Re Sustainability: 8th International Conference on Waste to Worth

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, in his video address at the 8th International Conference on Waste to Worth, stated that it is imperative that we shift from a linear economy to the circular economy and inculcate a sense of bhagidaari among industry, technology partners, waste management companies and international partners. He further emphasized the need for understanding and exchange of best practices in various dimensions of waste management. 

Shri Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, Hon’ble Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India, in his video message mentioned that circular economy is no more an option for any nation, but a necessity. He further appreciated the efforts of CII National Task Force on Circular Economy as it envisions a future where national resources are recognized as integral to our national prosperity and emphasizes zero waste within the circular economy.

The National Circular Economy Framework (NCEF) was unveiled by Prof Ajay K Sood, along with the dignitaries. NCEF serves as a concise roadmap for India's transition to a circular economy, emphasizing collaboration, awareness, and targeted actions for a sustainable and prosperous future.

While addressing at the Inaugural session of the summit, Prof Ajay K Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, stated that as India is completing its G20 Presidency, and has come out with flying colors, brought many important themes with lives and lifestyle for environment as one of the key themes. This will gain momentum is subsequent G20 nations and India’s contribution will always be remembered.

He further said that this is an opportune moment for India to embrace a circular economy approach and transforming challenges into opportunities for sustainable waste management. Recycling Plastic waste, electronic waste, and faecal sludge are potential opportunity areas. India should review its waste management challenges, not merely as problems but as opportunities, as it will open the door to transformative advancements in the sector. He further stressed reclaiming value from waste which can be achieved through innovative solutions and data driven analytics.

Ms Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary- SBM, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs stated that India has seen massive changes in the recent time in terms of waste management, material recovery, waste characterization, waste to energy, and aggregated waste processing technologies. She further mentioned that Garbage-free India journey is possible through inducting principles of 3R. Each city will soon have clear segregation of recyclables and non-recyclables. She also envisaged the requirement of having electricity generation from waste and she identified Mountains of garbage as mountains of Resources which can be efficiently utilized for achieving circularity in the economy.

Prof Anil K Gupta, Chair, CII 3R Awards 2023, Indian Scholar- Innovation and Padma Shri stated we need to transition from 3R to 4R with repair/rejuvenation as the 4th R. Repair is the skill that India has engrained in its roots and should be leveraged to harness value out of things.  Every city needs to have a Waste Exchange system which will help ensure repair / rejuvenate in addition to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Mr Masood Mallick, Chair, CII Task Force on Waste to Worth 2023 and CEO, Re Sustainability mentioned that waste is no longer just an environmental issue but has significant economic, resource security and strategic impacts. One of the outcomes of the G20 deliberations is the realisation that Circularity must be one of the core strategies for building a sustainable, inclusive and resilient Bharat.

In his closing remarks, Mr Hrishit Shroff, Co-chair, CII Task Force on Waste to Worth 2023 and Executive Director, Excel Industries Ltd. outlined the need for consistency in waste to worth management. He referred to NCEF as being a thought leadership document which will help stakeholders in accelerating the journey to a circular economy.

The conference also witnessed the release of the compendium on “Moving towards a Circular Economy through innovative 3R approach”.

The Conference also felicitated the winners of the 4th edition of 3R (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) Awards to recognise and reward best practices of industry, start-ups, research institutes and municipal corporations for excellence in waste management.

The winners are as follows:

The conference also witnessed multiple sessions and engaging discussions by industry and Government stalwarts on various topics revolving around sustainability, waste management and circular economy.