Introduction:
On 2nd October 2014 ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ was launched through the length and breadth of the country as a National Movement to clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure of cities, town and rural area. The aim of the mission was to achieve the Vision of a Clean India by 2nd October 2019,as a clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to our Father of the Nation ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ on his 150th birth anniversary.
The program Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was successfully led by our Prime minister Mr Narendra Modi and has become a ‘Jan Andolan’ receiving tremendous support from the citizens.In spite of that much more efforts are required to criminate or dump the garbage originating from many sources, some of them are difficult to dump those can be recycled and used further, it is very important as waste has a huge negative impact on environment .Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from various waste materials. Recycling will help to reduce the pollution caused by waste materials.
Recycling is the process of converting waste material into new reusable material or object that can prevent the waste of potentiality, useful material and reduce the consumption of fresh raw material so that the rainforest can be preserved, thereby reducing air and water pollution and conservation of energy. There are three main types of recycling processes. First is Primary recycling is closed loop recycling which is the process of turning one waste product into same useful items like paper into paper, soda canes into more soda canes etc. Second is Secondary recycling means turning one waste product into another useful product ,tire recycling is a classic example of secondary recycling because the vast majority of recycled tire do not end up as new tire, instead they’re turned into other products made with rubber. Third is tertiary or chemical recycling requires breaking materials down chemically to produce something very different, examples include melting metals, chemically treating old paper and breaking down plastic bottles in order to make brand new products.
Unique characteristics of India’s Economy, in particular its enormous size and strong entrepreneurial culture, will help the recycling and waste management sector thrive in the longer-term. India presents a huge wealth of opportunities for investment in these sectors. Unlike other countries in the region, India’s recycling sector does not need to rely on imports or exports, they have their own recycling ecosystem and can manage it all domestically. In fact, plastic waste imports in India are comparatively small.
In the present era there is a huge opportunity to create more avenues to that group of people who are going and opt to invest in recycling units from small to large scale. There are a number of Shovel Ready projects (Shovel ready is a phrase used to describe a construction project that is considered to be at an advanced enough stage of development for building to begin soon. The term generally implies that planning is more or less complete, approval permits are in place, and laborers can get to work once sufficient funding is secured. ) in recycling sectors in India but could not grow due to lack of capital and awareness .These are the business that no one has ever invested in or looked to invest in. Now the catalytic capital may corrects these blockage in the financial chain is a critical ingredient to help the marketplace grow and should therefore present investors with attractive opportunities.
Business Opportunity for Banks:
This would be also a good opportunity for the banks to provide a better platform in the way of financial support to them and also to opt it as another source to improve their profitability as well as to pay their social responsibilities by focusing on top 10 most profitable recycling business types & Ideas as below-
1) Waste Paper recycling business– It requires small investment initially but finally the returns are really good on the same, and also overcome the negative impact on the environment. As per the information most of recycling saves energy, thus reducing air pollution and global warming. For every ton of 100 % recycling paper used in place of non recycled paper,17 trees are saved 64% less energy is used ,air pollution is cut by 74%.Only 35 % of News papers in USA are recycled, even though a single Sunday edition of a major newspapers, such as the New York, typically uses 75,000 trees in its production. So recycling papers conserves natural resources, save energy, reduce green house gas emissions and keep landfill space free for other types of trash that can’t be recycled.
2) E-Waste Recycling-It is a booming business these days due to the wastage of huge electronic devices and its rapid increase can be a severe loss of mankind because in e-waste composition of various metals are found most harmful material which produce dangerous fumes when disposed of, also other toxic materials like lead, cadmium, mercury and chemical flame retardants can easily leach into our soil and water making it infertile . Electronic waste recycling process can be used for recycling all kinds of waste or used electric appliances such as computer, TV, air conditioner, refrigerator etc. From its recycling process clean metal and other material like copper, aluminum, iron, plastic, insulation foam membrane can be separated and can become reusable. In this type of recycling business the profit are almost double than the initial investment.
3) Battery Recycling- As Batteries are being used in almost household items, automobiles etc and it contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals those are also responsible for soil contamination and water pollution. There for its recycling is also very important but with precautions and profit is moderate in this business.
