SIAM, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board organise workshop on circular economy

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) collaborated with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to organise a 'Circularity Workshop' on 'Extended Producer Responsibility Regime: An Innovative Policy Tool for Fostering a Sustainable Circular Economy in the Automotive Industry.' The workshop was conducted on 8 April, under SIAM's Chakriyata initiative, which works on strategies for aste management, recycling, and other circularity principles.

The event aimed at leveraging Extended Producer Responsibility as a strategic mechanism towards achieving a circular economy in the automotive industry. 

Sanjay Mehta, President, Material Recycling Association of India, addressed on Imperatives of the EPR Regime in India, presented the recyclers' view while setting the context on "Imperatives of the EPR Regime in India”. He further stated that the RVSFs and OEMs in India need to work together to solve the key issues impacting the sector.

The first session of the workshop was on “EPR Regime in Used Oil & Plastic Waste Management. There were thematic presentations by industry experts. Shailendra Gokhale, Founder and Director of Rosefield Energy Tech Pvt Ltd, delved into the “Status, Challenges, Opportunities and Way forward” in this domain. Peeyush Dubey, General Manager at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, and Sohail Akhtar, Executive Director at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Shakti Mishra, Deputy General Manager at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, presented on “OMC perspective on Used Oil”, detailing the key steps being taken by OMCs in promoting the development of used oil recycling ecosystem.

The session further featured thematic presentations by Sumit Issar, Managing Director, Mahindra Accelo on “Technological Innovations in ELV Recycling and Resource Recovery at the level of RVSF”, and Prabhakar Tiwari, General Manager, Tata Motors on “Implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the Automobile: Challenges and Solutions at RVSF level”. Dr. Anuraddha Ganesh, Chief Technical Advisor, Cummins, presented on “Circular Economy Strategies: Aligning ELV Policies with Sustainable Practices”, wherein she talked about the importance of designing for recycling, the need for using recyclable materials, along with concept of remanufacturing of automotive parts, which can increase the useful life of parts, thus aiding resource conservation. The session also saw Dr Rashi Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics Private Ltd on presenting on “Battery Waste management”, wherein she highlighted the importance of battery recycling, given the increase in EV sales and battery usage of energy storage.

The third session of the workshop focused on “EPR Regime in Battery Waste and E-Waste”. Rujuta Bhalerao, Sub Regional Officer, MPCB, provided MPCB’s perspective on battery and e-waste management, along with detailing the recycling ecosystem in Maharashtra. 

Additionally, Vijay Prakash Yadav, Director at CPCB, shared his perspectives on “Implementation of Battery Waste Management rules and Trading Mechanism of EPR Certificates at CPCB Portal”. The last session further featured thematic presentations by Prabhakar Tiwari, General Manager, Tata Motors who talked about “Battery waste management rule” and M S Anandkumar, Chairman, SIAM Recycling and Material Group and Senior General Manager, TVS Motor Company, who presented his view on the EPR regime, key challenges and how it can help drive circularity.