EcoEx, a start-up in the plastic waste management sector, has launched India’s first digital marketplace to facilitate exchange of plastic credit certificates and strengthen the plastic recycling infrastructure. As per the Uniform Framework for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR, under Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016) released by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, plastic producers, importers and brand owners (PIBOs) that use plastic for packaging are accountable for managing the end waste.
The revised EPR draft guidelines now allow PIBOs to meet their compliance targets by buying ‘plastic credits’ from accredited companies that recycle packaging or co-process the plastic packaging waste. The marketplace launched by EcoEx brings together all the players in the plastic waste ecosystem to transparently trade plastic credit certificates. This model has three benefits: first, it ensures that plastic waste EPR compliance is met by brands in the most effective manner; second, it ensures that the plastic waste is ethically collected, transported and put to end of life and third, it incentives recyclers by giving them the monetary benefit for the recycled quantity and co-processors by helping them realise a better price. All these factors inturn will support the government to implement the plastic credits model for an efficient EPR compliance, and eventually lead to the possibility of living in a cleaner environment.
According to a study by Un-Plastic Collective (co-founded by the Confederation of Indian Industry, United Nations Environment Programme and WWF-India), India generates 9.46 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. Nearly 40% of this waste remains uncollected, as per the Ministry of Environment. A large quantity of this waste is ending up in landfills and oceans. This is due to inept recycling infrastructure development. Through the marketplace, EcoEx envisions a cleaner tomorrow by guiding India’s waste management industry through a digitized process of plastic credit exchange and by bringing together all players in the ecosystem at one common point. By introducing this digital platform, EcoEx is enabling the nation-wide implementation of the EPR.
Launching the EcoEx platform, Nimit Agarwal, Founder, EcoEx said, “Born out of an idea to foster a digital evolution for a cleaner tomorrow and aligned to the Swachh Bharat Mission, EcoEx aims to create a sustainable digital ecosystem for the stakeholders of the plastic waste management value chain to undertake secure & mutually beneficial plastic credit certificate transactions from anywhere, anytime. The added advantage of recycling plastic is that it emits lesser CO2 as compared to producing virgin plastic. EcoEx being pro-recycling ensures that maximum plastic is collected from the environment. EcoEx by way of incentivising recycling ensures maximum plastic waste is collected and recycled. This in turn helps save marine life by ensuring lesser plastic being dumped into oceans.” EcoEx aims to streamline the unorganised recycling sector by educating recyclers about the benefits that can be availed by selling plastic credit certifications through a formal channel. It also ensures that producers meet their compliance (EPR) target, and the entire process of plastic collection and recycling is handled in a transparent manner. The EcoEx technology platform is supported by NCDEX e-markets Limited, the leading National Spot Exchange in India. It works with domain experts and offers trading platforms for trading in a host of commodities. These trading platforms combine technological efficiency and market-friendly trading features in a transparent atmosphere to make trading a rich and rewarding experience.
