Waste to wealth, not wealth to waste

Environment minister Bhupendra Yadav‘s call to industry to consider recycling to deal with the nearly 11,000 billion tonnes of waste accumulated in the country is an important intervention as India seeks to green its economy and achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. It is, however, only part of the solution. India’s material resource consumption grew from 1.8 billion tonnes in 1970 to 7 billion tonnes in 2015. It is projected to rise to about 14 billion tonnes in 2030. Economy-wide resource efficiency that uses less to create more, generates less waste, and reuses and recycles more will have financial, environmental and other benefits like creating new jobs and improved health outcomes. In this context, GoI must finalise the National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP); a draft has been ready since 2019 and has been put out for public consultations.

At present, there are sectoral interventions like that by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY). Though important, the lack of an overarching policy makes cross-sectoral collaborations and systemic efficiencies difficult, minimising benefits that can accrue from an economy-wide approach. A national policy that allows for sectoral peculiarities will help ensure primary resource consumption is at sustainable levels, create higher value with less material through circular approaches and minimise waste. Given geopolitical realities and supply chain disruptions, it is critical for material-resource security and improving economic resilience. The policy will also help focus on businesses that will help the economy grow while protecting the environment.

Converting waste to wealth is important. But even more so is to prevent the conversion of wealth and resources into waste.