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National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019
(Draft)

- Charting a Resource Efficient Future for

Sustainable Development

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Government of India
 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

CONTENTS
Statement of Purpose
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations

National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019

1. Introduction …………………………………………………….……………………………….……………… 01
2. Vision ……………………………………………………..………………………………..……………………… 06
3. Scope …………………………………………………..…………………………..……………………..…….. 07
4. Priority Resources, Materials, Sectors, Indicators and Targets ………………….….… 09
5. Institutional Set-up ………………………………………..………………………………………………… 10
6. Policy Instruments ………………………………………….……………………………………………….. 13
7. Action Plans ………………………………….……………………………………………………….………… 19
8. Monitoring Progress …………………………………………………………..……………………………. 19
Action Plan (2019 - 2022)

Annexures
A. Chronology of National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019
B. Sectoral Resource Efficiency Strategies
References
National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)
 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

2 Statement of Purpose
3 Natural resources form the backbone of any economic development. Resources not only
4 help in meeting our basic needs, but also fulfill human aspirations for a better quality of life,
5 higher standards of living. The recent upsurge in economic growth and consumerism has
6 driven demand for various natural resources, thus exerting pressures on the environment
7 and raising sustainability concerns. Enhancing resource efficiency and promoting the use of
8 secondary raw materials has emerged as a strategy for ensuring that the potential trade-off
9 between growth and environmental well-being can be minimized. An overarching policy
10 framework is required in order to enable efficient use of resources and upcycling of wastes
11 across all sectors of the economy.
12 To this end, the National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP), 2019 seeks to create a
13 facilitative and regulatory environment to mainstream resource efficiency across all sectors
14 by fostering cross-sectoral collaborations, development of policy instruments, action plans
15 and efficient implementation and monitoring frameworks. NREP, 2019 is guided by the
16 principles of (i) reduction in primary resource consumption to ‘sustainable’ levels, in keeping
17 with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and staying within the planetary
18 boundaries, (ii) creation of higher value with less material through resource efficient and
19 circular approaches, (iii) waste minimization, (iv) material security, and (v) creation of
20 employment opportunities and business models beneficial to the cause of environment
21 protection and restoration.
22 NREP, 2019, creates a dedicated institution for fostering resource efficiency as ‘National
23 Resource Efficiency Authority (NREA)’ that draws its power from Environment (Protection)
24 Act, 1986, to provide for the regulatory provisions of this policy. NREA will have a
25 collaborative institutional structure with members from line ministries, state governments,
26 government agencies and stakeholders. An inter-ministerial National Resource Efficiency
27 Board (NREAB) will provide necessary guidance on the aspects critical to the
28 implementation of resource efficiency across all sectors. The process of developing and
29 implementing resource efficiency strategies will inherently be carried out by concerned line
30 ministries and state governments with NREA providing collaborative set-up as well as
31 coordinating actions among ministries and state governments
32 NREP, 2019 aims to implement resource efficiency across all resources including both biotic
33 and abiotic resources, sectors and life cycle stages. The policy draws inputs from available
34 sectoral studies and initiates sections on selected sectors for early take-up. With formal
35 establishment of NREA and expected participation of line ministries to grow, more resources
36 including biotic resources will also be covered.
37 These rules are viewed as first step for mainstreaming resource efficiency in the country and
38 provide for review after 10 years, following which a restructuring could be carried out
39 including that of the institutional mechanism, if needed.
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43 List of Illustrations
44
Figure 3.1. Life Cycle Stages………………………………………………………………………………………… 08
Figure 6.1. Policy instruments for implementing resource efficiency at different life
cycle stages……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14

