20-02-2025

Understanding Circular Economy

Circular Economy and
Waste Management … is a regenerative economic
system which focuses on
transitioning from ‘take-
make-
… it aims to redesign the
production
consumption systems.
and
… it is a new model
for sustainable
development
green economies.
and

dispose’ models to ‘take-

make-use-
regenerate’ resource
PRESENTED BY: models.

A circular economy reduces material use, redesigns materials and products to

Swati Sinha
be less resource intensive, and recaptures “waste” as a resource to manufacture
new materials and products.

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..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthercollective.com%2Fblogs%2Fr-stories%2Fcircular-economy-vs-linear-
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shift-from-linear-circular-economy-road-sustainable-caroline/ economy&docid=P5lEFafAdkKrDM&w=480&h=432&q=linear%20economy%20example&ved=2ahUKEwjwiuOzsomEAxVCS2wGHZCnD9kQMygWegQIARB-
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Joyce, Mudondo & Lee, Hoe-Suk & Jeong, Yunhee & Kim, Tae & Kim, Seungmi & Sung, Bong & Park, See-Hyoung & Park,
Kyungmoon & Cha, Hyun & Yeon, Young & Kim, Hee. (2022). Recent Advances in the Chemobiological Upcycling of
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) into Value-Added Chemicals. Journal of microbiology and biotechnology. 33. 1-14.
https://www.watercanada.net/feature/the-shift-from-a-linear-economy-to-a-circular-economy-is-necessary-and-possible/
10.4014/jmb.2208.08048.

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 20-02-2025

Circularity– 3R Plus 3Rs (and more..) The Transition Circular Economy

Linear Economy
Reduce
Collaborative Consumption
Resources
Refurbish Reuse Dematerialization

Use of Local and

Circular Renewable sources
Production
Economy
Recycle
Extending life of products
Remanufacture
Consumption
Repair Recovery of resources

Increase virtualization
Waste

Employment Enterprise Innovation Investment Inclusive Growth

Sustainable Development Goals

12 Rs and the Circular strategies across life cycle

Ring of
Stakeholders
❑ While each of the Rs has their role, at
times, they overlap in application or
practice.

❑ Stakeholders have to work together

to ensure benefits across the value
chain and align and adopt one or
more Rs.

Benefits of Circular Economy

Plastic Roads in
India
More than 15000 kms have “gobbled”
EnvironmentalProtection Reduced dependence Job creation and plastic waste
on raw material economic benefits
Created employment for low-income
❑ Value retention and closed ❑ Addressing mismatch between demand ❑ Increase competitiveness, groups
material loops would lead to and supply of raw materials through stimulate innovation, boost
reduced use of virgin materials, creating a supply of secondary raw economic growth and create jobs.
which would in turn reduce materials/recycled materials ❑ Reduce costs Driven by Policy Directive by the
landscape and habitat ❑ Redesigning materials and Ministry of Road Transport and
disruption and help to limit ❑ Reduces dependence on additional raw products for circular use will boost
innovation
Highways
biodiversity loss. materials, since the model revolves
around the concept of recirculation. ❑ Creation of circular economy
❑ CE is an effective strategy This is especially applicable to critical business models and
towards decarbonization- can raw materials. fostering of eco-
lead to reduction in global entrepreneurships
greenhouse gas emissions

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 20-02-2025

Plastic Waste in Paver Blocks

Converts all types of plastics into pellets by purchasing plastic waste & scrap in various
forms.

Uses proprietary cleaning technology. (https://www.shaktiplasticinds.com/)

Waste Bottles to Fibres Rethink

❑ Edible cutlery from dough of rice ,wheat

flour.

❑Works on energy conservation technology

❑Cutlery with nutrient content

Bottle Bottle to Flake Clean Flakes to fibre GreenGold Yarns Fabric Garmen
Flakes t
Sourcin Washline conversion
g

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Urban Mining

Extended Producer Responsibilitymeans the responsibilityof a producer for the ❑700,000 tons of recycled rare metals are traded
environmentally sound managementof the product until the end of its life
annually
Comprises of :-
1. ImplementingTake Back system
2. Setting up Collection Centers
3. AuthorizedDismantlers& Recyclers ❑In this model, businesses buy waste from landfills or
4. AuthorizeProducer ResponsibilitiesOrganization (PROs)
get appointed by the governments on specific
contracts to clear landfills by segregating and
collecting all items that can be
• EPR is powerful tool to transits CE. recycled/reused/remanufactured.
Circular • Improves product performance throughoutlife cycle
Economy • Incentivize Design-for-Environment(DfE) activities and
innovation
❑Urban mines are becoming more attractive to major
• Support green business in shiftingtowards circular
Competitive business. nonferrous producers, because they contain larger
ness • Competitive advantage over linear economy business.
amounts of rare metals than conventional mines

Cost saving • EPR triggers cost saving waste management and because conventional mining is growing more
costly.

