At the Injection, Blow Moulding, PET International Business Summit Exhibition 2025 held in Mumbai on 12-13 June, Mani Vajipey, co-founder of plastics recycler and circular economy specialist Banyan Nation, spoke about the role of policy-driven industrial transformation in India and its relevance to the country’s efforts to address plastic waste management.
Addressing an audience of stakeholders from the plastics and packaging sectors, he pointed to earlier instances where India had undertaken large-scale interventions in agriculture, renewable energy, and digital finance, resulting in a broad socio-economic impact.
Vajipey referred to the Green Revolution, which raised foodgrain output from 50 million tons in 1950 to over 314 million tons today, helping lift millions of farming households out of poverty. He cited India’s solar energy push, which increased capacity from 2.6 GW to more than 70 GW in a decade, while significantly reducing per-unit cost.
Turning to plastic waste, he said that India generates around 14 million tons of packaging waste annually, which has a bearing on urban infrastructure, waterways, and public health. He pointed out that recent regulatory developments — particularly the extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework — marked a significant shift, mandating recycled content in packaging materials. The EPR rules require 30% recycled content in rigid plastic packaging, increasing to 60% by 2028, and 10% in flexible packaging, rising to 20% over the same period.
Despite the regulations, the ecosystem remains fragmented. Drawing on the parable of the blind men and the elephant, he said stakeholders were responding based on narrow perspectives — with concerns about costs, supply chain uncertainty, digital disruption, and regulatory burden — while missing the broader picture of systemic change.
Vajipey shared details of Banyan Nation’s work over the past 12 years, including collaboration with over 70 multinational brands and the reintegration of more than two billion recycled plastic bottles into the supply chain. He highlighted the company’s investments in developing materials for both rigid and flexible applications and its engagement with over 15,000 informal waste workers.
He emphasized the importance of integrating technology with existing human networks rather than displacing them. He argued that digital platforms in the sector should be designed to support and formalize informal waste collection, ensuring direct benefit transfers, access to government schemes, and long-term stability for waste pickers.
The US$ 5 to 7 billion opportunity for recyclers by 2030
On the economic potential of plastic recycling, Vajipey estimated the domestic market could reach US$ 7 billion by 2030, with the capacity to generate up to 1.6 million jobs across multiple domains, including logistics, quality control, and equipment manufacturing. He highlighted India’s potential to emerge as a technology exporter in the recycling machinery segment.
At the same time, he cautioned against what he called “false economies” — short-term cost-saving measures that could result in larger systemic failures. Referring to historical cases such as the Ford Pinto, he noted that reducing investment in quality at this stage of the industry’s development could have long-term repercussions. He suggested that focusing on low-cost recycled materials while compromising on performance or traceability could undermine trust in recycled products.
Using the analogy of a traffic signal, he said uncoordinated responses to regulatory pressure could lead to systemic inefficiencies — a scenario he likened to the economic principle of the “prisoner’s dilemma.” He argued that shared commitment to recycled content standards could level the playing field and reduce costs through economies of scale.
Vajipey concluded by revisiting his long-standing comparison between India’s informal recyclers and the milk producers of the 1970s. He said the success of the dairy sector under Dr Verghese Kurien was due to the ability to build inclusive systems that combined quality with scale, and that India’s recycling industry needed to adopt a similar approach.
He closed by stating that the country is at a pivotal stage, where coordinated efforts could establish India as a leader in circular economy practices. According to him, the extended producer responsibility policy provides the regulatory foundation — but real progress will depend on long-term investment, systemic inclusion, and cross-sector collaboration.