BOX 1. Need for Action…………………………………………………………………………………………. 02

BOX 2. Resource Efficiency is central to Sustainable Development Goals……………. 03
BOX 3. Definitions…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 04
BOX 4. Costs and Benefits of Resource Efficiency…………………………………………………. 06
BOX 5. Case examples of policy instruments………………………………………………………… 15
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63 List of Abbreviations
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BT Billion Tonnes
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C&D Construction and Demolition
66
CE Circular Economy
67
DALY Disability Adjusted Life Year
68
EAF Electric Arc Furnace
69
70 ECI Environmental Cost Indicator
71 EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment
72 EPR Extended Producer Responsibility
73 EU-REI European Union - Resource Efficiency Initiative
74 GDP Gross Domestic Product
75 IGEP Indo-German Export Promotion
76 InRP India Resource Panel
77 IRP International Resource Panel
78 LCA Life Cycle Assessment
79 MEAT Most Economically Advantageous Tender
80 Mha Million hectare
81 MOEF&CC Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
82
MRF Material Recovery Facilities
83
MRZ Material Recycling Zone
84
NREA National Resource Efficiency Authority
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NREAB National Resource Efficiency Advisory Board
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OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
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88 PET polyethylene terephthalate
89 PPP Public Private Partnership
90 PRO Producer Responsibility Organization
PV Photo Voltaic
91
R&D Research and Development
92
RE Resource Efficiency
SCP Sustainable Public Procurement
93
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
94 SRM Secondary Raw Material
TERI The Energy and Resources Institute
95 USD United States Dollar
VGF Viability Gap Funding
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124 1. Introduction
125 Use of natural resources and materials form the backbone of global economies and in turn
126 of human development and well-being. Driven by rapid economic and population growth,
127 the demand for natural resources, especially materials have grown manifold over the last
128 few decades. In the endeavor for economic growth, natural resources have been largely
129 indiscriminately exploited, adversely impacting the environment and biodiversity. Further,
130 cross linkages between resource use, climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss
131 has been scientifically well established. Concerns over rapidly depleting vital resources and
132 adverse impacts on natural environment have lately gained greater prominence, resulting in
133 increasing focus on judicious use of resources globally through combination of conservation
134 and efficiency measures and advocating transition towards circular economy.

135 India, as one of the fastest growing economies with GDP at 2.6 trillion USD, has increased its
136 material consumption to six times, from 1.18 billion tonnes in 1970 to 7 billion tonnes in
137 2015, however this economic growth has been coupled with inherent cost on natural
138 environment. The material consumption is projected to more than double by 2030, in order
139 to provide for increasing population, rapid urbanization and growing aspirations. The
140 projected pace of economic development is going to put pressure on already stressed and
141 limited resources and may lead to serious resource depletion and environment degradation
142 affecting the economy, livelihoods and the quality of life. Further, material use is also closely
143 associated with the problem of increasing wastes, which when suitably processed could
144 deliver valuable secondary resources. (BOX B1. Need for Action).
145
146 India as a signatory to UN Sustainable Development Goals is committed to provide for
147 sustained economic growth along with sustainable use of natural resources and
148 safeguarding environment (BOX B2. Resource Efficiency is central to Sustainable
149 Development Goals). Resource efficiency has a vital role towards mitigation of climate
150 change, land degradation and biodiversity loss. It is thus, imperative for India to charter and
151 take the path of economic development supported with efficient use of resources and
152 minimum negative impacts on environment, ultimately leading to sustainable development.

153 Resource efficiency means to create more output as products/services using less inputs. It
154 reduces waste, drives greater resource productivity, delivers a more competitive economy,
155 addresses emerging resource security/scarcity issues, and helps reduce the associated
156 environmental impacts. Circular economy keeps resources in use for as long as possible
157 extracting the maximum value, recovering and regenerating products and materials at the
158 end of each service life; so as to limit the extraction of natural resources to maximum
159 possible extent (BOX B3. Definitions).

