An EY report sheds light on why a circular economy is tangent to India's net zero ambitions
Can we ever go back to life and business as we know it? The pandemic has acted as a sliver that has broken off the world from a cadence of monotony. Suddenly, agility, resilience, and innovation became central characters in the tapestry of life and have now become larger than life. Going back to business as usual would be sheer folly. But, how do the pieces of the sliver come together to instill a new world order? Is it just a smoke and mirrors illusion, this notion of order? What is the larger picture that businesses must look at?
An EY whitepaper sheds light on why embedding circularity into business strategy and operations has become so very critical and offers answers to the pressing questions that businesses today seek as they find themselves on an environmental precipice. After all, any crisis is also an opportunity to foster innovation.
In the whitepaper, Chaitanya Kalia (EY Partner and India Leader, Climate Change & Sustainability Services) establishes the context by highlighting how a circular business model can reduce waste disposal in landfills while also acknowledging the efforts made by waste producers/recyclers in recent years. He emphasizes upon the importance of resilience at all levels, from the village family to corporate boardrooms to government halls, so that emerging countries, like India, can take advantage of circular business growth prospects.
The current state of affairs with a business as usual approach isn’t sustainable, and fresh models are urgently needed to assure long-term growth without depleting the finite stock of natural resources. International initiatives to assist underdeveloped countries around the world are being pushed up. For example, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Plastic Garbage Management Program in India has assisted in the processing of 83,900 metric tonnes of plastic waste as of June 2021. The program’s goal, which will run from 2018 to 2024, is to process or recycle 85,000 metric tonnes of plastic garbage and reach 50 or more communities. While the regulatory landscape has seen a shift, the confluence of various trends is indicative that industry and government endeavours on innovation are focussed on sustainability.
But, how can we build a circular economy from ground up?
Wilma Rodriguez (Founder & CEO, Saahas Zero Trash) in the whitepaper elucidated upon how the notion of waste management as a process necessitated the collaboration of detailed systems and teams. Improvements in compliance procedures and effective tracking have prompted businesses to take waste reduction more seriously since 2001, when the government issued the first-ever Waste Management Rule (Batteries). However, there is still a lack of knowledge about what the legislation says at the grassroots level – terms like “reduce,” “reuse,” and “closed-loop recycling” are not without ambiguity. Wilma feels that more leadership from industry and government is needed to turn actions into results — the glass is still half-full.
India still espouses gaps when it comes to waste management and much can be resolved via partnerships as key stakeholders come together to build an effective framework for waste management.
How India’s Net Zero goals and the circular economy can come together?
Energy transitions are gaining traction across the world and India is no exception. The country is already excelling in the energy transition by following a strong renewable energy route following the 2015 Paris Agreement, as evidenced by an increase in solar energy investments. Investing in thermal power facilities, on the other hand, has slowed significantly. With India aiming to achieve a national net-zero target by the 2070 Conference of the Parties (COP 26) summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the transition has reawakened interest. To complement this strategy, the government has made short-term pledges – pledging to guarantee that India fulfilled its commitments generating 50% of total electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030 and cut its estimated carbon emissions to 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions will be reduced. Furthermore, by 2030, the country has promised to lowering its carbon intensity by 10%.
The country’s quest towards Net Zero cannot fulfilled without also laying the foundation of a circular economy. According to the Circularity Gap Report issued in 2021 by Circle Economy, an impact organisation dedicated to speeding the transition to a circular economy, switching to a circular economy could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 39% and relieve pressure on virgin materials by 28%. As a result, a better economy is created.
Should India succeed in its quest, then technology and industry would work in steady consonance to create a win-win situation for society. Not only would consumers benefit from lowered costs due to recycled materials but businesses would work in greater harmony with the environment; balanced as they say all things ought to be.
Download the exclusive EY whitepaper to gain deeper insights into of implications of a circular economy on achieving Net Zero.
