MRAI 2023: Formal advances anticipated

The efforts of collectors of numerous recyclables in India (as in many other nations) frequently are referred to as being part of the recycling industry’s informal sector. Collectors and buyers work largely on a cash basis, and critics of the practice usually contend many existing workplace regulations too often are ignored.

Presenters at the 2023 MRAI International Material Recycling Conference in Kochi, India, said efforts are underway in the country to move recycling activities away from this sector and into a more regulated formal arrangement, likely to include more corporate involvement.

Anupam Agrihotri of India’s Ministry of Mines and its Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) said that institute is involved in a comprehensive circular economy effort that includes formalizing efforts currently considered informal.

The Ministry of Mines is getting involved in “capacity building for rag pickers” Agrihotri told MRAI delegates, via a JNARDDC effort to boost some of them into the “formal setting of scrap processing.”

The multiyear process envisioned involves a “registration mechanism for all involved in the recycling value chain,” he said, adding the effort can “strengthen and convert [their effort] to the scrap supply chain.”

Beyond the societal benefits of the process—which could take until 2047 to complete, according to the JNARDDC timeline—Agrihotri said its benefits will include enhanced data collection to accurately portray the metal recycling industry’s presence in the economy.

Ultimately, it could also lead to “specified metal recycling zones” and facilities such as auto shredding plants that are just now being established in India.

At about the same time MRAI was meeting in Kochi, the Times of India published an article about material recovery facilities (MRFs) being set up in cities including Delhi and Bengaluru to provide a relatively safe and hygienic place to sort scavenged recyclables. The facilities are being championed by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that see room for vast improvement in conditions for collectors of recyclables.

The story also addresses gender issues in the waste picker sector. The article indicates providing a more formal and safe setting for women recyclables collectors to engage in the practice and provide for their families creates one more reason for India to use both policies and private sector investment to improve the lot of those in the collection link in India’s recycling chain.

The 2023 MRAI International Material Recycling Conference was held in early February at the Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty in Kochi, India.