Involving Brand Owners & MNC’s for A Circular Economy

Presented at

25th Asia Plastic Forum Meet 21st January, 2016

atDhaka, Bangladesh

by

K.K.SEKSARIAPresident, Plastindia Foundation

Wise Leaders in every country want

TO DO MORE WITH LESS &

CONSERVE RESOURCES

Work towards Circular Economy

Reduce- Recover- Recycle

Zero Waste to Landfills

Citizens in all cities Do not want Litter & Garbage –

Eye Sore & Health Risk; but - to bring massive Societal

Change - considerable resource requirements & Social

Communication for prolonged period needed

Municipalities blame short life items for the nuisance.

In most Asian countries the blame & load of dealing with Packaging Waste are on

“ONLY One Sector i.e. PLASTICS”

In reality, what is the average composition of a

Town’s Waste?

Due to the versatility of the Plastics,

While Plastic Waste stands out

whether it rains or shines,

the other rotting Packaging Wastes

viz - Paper, Cartons, Cans or Bottles

are overlooked.

All Developed Nations have

made Packaging Waste Rules to cover

all Packaging Materials -Paper, Board,

Laminates, Metals, Glass & Plastic &

have specified responsibilities for

every stakeholder.

We have -

Packaging Waste Management Rules

of Japan, Germany, UK, Australia, New

Zealand, France, Italy & EU 27 nations

as successful models that work.

In the West

FMCG cos; MNCs; Super Markets; Food

Product cos; Beverage cos; Electronic

goods cos; White Goods Cos;

All share burden of Awareness,

Recovery and Recycling of Packaging.

Huge load if only plastic industry asked to manage all packaging wastes

Much better if all stakeholders unite in packaging waste management

In the West -

Hundreds of examples of how

Nestle, Unilever, P & G, J & J, KRAFT Foods,

McVities, Mars, Coca Cola, Pepsi, HP, Sony,

Toshiba, Cadburys, Walmart, Tesco, Sainsbury,

Carrefour, Reckitt, Glaxo, Kimberly Clark, Asahi

Breweries, Dell, Tetrapack et al, actively work

on Waste Recovery & Recycling & also support

Research.

Why have Asian governments not understood short -life - items in waste, are from all packaging media (not only from Plastics).

If more producers are roped in, more hands to work, more ideas & initiatives, the desired results will be seen by all in society.

Why has the West not singled out plastics as the only villain ? India - Waste in Landfill (Mumbai) Plastic – 5% , Paper – 8%

USA - Waste in Landfill Plastic – 16%, Paper – 39%

Question is

India-Besides Plastic Waste, several other Packaging Media going to our landfills daily

In the West as Paper, Board, Laminates, Tin, Aluminum etc. also form packaging waste all share responsibility- USA

Stakeholders must be fair to all countriesthey operate in & help us towardsZero Waste Goals.

Each Asian nation must have comprehensiveproven rules as adopted by the West for

Packaging Waste Management

Include all stakeholders with clearresponsibilities for awareness, collection &recycling.

Can APF leaders, after this session, consider a united approach through UNEP asking all Asian governments to understand facts & legislate Comprehensive Packaging Waste Management Rules ?

It will help save our planet if all players are told their role & share their responsibilities in this.

THANK YOU!!!