INDIA – Recykal, a tech start-up based in Hyderabad, has launched an app-based marketplace for recycled plastics.
The platform connects buyers who require small to large volumes of recycled materials to hundreds of authorized recyclers across India.
The available materials include post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic resins such as rPET, rHDPE, and rPP, compounded recycled resins for selected industries, recycled paper, and recycled metal.
The feedstock is sourced from PCR materials, post-industrial waste, ocean waste, nearshore, fishing, and coastal line waste, as well as waste collected from waterways and rivers.
The end-product categories include consumer goods packaging, apparel, footwear, furnishing, accessories used for travel, fast fashion, automobiles, and toys, amongst others.
A look at the app shows that users can input the quantity of recycled plastic required, a price according to market rate, and then choose between offers according to price, location, and speed of delivery.
Recykal claims that users can trace the products’ origin through ‘robust tracking systems ensuring complete traceability’, adding that third-party auditing can also be made available for added transparency.
Abhishek Deshpande, co-founder and COO of Recykal said: “With our new circularity marketplace, we are providing a centralized platform for brands to easily access trusted recycled materials with complete transparency and traceability.
“This will enable them to build a more sustainable and responsible brand image while reducing inventory costs and improving production efficiency.”
Circularity Marketplace enables end-to-end digitally traceable transactions between brands and suppliers.
Brands that want to introduce their sustainable products and use a recycled packaging range can connect to recyclers, aggregating channels, material suppliers, recycled raw material providers, and packaging producers, etc., at a large scale without compromising on quality and compliance. They can further manufacture products for the environmentally conscious consumer.
With Circularity Marketplace, companies with requirements for raw materials can ensure supply chain stability with a unified platform to access quality material from trusted and authorized recyclers.
Third-party auditing can also be made available for added transparency. The stable supply chain will act as a buffer to supply and demand fluctuations for producers and brands.
This is one of the initiatives in India to promote plastic circularity. Early this year, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) launched an “Inclusive Circular Economy” project.
The initiative focuses on the end-to-end management of plastic waste by promoting the segregation of waste at source, collection of the segregated waste, and setting up Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) for recycling all kinds of plastic waste along the value chain.
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