BIR Plastics Committee session outlines opportunities in India

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, hosts the 2017 World Recycling Convention (Round-Table Sessions, Oct. 14-16 at the Taj Diplomatic Enclave Hotel, New Delhi. At the plenary meeting of BIR Plastics Committee Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, chaired by Surendra Borad Patawari of Gemini Corp., Antwerp, Belgiu, attendees have the opportunity to listen to representatives from Indian companies Reliance Industries Ltd. and Banyan Nation.

Guest speaker Rajesh Gauba is vice president for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling and product sustainability at Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s most profitable and largest publicly traded company. Reliance Industries, a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mumbai, combines petrochemical, refining, oil and gas-related operations as its core business, with other divisions including cloth, retail, telecommunications and special economic zone (SEZ) development.

Gauba has been with Reliance for more than 20 years. He will be speaking on “PET recycling: Sustainability 'sweet-spot.’”

Guest speaker is Mani Vajipey is co-founder and CEO of Banyan Nation, which the BIR describes as “an informal sector-inclusive high-technology social venture” that aims to solve the problems in the Indian recycling value chain through technology innovations that encourage source segregation and maximize landfill diversion. Banyan Nation has changed the way India looks at plastics, recycling and waste management. Its mission is to produce cleaner, safer and cheaper plastic that compels brands to use more recycled than virgin plastic for their product and packaging needs.

Before founding Banyan Nation, Vajipey worked at Qualcomm Inc. in California on the design, development, testing and commercialization activities of mobile technologies for the Apple iPad and iPhone product lines.

He will deliver a presentation titled “Challenges and opportunities in the plastics recycling business in India.”