A Recycled, Sustainable Future

Canada, this week, unveiled its list of six single-use plastic items which will not find their way into the country starting 2021 either through production and import. An ambitious directive which is in line with the poll promises, precautionary principles and a science based assessment of plastic pollution concluded last year. Plastic bags are easily among the most ubiquitous and now amongst the most banned items among the world. But their most top of the mind alternative, paper bags, could be worst possible choice in the long run. Credited to be environment friendly on the face of it, they have a high environmental footprint (production, transport, their weight vis-à-vis a plastic bag) and isn’t even close to being the last straw when compared strictly in the category which they are a replacement of. The good thing is that the government still hasn’t called out banning a particular thickness category plastic bag and that means an outright ban on all categories within its segment. A...

Air Pollution: An Unprecedented Problem Air pollution has come to take mammoth proportions and brings associated health problems not just in winters but of late it has become a perennial problem at scale. Rapid urbanization, waste and construction dust, industrialization, power generation activities and other activities with sub-optimal pollution control measures have led to increasing air pollution levels in India. These increasing pollution levels are not just limited to cities but have also reached village at levels not seen before. Health impacts such as cardio-vascular diseases, lower respiratory problems, asthma, lung cancer, dementia and other long term illnesses are now real in India and air pollution has been declared a public health emergency multiple times. The response to the problem has more often been a knee-jerk reaction and there are no long-term solutions in sight. Till date it has been driven by Judiciary, particularly, National Green Tribunal and state ...

What is the thing that we are surrounded with the most after atmosphere or air we live in? It’s one of the most ubiquitous materials on earth due to its unfathomable uses and almost unchallenged properties. Yes, you guessed it right, its Plastic and I am 100% sure that the device you are using to read this blog is also encased in plastic. Delivering diligently since the start of the last century, its overproduction today and very limited recycling till date have come to haunt us and possibly hinting at an apocalyptic setting in a near future date wiping out the entire humanity. A staggering half of all plastic produced ever is designed for a single use. Packaging industry by far uses the most plastic in the world by weight and almost 10% of total cost from cradle to grave including production, packaging, transportation and recycling, if at all, is occupied by packaging material costs. This is a huge economy in itself and a classic case where the standardizations and prot...

Like many things complex in life, plastics and particularly single use plastics are a tough nut to crack in firstly how to single them out via a rationale acceptable to majority and then through identifying which ones to easily discard via an easy alternative. The second problem can be solved in a much easier way for an individual and remembered after a one time dossier! The first one is more complex where while experts are still putting their heads together on the definition, I came up with a three point identification tool to alter my lay of the land and challenge the status quo in this area of my life. Wish this is the bucket list of methods I remember by heart and accomplish the outcome to the hilt in 45 days! Discard minimum utility and maximum impact plastic items. Despise plastics which are the most commonly released items into the environment. Chuck out plastic items which have an alternative. Almost all of my friends in the curated social circl...

Abstract In India, there is a growing demand for sustainable packaging made of paper, jute, cloth, bagasse and compostable plastic. New age packaging materials are lightweight, durable and versatile but despite their ubiquitous presence and the critical role they play in our daily lives there is always a need to do more and more given the kind of growth India is witnessing. If compostable plastics or a totally new innovation is introduced in the market today, it would be a game changer and a breakthrough which has been in the waiting for quite a long time now. A panacea material of sorts which is cheap, durable, flexible, light yet strong and which can be utilized in a multitude of ways possible with packaging materials in use today. There are systemic challenges in managing packaging waste due to a host of factors but it can be addressed through innovations in collection mechanism and in recycling techniques. Sources of Packaging Waste Among sources of various kinds of packa...

1. The Design congruence Just like wind sets the boat sailing towards a smooth ride, a product design in true congruence with a sound use in afterlife is the key to achieving circularity. A cradle to cradle and multi-disciplinary approach within the design teams is important. Given the fact that, in circular economy, the aim is to reuse products at their highest value, the design strategies should not just have focus on the physical aspects of a product. It should also be designed keeping in mind the user behavior and resource loops. User behavior should be supplemented with deep dive studies to make the product reach its right destination at the end of life. Short of reuse choices, typical user behavior to dispose of the product is abundant in a linear economy but this can be arrested using smart choices through modular design and economic instruments. Additionally, slowing the resource loop and closing the resource loop in equal measures at the design stage itself ensures the d...