4) Garbage Recycling-This is the leading industries and it has government aid as well for all those who want to take up it as business, Also the returns on the investments and may get government grant and subsidies for a raw materials processing and man power. For example, making of Incense sticks from waste flowers. The flowers are segregated and set out to dry. The dried flowers are powdered and mixed with binding powder and saw dust then rolled over with bamboo sticks to make the final product known as Agarbatti stick. Also it is one of the primary sources to produce the Fertilizers for agriculture purpose with less investment and adequate profitability.
5) Tire Recycling-This is a type of secondary recycling and also one of the booming industry and gaining wide popularity too. Like all business it also having adequate opportunities and profitability.
6) Aluminum cans Recycling-Aluminum cans are mostly thrown away once the content is used, that can be taken for recycling and processed further to produce new ones. Recycling aluminum uses 95 % less energy than production aluminum from raw materials. The aluminum cans are sold at a high prise and hence yield good profit where as investment is comparatively very less.
7) Packaging Cartons Recycling-For this kind of recycling the material used are easily available and the production cost is very low, this will yield a good return on investment. These days online marketing has become a trend and goods are delivered in a packaging cartons and finally available as a raw material for further recycling.
8) Scrap Metal Recycling– Scrap metals largely contain iron, aluminum etc and the same are being recycled in another useful form. Though the initial investment in this business is high but returns are really lucrative.
9) Plastic Recycling-Plastic is very dangerous to the environment as it doesn’t get decomposed. So it is best to recycle these plastic to form some new useful products. In this type of business investments are very low and generate high returns. It has been observed that 90% of waste accumulated by Municipal Corporation is a plastic waste. Apart from this plastic is used for manufacturing various types of goods and items that are being used on a daily basis. This will not only help increase the production of plastic but will also take care of the environment. One of the examples during the ‘Mangal misiion’ the tiles used in ‘Mangal Yan’ were the composition of waste plastic and aluminum so that the weight and cost was reduced. As per Forbs magazine India is next to China as one of the largest economy contributing to the world’s ocean plastic due to underdeveloped recycling and waste management process in the region. The Govt. of India introduced the plastic waste management rules 2018 to reduce and manage plastic waste.
For Example Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a highly recyclable plastic resin and a form of polyester.PET is also inexpensive, light weight, easy recyclable and shatter resistant, Recycled PET is known as RPET and is most widely recycled plastic in the world.PET is frequently used to package a range of products including beverage, peanut butter, bakery goods, frozen foods, salad, cosmetics and miscellaneous house holds.PET recycling in India works really well. Parts of India have the highest recycling rates in the world because there is a value chain all the way from collection to making clothes and textiles, and people make money at every step of the way in this process. By some reports, the PET recycling rate at the national level is now a whopping 90%, compared to 48% in Europe which recycles and 31% in the US.
10) Food Waste Recycling-This is one of the most nature friendly ways of recycling, these are processed to generate Bio energy, Fertilizers etc. It requires small investment and high return. Another example is composing biodegrades organic waste that is food waste manure, leaves, grass trimmings, paper, wood, feathers crop residue etc and turns it into a valuable organic fertilizer. Composing is a natural biological process carried out under controlled aerobic conditions.
Banks have various schemes to finance such types of activities and also have yet to explore more ideas to create business opportunities not only to improve their profitability but also to provide a huge platform for employments, self dependence, reduction of poverty and also contribution in GDP growth of our country. The World Bank is also involved with more than 100 projects (Active or under development) with municipal solid waste management in developing countries. Loans and grant commitments have been made for capital investments in a broad scope of waste management functions including recycling, collection, transfer stations and landfill design/construction.
Ultimately progress in the sector should lead to better outcomes for waste collectors, too. Certainly sector part of our broader challenge will be to transform the waste collectors into a more formalized system that improves their quality of life, so they can work and live with greater dignity, better health and better working conditions. Some recycling cooperatives already exist in India that can provide the resources and safety equipments to help realize this goal.
We all must come to gather and make it a revolution to fulfill the aim of our Swachh Bhatar Mission as well as to take a oath to discharge our individual responsibility by self updating of our knowledge about recycling and spreading the same to others as an ideal citizen of India. It is very important for India to display high standards of hygiene and cleanliness to change the overall global perception, people have about our country.
