From Trash to Treasure: How start-up led innovations transform plastic recycling

Plastic has become integral to human existence. From high-end electronics like Apple EarPods (made of ABS Plastic) to consumer goods like water bottles (made from PET), plastic has penetrated seamlessly into our everyday lives. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India analysed this dependence to compute 150 million tonnes of plastic being produced annually, at a global scale.

Plastic can create much more with much less in dynamic ways. The versatile nature of plastic has found its application in packaging films, shopping and garbage bags, fluid containers, clothing, toys, household and industrial products, smartphones and building materials. Finance experts think that by 2025, the electronics and consumer goods plastics market will expand to have an approximate worth of over 50 billion dollars.

The demand for plastic is on an upward trajectory. So is plastic waste generation. The Marico Innovation Foundation reported that India has generated around 3.4 million tonnes (MT) of plastic waste annually in the last five years. Out of this monumental garbage, only 30 per cent gets recycled. The rest ends up in landfills and marine ecosystems. The carnage doesn't stop here.

Packaging industry: The major contributor to plastic waste generation

Plastic debris dumped in Mumbai's adjacent sea has earned it a spot among the world's worst polluted seas, reveals The Energy and Resource Institute. According to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, the state itself produced over 300,000 tonnes of plastic waste in the year 20-21 alone. Additionally, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar are not far behind when it comes to filth accumulating in their adjacent marine ecosystem.

Mumbai-based climate strategist, Shreya Ghodawat says that India's packaging industry is the largest contributor to plastic waste generation. "This industry heavily relies on single-use plastics, which are often discarded after a short period of use, leading to a significant accumulation of plastic waste in landfills. Other industries also heavily rely on plastic packaging materials, contributing significantly to the overall plastic waste generation."

Ghodawat has been appointed as the India Ambassador of SHE Changes Climate, a global campaign driving awareness of the crucial role of women in accelerating just climate action. She has also been recognised as the Earth Day Network Star by the Earth Day Org. She lists down the major contributors to plastic waste in Indian cities:

1 Mumbai: 408 tonnes of plastic waste per day
2 Delhi: 690 tonnes of plastic waste per day
3 Chennai: 429 tonnes of plastic waste per day
4 Kolkata: 426 tonnes of plastic waste per day
5 Bengaluru: 314 tonnes of plastic waste per day

Unsegregated and unprocessed plastic waste is hazardous to the planet. To combat the perils of plastic, start-up-led innovations have begun to catalyse climate action plans. Bengaluru-based waste recycler, TrashCon is inventing 100 per cent recycled furniture from plastic and polymer. Simultaneously, Navi-Mumbai's eco-forward outfit, AP Chemi has successfully pyrolyzed 179M+ kg of plastic to date. Waste material has been transformed into resources like blue hydrogen, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), circular plastics, and biofuels.

The question arises - how do they segregate plastic waste from the rest?

TrashBot - TrashCon's patented robot
With the belief ‘Trash will be history soon', Bengaluru-based Nivedha RM launched India's largest patented MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) - TrashCon to dispose of plastic waste responsibly. With over 85 per cent recovery efficiency, the tech-first company aims to decompose single-use plastic that gets mixed with organic waste at the source. Humans cannot enter landfills and oceans to segregate plastic waste from organic. Even if they could, it would be inhuman to do so.

Conventional technology hasn't reached a level where it can segregate valuables dumped in the waste. This is where TrashCon bridges the gap. Their progeny - TrashBot is a cutting-edge technology that separates municipal solid waste (plastics, diapers, sanitary napkins, mobile chargers, etc) from organic waste automatically with minimal or nil human intervention.

TrashCon operates at capacities starting from 5 tons per day to 250 tons per day. This implies that they can cater from a village to a whole city itself. Their Bengaluru plant alone cleans 23 villages. TrashBot separates the input waste into primarily 2 components - food waste - which is composted or sent to biogas and the other component is dry waste which primarily consists of plastics and paper. This is being sent to local recyclers.

Paving the path for plastic circularity
What AP Chemi's technology does is turn end-of-life plastic waste into PUROIL using patented technologies. PUROIL is a raw material used by petrochemical companies to produce high-value food and pharma-grade plastics, sustainable chemicals as well as sustainable aviation fuel.
The climate-conscious group has championed plastic circularity by deploying pyrolysis of post-consumer mixed plastic waste. Since 2011, AP Chemi has set up 48 projects where they turn plastic waste into oil, using AP Chemi-supplied technology and machines.

AP Chemi's projects score plastic waste in three primary ways:
1 From places where people sort out plastic garbage separately.
2 From people who pick up trash for a living or from city trash facilities where plastic is sorted out from other waste.
3 From places where they try to recycle plastic but can't recycle about 20 per cent of it.

