Banyan Nation: Recycling at scale

Mani Vajipey (left), CEO, and Raj Madangopal, who is COO of Banyan Nation. Image: Vikas Chandra Pureti for Forbes India

Multiple startups are applying innovation to address various aspects of sustainability and pollution, and creating new-age products with multiple use cases. Read about some key companies here.

In a nation where recycling activities are relegated to a fragmented informal sector, leading to mismanagement of valuable materials and creating enormous marine and terrestrial litter, Banyan Nation is one of India’s first vertically integrated plastic recycling companies. It uses its proprietary technology platform to integrate thousands of informal workers into its supply chain and produces premium-quality recycled polyolefin plastics (PE and PP) for mainstream and high-quality applications.

Banyan claims it is the only company that has its recycled polyolefin materials certified for use in everyday human contact packaging applications such as shampoo, lotion and detergent bottles. Its recycled plastics meet US and EU packaging and plastics safety standards. The raw materials are sourced from a 100 percent traceable supply chain. In the past 12 months, over 300 million FMCG bottles have been produced from Banyan’s recycled plastic. Among its clients are Hindustan Unilever, Reckitt, Shell and HPCL.

The company was winner for the World Economic Forum Global Technology Pioneers (2021), Circulars Award at the World Economic Forum (2018 Intel-DST Award Innovations for Digital India (2017), Millennium Alliance Grant (2016), and mBillionth Award (2015).

Its facility in Hyderabad proves that high-quality recycling is possible, at scale, and in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Its installed capacity is less than 1 percent of the forecast demand for recycled plastics in 2025. “We are scaling up our plastics washing technology to develop premium-quality recycled plastics in injection, blow and extrusion grade materials for applications across diverse industries,” says co-founder Mani Vajipey.

“Our goal is to achieve scale and profitability while staying true to our core mission of solving the menace of plastic pollution and creating lasting environmental and social impact,” adds Vajipey.

The company aims to have an installed capacity of 50,000 tonnes by 2024. The founders believe that collaborations with other startups, large corporations, policymakers, and customers can bring about a systemic and seismic shift in how Indians view plastics, and how the world views India—as a trailblazer in sustainability.