A circular economy is a sustainable, regenerative system designed to eliminate waste by keeping products in use for as long as possible,” said Mika Sulkinoja, coordinator, World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), while talking to Business India. Sulkinoja was commenting on India’s role as the host of the WCEF in September this year. Finland had hosted the WCEF in 2017. Only 6.9 per cent of the world is circular at present; so, there is a lot of scope for work to be done on this front.
This year, the WCEF will be co-hosted by the Central Pollution Control Board of India and Sitra, a Finnish Innovation Fund. Though a formal announcement of the venue hasn’t been made yet, sources say it would be held in Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, around September. More than 100 countries are expected to take part in this forum.
The forum will showcase circular solutions that focus on transforming manufacturing sustainability to shift from recycling to upstream product design. “We are optimistic that the world’s best practices will be shared to create industrial efficiency and job creation potential,” added Sulkinoja. “The world could also learn from India, as there are many inherent traditional practices in India which are circular”.
Indians are traditionally used to repairing things (consumer durables like clothes, shoes, vehicles, etc) rather than replacing them. That would be encouraged during the forum. India’s role as a global manufacturing powerhouse makes its circular transition significant for the global value chain. It’s estimated that adopting circular models could yield $4.5 trillion global economic benefits by 2030, with India’s circular market potential touching $2 trillion and creating 10 million jobs by 2050.
Sustainability initiatives
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative called Mission Life encourages sustainability initiatives,” Sulkinoja remarked. There is also the need to transform to clean energy, said Sari Multala, minister for climate & environment, Finland, especially in the context of the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which has led to shortages of fossil fuel and price rise.
“Conflicts in the world underline the need for transformation to clean energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports,” Multala affirmed. “Nearly 95 per cent of electricity produced in Finland is fossil-free, which includes a mix of nuclear, wind and hydropower sources. Usage of coal has dropped by 50 per cent year on year and is nearly eliminated from the national energy mix.”
Multala had visited India earlier in March along with the delegation of Finnish President Alexander Stubb. “While there is a need to move to cleaner options, there is also an urgent need to reuse and recycle products to save the environment, as it would reduce the carbon footprint,” Multala explained. “There is a need to promote circular economy – which is based on the reuse and regeneration of materials or products, especially as a means of continuing production in a sustainable way, which is environment-friendly.”
Meanwhile, Finland has been conducting a series of roadshows across Indian cities to advocate for circular economy principles. Finland-India dialogue, held in Kolkata earlier this February as an official WCEF side event, discussed topics like excellence in trade and global competitiveness.