Indian policy-makers are paying close attention to the development of circular economic systems. At an overarching level, the 2019 Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy seeks to enhance resource efficiency and promote the use of secondary raw materials.  

Additionally, several industry-specific initiatives are underway. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) has formed 11 committees which will prepare comprehensive action plans for specific sectors to transition towards a circular economy. These key focus areas are: 

• Municipal Solid Waste and Liquid Waste 
• Scrap Metal  
• Electronic Waste 
• Lithium Ion Batteries 
• Solar Panels 
• Gypsum 
• Toxic and Hazardous Industrial Waste 
• Used Oil Waste 
• Agriculture Waste 
• Tyre and Rubber Recycling 
• End-of-life Vehicles (ELVs)

Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022 

On 16 February 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change published the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022, amending the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. 

The rules set a framework for further implementation of EPR and the prohibition of identified single-use plastic items with effect from July 01, 2022. 

The Rules brought in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to ensure a collective system of plastic wastes by the producer and brand owners. Generators of plastic waste have to minimize plastic waste generation, not litter the environment with plastic waste and store them according to the rules.

Finally, they envisage recycling and reusing targets in the medium and long term, with targets of up to 80% reusing and recycling for some plastic categories. 

The full content of the Rules can be accessed here, as published in the Official Gazette. 

Circular Economic aims to Reduce Waste by keeping the products in use, which signifies each product's importance. The circular economy seeks to make the most of the material resources available by applying three basic principles: reuse, reduce, and recycle. In this way, the life cycle of the products is extended, waste is used, & a more efficient and sustainable production model is established over time. The idea arises from imitating nature, where everything is valued and used, and waste becomes a new resource. In this way, the balance between progress and sustainability is maintained. With the increasing amount of waste generated each year through various industries, the cosmetic industry is also not far behind. The cosmetic industry is one of the top contributors in the packaging space for plastic waste. It is far from pretty regarding its impact on the environment.

The cosmetic industry value chain broadly comprises of 6 levels:
• Stage 1: Inputs to Production – Consists of companies providing raw materials to manufacture cosmetics and their packaging.
• Stage 2: Manufacturing/Development – This step entails manufacturing cosmetic products as per the requirements. Product manufacturers of primary and supporting activities are involved in this stage.
• Stage 3: Packaging – This step involves the primary/secondary packaging of the product; hence this is of high relevance for our research. The product is capped and labelled for the stakeholders to understand the product.
• Stage 4: Distribution – This step is secondary/ tertiary packaging-intensive as it requires transporting the products to various geographic locations. The product reaches different distribution and wholesale centres from its warehouses.
• Stage 5: Retail & Wholesale – Product is distributed to various wholesalers and retailers from where the consumers can get access to the products.
• Stage 6: Consumers – They represent the final link in the value chain. Consumers are the ones who buy the product from retailers/ wholesalers in the previous steps. They are a crucial stakeholder in the entire value chain of the cosmetic industry.

The Cosmetic products in India are regulated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules 1945 and Labelling Declarations by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). BIS sets the standards for cosmetics for the products listed under Schedule 'S' of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945.

Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program

VVMP popularly known as India’s Scrappage Policy, 2021 is aimed at creating an eco-system for phasing out of unfit and polluting vehicles. The policy was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Investors’ Summit Gujarat. He said "We are promoting a circular economy. The aim is to develop a sustainable and environment-friendly economy," The policy aims at making the Indian scrappage industry organised, transparent and environment friendly. It targets voluntary scrapping of ~1 crore unfit vehicles strictly based on their fitness, irrespective of the vehicle age. The vehicles are to be declared as ELVs in case of failure in fitness test. The fitness certificate is mandatory for renewal of registration for commercial vehicles.

Battery Swapping Policy

India is in the process of creating a battery swapping policy in addition to formulating interoperability standards for EV batteries. It is aimed at making electric vehicles more viable and reducing range anxiety for potential buyers. Currently due to limited range of electric vehicles and limited charging stations, long distance travellers still prefer conventional vehicles. Hence this policy can encourage the long-distance travellers and reduce their hesitation for EV technology.

The Niti Aayog plans to roll it out by second half of 2022. Apart from standardisation of battery, the proposed policy would introduce disruptive business models such as battery as a service (BaaS), leasing, etc, so that the owners need not own the battery. It would also provide EV owners flexibility to swap batteries at swap stations within minutes and charge them at home. The focus in the initial phase would be to cater light electric vehicles where it is easy to plug and play batteries at the battery swapping stations.