ParikraM

Overview

The ParikraM initiative plugs the gap between collection and recycling with the right processing and sorting infrastructure, and technology solutions that optimise operations and enable materials traceability across the value chain.

‍

Achieved

- Waste diverted (early impact): more than 1,500MT, exceeding the 1,000MT target
- Waste diverted (primary project): 5,000MT (target 5,000MT by July 2023)

Closing the Plastic Waste Loop in India With Tech

Even as India ramps up its waste collection efforts, it is equally critical to ensure that plastic waste goes where its true value can be realised – and that the process of getting it there is both transparent and verifiable.

Through ParikraM, a partnership with startup Recity, the Alliance is funding much-needed tech-enabled Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) across Indian cities. At the same time, it is supporting Waste Intelligence (WI), a digital ecosystem that connects waste collectors to waste buyers, and ensures waste is traceable from source to recovery.

During the Early Impact phase between April 2022 and May 2023, every bale of plastic waste collected through clean-ups or diverted from dumpsites in the southeastern city of Puducherry was logged, and its journey to co-processing or recycling, documented and certified. A total of 1,566 tonnes of waste was diverted during this phase.

A second phase, which took place between October 2022 and July 2023, saw a further 5,000 tonnes of plastic waste diverted from landfills, scrap dealers and informal aggregators in Puducherry, Mathura, Tamil Nadu and their vicinities.

The waste was tracked on a digital waste-handling platform called Cetraces, one of WI’s three products to close the loop on plastic waste. The other two are Ctyloop, which covers waste collection and management, and Cynkro, which automates the final leg of the waste’s journey, including EPR compliance.