Mapping local plastic recycling supply chains: insights from selected cities in India
In partnership with Anthesis Group, The Circulate Initiative conducted a detailed assessment of wastesheds in India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. This report provides a summary of the key findings for each of the wastesheds covered in this study, including aspects of the plastics recycling supply chains where improvements can be made. Across the reviewed wastesheds, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, there is a well-established informal plastic waste recycling system, which enables considerable amounts of plastic recycling to be carried out via a network of entrepreneurial relationships and micro-businesses. Plastic waste that gets collected by Kurawalas or Kude-uthane walas (waste pickers) or Raddiwallas (itinerant buyers) goes through multiple levels of aggregation through aggregators, scrap dealers, and agents/ brokers before reaching recyclers where there are over 7,500 registered and unregistered recyclers across India.