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Biomining at Kumbakonam, TN in India Recycling spent and damaged solar panels

❑Kumbakonam Municipality implemented project under the Design, Build, ❑According to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 80 per
Finance, Own, and Operate concept. cent of the components in solar modules, including the glass and
❑Developed by company Zigma for clearing 1,31,250 cubic m3 of municipal metal frames, are recyclable.
waste spread over 7.5 acres of land with a capacity to process 350 m3 a day.
❑Concept involves the application of composting bio cultures on loose waste
❑Recycling solar cell modules enables the recovery of valuable
heaps, followed by conventional aerobic windrows on the site.
resources like cadmium, tellurium, indium, gallium, and germanium,
❑The waste is then sterilised, stabilised, and readied for segregation using
which have limited reserves and are in high demand within the
machinery to separate substances that are sent for recycling, re-using, or
industry.
composting.
❑Aggregates such as coconut shells, plastics, wood, rubber, glass, inert, and
soil- enriching bio earth are collected. While coconut shells and wood are
sold as fuel, rubber and glass are sent for recycling industries.
❑Plastic is supplied to recycling plants and cement plants.
❑The Swatch Bharat program in India supports biomining projects.

Recycling Blades of Wind Turbines Reuse of City’s Sewage for Industrial Use
❑Wind turbines generated roughly 6% of the world’s electricity in 2020. Reduce Fresh Water
Fresh Water
Demand
Industry analysts predict that number will grow by more than 6% annually ❑Sewage Recycling Projects in
this decade. As the wind industry grows, so does the number of aging Surat Municipal Corporation
City
and damaged turbine blades that are being decommissioned and • Technology
Innovation
Industry

replaced with larger, more efficient ones. Most blades are landfilled. ❑33% wastewater recycled to • Finance

Recycling
Availability
industries • Right Water Price Sewage

❑Several companies are working on ways to recycle the enormous STP

blades by shredding them and reusing the fiberglass and plastic resin ❑ZLD systems at Tirupur Tertiary (Secondary Judiciary
Treatment Treatment)
to make cement, tough industrial plastics, and other products.
❑Textile Industrial Cluster (Water New effluent standards Public
directed byNGT agitation
and Salt Recovery)
❑A great example of the partnership is the Recycling arrangements Pressure from
Pollution Control
between Veolia (recycler) and GE Renewable Energy (turbine maker) in Board

the US who are starting such ventures in Germany, Switzerland, Spain,

and other countries.

Waste Pickers Associations Government of India’s Policy and Program Push across Life Cycle

●Swach Bharat Mission

●Extended Producer Responsibility
❑ Movement in Pune embedded in:
●National Mining Policy, 2019
•Steel Policy, 2017
■ Solid Waste Management
Rules, 2020 •National Mineral Policy, 2019
■ E-waste Management & •Provision made for
❑ Collects ,sorts and segregates waste Handling
Rules, 2022 environmental friendly goods in
the General Financial Rules
■ Plastic Waste Management • National Resource Efficiency
Rules, 2022 Policy (draft), 2019
■ Batteries waste management
Rules, Raw material • ESG Disclosures- Business
❑ Waste pickers sell waste to scrap dealers to 2022
■ Construction and Demolition End of life Extraction/
Responsibility & Sustainability
Report
recover plastic Waste
Management and Handling Procurement
Rules, 2016
●Steel Scrap Recycling Policy,
❑ Employment Generation 2019
●National Water Policy, 2012

• National Housing and Habitat Policy,

❑ Potential to Value Add through Extensions Consumption Production 2007
•National Design Policy, 2011
●MoCA- Right to Repair (Draft) •E-Waste (Management
and Handling) Rules, 2022
❑ High rate of recycling •FAME I and II to incentivize
procurement of EVs •EcoMark by BIS , 1992
•Atal mission for Rejuvenation
and Urban Transformation ●Make in India, 2014
(AMRUT), 2015 •National Manufacturing Policy, 2012
❑ Reduces burden to Urban Local Bodies •Atal Innovation Mission, 2016
•Skill India, 2015
•Framework for Sovereign
Green Bonds, 2022