Currently, AP Chemi is working on a project near Mumbai to process 50 tons of plastic waste every day. This is intended to stop 15,000 tons of plastic from being burned/dumped into landfills and oceans each year. In the next 10 years, AP Chemi plans to keep 500,000 tons of plastic a year from being dumped or burned.

Innovative solutions for plastic waste disposal
70 per cent of the plastic waste items are multi-layered polymers (like lays, Kurkure, bingo packets, chocolate wrappers), etc. which have a shiny aluminium film sticking to the plastics. "No one was recycling these post-consumer plastics so we created yet another technology to separate the plastics of the dry output of TrashBot."

The non-degradable waste which includes one-time use plastics, multi-layered and other non-recyclable components is brought to the TrashCon facility where it is sterilised and recycled into sheets using. "We call these sheets WoW Boards! An alternative to plywood, they serve as the building material which is used to produce office furnishing, school infrastructure and flooring," informs TrashCon to Midday.

These sheets are also being used in shuttering in the construction industry and provide 2x the repetition of plywood without needing to cut the trees. What this achieves is a reduced carbon footprint for the otherwise infamous construction industry known to destroy the environment and consequently trigger climate change.

On the other hand, AP Chemi is pioneering advanced recycling solutions that upcycle plastic waste. While plastic-to-fuel conversion has been prevalent, the initiative believes that burning plastic, even as fuel, is a blow to the environment. Plastic to fuel has the same or more carbon footprint when compared to plastic burning in cement kilns or waste to energy plants.

"Instead, our patented technologies convert plastic waste into purified pyrolysis oil. This oil is a raw material used for producing circular plastics, thereby reducing emissions by up to 70 per cent compared to using plastic waste as fuel," says Suhas Dixit, founder and CEO of AP Chemi.

India has been instrumental in developing innovative solutions and organising the waste management sector in the country for some time now. Ghodawat echoes the principles of AP Chemi and TrashCon by admitting the grass root problems while acknowledging the swift action by climate forward groups. Below, she lists down trending innovative solutions for effective plastic waste management:

Plastic-to-Fuel Conversion: Here, plastic waste is converted into usable fuels through techniques like pyrolysis and gasification.
Upcycling: Here, upcycling is done to convert waste into a higher-value product. The process also focuses on extending the life of plastic and reducing the need for virgin materials.
Bioplastics: Bioplastics are eco-friendly alternatives to plastic with similar characteristics. Such materials are derived from plants and biodegradable waste. Not many companies are using this, but this is a viable solution we can put our hopes on.
Plastic-Eating Enzymes: It is a relatively new innovation where enzymes, capable of breaking down certain types of plastics, are used to degrade plastic waste.
Plastic-Brick Construction: In some regions, Including India, plastic waste is being used as a construction material. They use compressing and binding techniques to form bricks from plastic waste.

Future of plastic pollution in India
Dixit believes that the future of plastic waste management in India is one of opportunity. With the enforcement of the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2022, extended producer responsibility, recycling targets, and recycled content targets will be implemented more stringently. The adoption of concepts like plastic tax and carbon tax, similar to Europe (800 Euro/ton in Europe), will further accelerate plastic circularity. "While there are challenges like access to capital, I believe India is moving towards more sustainable plastic waste management."

The plastic waste management industry in India is estimated at 32.09 billion in 2023, shares Ghodawat. "I understand that plastic pollution is going to be a growing problem with the increasing population in India. There are government policies and collective efforts from recyclers, changemakers, organisations, and industries in India that are pointing us toward a brighter future."

The Indian government will likely continue implementing regulations and policies to address plastic pollution, including banning single-use plastics in certain regions and imposing restrictions on certain types of plastic. India is already investing in research and innovation to find sustainable solutions to plastic pollution. It will continue exploring technologies like plastic-to-fuel conversion and biodegradable plastics.

India's "Swacch Bharat campaign", launched in 2014, has made remarkable progress in rural and remote areas. The campaign emphasises waste management, cleanliness, and behavioural change among citizens. Businesses and industries are increasingly adopting sustainable packaging solutions and alternatives to single-use plastics to meet consumer demands and reduce environmental impact.

India may invest more in improving waste management infrastructure, including waste collection, segregation, and recycling facilities, to effectively handle the growing plastic waste challenge. Since plastic pollution is a global issue, India may collaborate with other countries, organisations, and initiatives to share best practices and work towards collective solutions.

Also Read: Did you know: Your instant food delivery apps are serving microplastics in groceries