With the theme ‘Moving Towards a Circular Economy Through Innovative 3R Approaches’, CII organised its Annual International Conference on Waste to Worth on 16-17 November 2021 in association with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor; supported by the Ministry of Environment & Forest & Climate Change, Government of India and the Republic of Poland as a Guest Country.
The two-days Conference witnessed the series of engaging discussions by industry and Government stalwarts on various topics revolving around plastic wastes, e-waste recycling & refurbishment, EPR, decentralized, Integrated waste management and best practices & innovative solutions by start-ups and Industries.
Prof K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA), Government of India during his inaugural address at the conference underlined the need to find localised solutions to waste challenges. He mentioned that handling of waste through local mechanisms is possible and the CII 3R awards give us examples of this. He further stated that it is essential that policy, regulation, and technology come together towards achieving the goal of managing waste. He also suggested countries that possess relevant technology and resources should help other countries in climate change adaptation and mitigation, helping clean and protect the planet for the future.
H.E. Professor Adam Burakowski, The Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to India during his address stated that tackling climate change is a global commitment that Poland takes very seriously. And the subject being close decided to be a partner of Waste to Worth conference and exhibition with a few Polish companies ready to share their experience and to discuss solutions with Indian partners. He felt India as their ally and collocutor when it comes to waste management expertise to begin with, but there was a lot to offer in the areas of water management, smart city, green technologies, and cybersecurity as well. He personally believes that a dialogue between such likeminded countries as his can have a strong footprint on the global climate discussion.
Waste is a great challenge for science, policy makers and the industry as a whole. To find the solutions to manage this menace, we should not look at waste management in discreet compartments. Scientists, policy makers, and the industry need to work concurrently. Synergistic cooperation among all three is essential to make sure problems don’t arise stated by Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Grand Jury, CII 3R Awards, Chancellor Homi Bhabha National Institute, Chairman, Rajiv Gandhi Science & Technology Commission.
He highlighted the need to create an ecosystem between policy, regulation and facilitation through business, technological and societal solutions wherein we talked about ‘cradle to cradle’ approach rather ‘cradle to grave’. He also highlighted that CII 3R Awards set an example for others to follow and nudge the industry to move in the direction of better waste management and growth. He also mentioned about the importance of start-ups and ULBs who are the principal drivers of change for waste management.
P. Palaniappan, Chairman, CII Task Force on Waste to Worth highlighted CII’s initiatives to promote the importance of waste management and congratulated PSA and his office for launching India’s first waste-to-wealth portal to bring technology providers, government stakeholders, urban local bodies, and users together to seek solutions of India's waste problems.
Prashant Singh, CEO, Blue Planet Environment highlighted the need for people to come together to view waste management with a unifying lens. He further asserted that India’s approach should now be aimed at Upcycling and promoting the waste hierarchy and circular economy principles.
Hrishit Shroff, Co-Chairman CII Task Force on Waste to Worth during his closing remarks thanked all the dignitaries. He also stated that all it takes is one person to set the chain reaction of hope and joy, and this is how transformation from hopelessness to hope and increasing participations of youth and start-ups provides a sense of we are doing our bit and moving the right direction.
Further, the Conference recognised efforts of 16 outstanding Indian companies and start-ups and 04 Municipal Corporations (MCs) with CII 3R Awards 2021. The winners and recipients of Award of Merits of CII 3R Awards are:
1. The winner under the category of Excellence in Managing MSW is Geocycle, and recipients of Award of Merit are Antony Lara & ITC Kolkata
2. The winner under the category of Excellence in Managing Plastics and Packaging Wastes by EPR Strategies is Godrej & Boyce as a PIBO.
3. The winner under the category of Excellence in Managing Plastics and Packaging Wastes by EPR Strategies is Recykal L as a PRO.
4. The winner under the category of Excellence in Managing Plastics and Packaging Wastes by EPR Strategies is Ramky Reclamation & Recycling Ltd as Recyclers.
5. The recipients of Award of Merit are NEPRA and The Shakti Plastics Industries under the category of Excellence in Managing Plastics and Packaging Wastes as PROs sub-category.
6. The 1st winner under the category of Excellence in Managing E-waste by EPR Strategies is Exigo Recycling and 2nd winner is Cerebra Green.
7. The 1st winner under the category of Excellence in Innovative solutions by Start-ups are Ishitiva Robotics and Genrobotics and 2nd winners are Rekart Innovations and The Kabadiwala. The category is supported by Blue Planet Environmental Solutions.
8. The winner under the category of Excellence in 3R by Industry (Managing Own Waste) with Manufacturing as sub-category is Tata Steel.
9. The winner under the category of Excellence in Developing Product Generating Minimum / Zero Waste is Greenwaves Environmental Solutions.
10. The last category is Excellence in Managing MSW by Municipal Corporation/ ULBs and the 1ST winner is MC, Durg. The 2nd winner is MC, Risali and 3rd winners are MC, Rajnandgaon and MC, Silvassa.
17 November 2021
New Delhi