion."

Grover added that when we look at waste generation, that's going to increase which means the reliance on virgin material is also going to increase.

"Basically, I come from the construction field and that's the focus area. Since the Green Building certification scheme started globally, there had been some push toward circularity.  Builders were encouraged to buy carpets, bricks or cement which had recycled content. So, there was always this push to bring a degree of circularity," said Apoorv Vij, Senior Director, Technical Development, GBCI India.

Vij also said that the industries also push forward and brought that change within their product.