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SWM plan for Indian conditions, embracing the CE approach and closing the loop
Many opportunities to create (common) circular infrastructure

Source: Mandpe A, Paliya S, Gedam VV, Patel S, Tyagi L, Kumar S. Circular economy approach for sustainable solid waste management: A developing economy
perspective. Waste Management &Research. 2023;41(3):499-511. doi:10.1177/0734242X221126718

Circular economy approaches for waste management- Case

of Railways Sector
Common Infrastructure for
Short term Long term
Thinking
Recycling and Recovery

Segregation of waste and its sorting

Downstream
▪

o Waste collection equipment and ▪ Using environmentfriendly alternatives Inclusive thinking, addressing
infrastructure Organic waste to naturalgas
informal sector, Discovering
▪
▪ Sustainable public procurement that

for Closing
o Setting up MRFs
encourages/integrates responsible disposal Engagement models
▪ Diversion of solid waste from landfills ▪ End of life managementof equipmentand trains
o Reutilization of plastic waste for energy ▪ Reusing products/packaging- extends the

the Loop
recovery /fueling cement kilns lifetime
▪ Sectoral interventions such as those chemical
o Upcycling plastic waste to value- recycling of plastic waste, in road making within the
added products like tiles, benches Risks of Recycling, Setting
works premises and use of plastic waste to make
o Organic component converted into value added products such as railway sleepers Recycled Product standards
compost and/or methane gas using
Mechanical Biological Treatment
▪ Selling manure

Stage Examples
Refuse Avoid using single-use plastics
Rethink Share products rather than disposing
Choosing products with longer a life cycle, and reduce food
Reduce
wastage
Reuse / rehome Donate usable items instead of throwing them out
Repair / refurbish Attempt to fix broken products before disposing
Use unwanted plastic takeaway containers to make a worm
Repurpose
farm
Recycle Process used office paper to make recycled office paper
Thermally treat materials (processed engineered fuels) that
Recover
cannot be reused or recycled to generate heat and electricity

Source: https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/services/waste- recycling/circular-economy-waste-management Source: https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/services/waste- recycling/circular-economy-waste-management

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Diyasha Sengupta, I.M.S.K. Ilankoon, Kai Dean Kang, Meng Nan Chong, Circular economy and household e-waste management in India. Part II: A case study on
Source: https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/services/waste- recycling/circular-economy-waste-management
informal e-waste collectors (Kabadiwalas) in India,Minerals Engineering, Volume 200,2023,108154,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2023.108154.

Benefits of LCA
LCA considers the full life cycle of a product, from the extraction of raw materials to the
disposal of the product at the end of its life. This prevents companies from reducing their
environmental impact in one stage of the life cycle while increasing it at other stages.

❑ LCA can provide valuable environmental data, which can be used to strengthen your
company's sustainability credentials.

❑ It adds transparency to your brand value while building trust with your consumers and
stakeholders.

❑ An example - when you conduct a life cycle assessment, you can quantify your product
or service's carbon emissions and other environmental impacts. This can help you
identify ways to improve your environmental performance. The results of an LCA can also
give you concrete numbers for your environmental attributes, such as the amount of
water or energy used in the production process.

https://circularprocurement.ca/business-models/

Challenges/ Drawbacks of LCA Disadvantages of linear economics

❑ One of the most significant challenges is the allocation of material and energy flows and
waste streams released to the environment. This is because LCA aims to capture all ❑ It does not recycle or reuse: It therefore encourages the purchase of new products rather
stages of a product’s life, from initial resource extraction to end-of-life disposal, and thus than their repair and reuse.
requires data for each stage.
❑ It does not prioritise renewable energies in production: it promotes the use of the
❑ For example, - LCA considers the full life cycle of an item or process to prevent burden cheapest resources, even if they are finite and polluting.
shifting, the data used may need to be updated or generalized, which can limit accuracy.
❑ It harms the environment: the production system of the linear economy does not
❑ It is also resource intense and time-consuming to complete. In other words, it requires a consider the care of the environment and the damage this can cause to people.
lot of work and effort to get precise results.

❑ data availability, data quality

❑ limited to assessing the environmental impacts and does not address the economic or
social aspects

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Thank you!

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Brief-on-the-use-of-Life-Cycle-Assessment-%28LCA%29-to-Jacopo-
Claudia/3be07c3c0b49e3df2d27fcc7b5ff8f0b23f650ff/figure/2

https://www.meccs.org.mx/static/methodology/en/life_cycle_assessment.pdf