- In India, there are very few eWaste vendors, an unorganized sector with many functioning without a proper legal framework
- With Waste-to-Resource Venture 3R ZeroWaste’s Shiv Rao Chala is guiding industries towards a circular economy in India
- As a Project Management Consulting, 3R ZeroWaste evaluates and implements Industry 5.0 recycling solutions for building a smart and green industry
Waste contributes as one of the primary factors of pollutions and environmental degradation every year. A billion tonnes of waste in various forms are dumped for landfills, discharged in water bodies or burnt to add up to C02 emission. In cognizance of the catastrophic effects of such recklessness, talks on creating a Circular Economy – by using waste as a resource – have been no less. However, there has been a dearth of efforts on the blueprint part of the Circular Economy – partly due to lack of available technologies and partly due to slackening government policies.
In India, eco startups have come forward to take the onus and help the industries walk the extra mile to ensure Circular Economy is not a distant dream. Gurugram based 3R ZeroWaste is one such visionary venture by Shiv Rao Chala which works on facilitating a greener industry ecosystem and improving the environment by saving energy and carbon emissions through recycling. The company’s ardent mission is to set up an integrated recycling industry across the country.
India should look at Safety & Environment
Hailing from Kolkata, Shiv Rao did his schooling at St. Xavier’s College and moved to Hyderabad to pursue BTech in Computer Science. He graduated with a degree from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in 1999 and landed a job with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) as a trainee executive engineer.
“BHEL was my free MBA”, he reckons adding “I had a passion to work abroad.” His first job abroad was in Nigeria, a risky place to be because of its growing unrest and crime rates at that time. He adds, “After Nigeria, my career got into a roller coaster. I have worked in almost twelve countries including in Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Bechtel Corporation in the Philippines, SNC Lavalin in Australia, and lastly Kuwait Petroleum Corporation in Kuwait.”
Talking about his observations from his sojourn, he says there are differences in the mindset of industries in India and industries outside. While industries globally think about other aspects like life safety and security and spending money on them, Indian industries seem to avoid all those factors which need to be changed. “In India, we don’t have many people concerned with safety and an environmental factor which is one difference from the industries outside.”
Ignited by Better Half: Building Waste to Resource Ecosystem
Shiv Rao reflects, “The idea of 3R ZeroWaste came to me last year at the end of February when I was about to return from Kuwait. I was settled in Kuwait and had to return because of the pandemic. I was lucky enough to reach here right before the lockdown.” Shiv Rao says, “During the lockdown, I used my spare time to interact with people through LinkedIn and InterNations, the leading networks for ex-pats in various cities worldwide. I was networking to do something different and at that time my wife Jayashree Rao was working on a plastic recycling project. The project report made by Jayashree struck my mind, and inspired me to start 3R ZeroWaste.”
3R ZeroWaste is aimed at contributing to the Circular Economy, where the waste becomes the resource, and advance the cause of a greener environmental footprint. Explained the process he went through to build this startup, Shiv Rao says, “I was going through the processes of different recycling to find a clean job. We decided to buy the recycled plastic granules and made the end products out of them. At first, my initial thought was to reach every household and make a brand. As I move forward realised that the ratio of vendors for E-waste is less than plastic recycling vendors.”
According to Shiva Rao, in India eighty per cent of the E-waste vendors are working illegally and unethically; only twenty per cent of them are working following ethics and legal certification. This led Shiv Rao to start a company of E-waste recycling in an organized and formalized manner and setting up his own plant at Gurugram. The company is committed to UN Sustainable Development Goals SDG 2030.
Industry 5.0: New Dimension towards Waste Management
Shiv Rao met Michael Rada from Industry 5.0, through which the systemic prevention of waste can be achieved. “This is totally a new dimension”, comments Shiv Rao, The other company that Shiv Rao have formed is in the advocacy of waste management.
Regarding the implementation of Industry 5.0, Shiva Rao says, “We have a specific Industry 5.0 audit where we go into the plant where we fill a checklist based on parameters of customers. We check the factors of safety, environment, waste management, documentation, and management overview and we suggest Industry 5.0 implementation practice. Following the evaluation, we suggest the Industry 5.0 solutions. Based on the recommendation of clients can take us as a PMC, the project management consultant. We are working with two new clients in the hospitality industry and, in future, we will be able to have a pan India presence with our projects.”
Material Recovery Facility: Revolutionising Recycling in India
Large plastic manufacturers in India take care of almost seventy-five per cent of waste generated. “There are only 5-6 major plastic manufactures and others are surviving the pandemic setback while competing with others,” adds Shiv Rao. “Presently we stay connected with pan India network for creating awareness in the field of plastic recycling. I’m getting approached by businesses from Maharashtra, Assam, Kolkata to help with the recycling.”
Shiv Rao’s goal is to set up a material recovery facility which is going to be one of the top technologies in India. “We are going to use optical sensors which can be an innovative product. The food-grade recycling quality needs to be extraordinary and there are very limited companies that can match the standard, and we seek to be one of them,” he adds. Shiv Rao informs that once these innovative ideas and solutions fetch a good number of businesses, 3R ZeroWaste will get into full-fledged plastic recycling.
Bioleaching for PCB Recycling
3R ZeroWaste has its factory in Gurugram and is an electronic-based recycler. The company uses three types of electronic-based recycling process – dismantling, refurbishment, and recycling known as R1, R2, and R3. Shiv Rao says, “We have R1 and R2 facilities, R3 is where you recycle the most pollutant part of any electronic machine such as the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). PCB recycling in India is executed by only one plant in Ahmadabad; the rest of it is sent this to Belgium, Singapore, and Japan.”
“That particular plant for PCB recycling cost approximately 100 crores. They are working on process bioleaching which will take the cost down to 7 crores to 10crore and extract the rear earth metals from the PCBs.”
Regulatory Hurdles for Startups
Sharing his initial days experience with 3R ZeroWaste when the team was looking for land for the factory, he informs the idea was to buy land but after assuming all the problems that can come with the waste, they tried to have a place on lease from the government. He says, “I went to Visakhapatnam but the land there was expensive, then the policies were lousy and not supportive enough for a start-up. So, we took a place on lease from our friend in Gurugram.”
Reflecting on his teething challenges, he mentions that he had to face a lot of hurdles to set a start-up even for environmental development and regulatory policies make it even harder which can cause a back turn, especially for the young entrepreneurs. “I had to face challenges to get registered and documentation which was too much for anyone to want to start their own company.” He expresses his concern, “If the authorities don’t support enough, the young people with real innovations will not be able to succeed in their start-ups.”
