Circular Economy, EPR, Plastics Recycling and Recycled Products in India
A presentation by Aarti Latkar
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) approaches are often based on the assumption that materials can be perpetually circulated within a circular economy. The Indian Ministry for Environment and Climate Change first introduced EPR approaches for plastic waste management in 2016. EPR approaches have been regularly revised since and have recently been imposed as mandates. The most recent EPR mandate announced legally binding plastic packaging targets for plastic producers, importers, and consumer goods companies.
This presentation discusses ethnographic research conducted in two sites in India: an EPR-focused conference in Mumbai and a migrant workers’ settlement in Telangana. The study found that informal small scale plastic recyclers tend to be marginalized because of the ways ‘extended producer responsibility’, ‘circular economy’ and ‘recycling’ are framed in the policy and interpreted by industry.
Aarti's research raises questions about ‘what is valued’ within the framings of circular economy for plastics in local and other contexts including current global plastics treaty negotiations.
Aarti is a doctoral student supervised by Gauri Pathak in the School for Culture and Society at Aarhus University, currently a visiting scholar at Massey University. Aarti’s thesis explores materialities, socialities and politics of plastics in Indian towns using ethnographic methods. Aarti has previously worked on academic projects as a research associate in the domains of education and climate change in Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and Hyderabad.