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160 Resource efficiency offers benefits on multi-dimensional aspects of economic, social and
161 environmental well-being. Cost savings from reduced material use, resource security,
162 reduced conflict and displacement eg. from mining, employment opportunities in green jobs,
163 reduced greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and ecological degradation among other
164 benefits drive the cause of resource efficiency. (BOX B4. Costs and Benefits of Resource
165 Efficiency)

BOX B1. Need for Action

Economic growth and development in India over the last two decades has brought decline in
poverty rates, increased urbanization and has put tremendous demand for various goods and
services. India is likely to be the largest populated country in the world in a decade, with
urbanization expected to rise to 50% from its current level of 34% by 2030. Meeting the demand
for products and services, of rising population with increased aspirations has led to mostly
indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources and would further lead to increased pressure on
resources resulting in environmental degradation, thereby raising sustainability concerns.
Current Status
 Resource extraction of 1580 tonnes/acre is much higher than the world average of 450
tonnes/acre
 3rd largest material demand (year 2010)
 Low material productivity compared to global average
 Much lower recycling rate at 20-25% vis-à-vis of as high as 70% in developed countries (Europe).
 3rd highest CO2 emitter, responsible for 6.9% of global CO2 emissions.
 Highest water withdrawal globally for agriculture.
 30% of land undergoing degradation.
 High import dependency of many critical raw materials.
Material Demand (Source: NITI Aayog, 2017)
In scenario with continuing current
dynamics (8% growth in GDP p.a. until
2030, thereafter 5%), total material
consumption in 2030 is projected to be
14.2 BT (billion tonnes) consisting of
about 2.7 BT of biomass, 6.5 BT of
minerals, 4.2 BT of fossil fuels and 0.8 BT
of metals. This means tripling of demand
for primary materials compared to 2010,
particularly the demand for energy Figure B1.1. India’s past material demand and future
carriers, metals and non-metal minerals. projections until 2050 (IGEP, 2013 In NITI Aayog, 2017)

 Self-sufficiency in mineral raw materials for thermal power generation, iron and steel, ferro-
alloys, aluminium, cement and different kinds of refractories.
 Highly import dependent for certain critical materials as Molybdenum (100%), Nickel (100%),
Cobalt (100%), Copper (95%), Oil (70%) etc.

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Environmental Impact of Material Extraction (Source: OECD, 2018)

Life-cycle environmental impacts quantified for global extraction and production of specific
materials show a wide range of environmental consequences linked to materials use, including
significant impacts on acidification, climate change, cumulative energy demand, eutrophication,
human toxicity, land use, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidation, and aquatic and
terrestrial eco-toxicity. Regional differences can, however, be large. These impacts are projected
to more than double and in some case even quadruple by 2060.

Figure B1.2. Global environmental impacts of materials

Current Policy Landscape:

Multiple policies addressing the issue of resources are in place however, they are all isolated
interventions and fail to capture the opportunities of resource efficiency across all the stages of
the life cycle. Life cycle thinking towards addressing the larger cause of resource efficiency
needed to minimize trade-offs between economic growth and environmental well-being.
Collaborative institutional structure is needed to be formed and strengthened to take forward the
resource efficiency agenda leading to sustainable development.

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BOX B2. Resource Efficiency is central to Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals or
SDGs. While attainment of all the SDGs requires to a large extent the sustainable management
and use of Earth’s natural resource base, no fewer than 12 of the goals (Figure B2.1) refer
directly to resources and the environment as fundamental to their achievement (IRP, 2017).
SDG Goal 12 - Sustainable Consumption and Production predominantly rely on the principle of
resource efficiency.

Figure B2.1. SDGs directly linked with Resource Efficiency

Few of the linkages with SDGs targets are stated below:

 Goal 2 (End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture):
2.4. By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural
practices that increase productivity and production …
 Goal 6 (Availability and sustainable management of water):
6.3. By 2030, improve water quality ... halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and
substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally;
6.4. By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure
sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity...

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 Goal 7 (Access to affordable, reliable and secure energy):

7.3. By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
 Goal 9 (Build resilient infrastructure):
9.4. By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable …
 Goal 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable):
11.1. By 2030, ensure access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services …;
11.2. By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems..;
11.6. By 2030, reduce adverse per capita environmental impact ... special attention to ...
municipal and other waste management
 SDG Goal 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns):
12.1. Implement the 10 YFP on Sustainable Consumption and Production patterns …;
12.2. By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources;
12.3. By 2030, halve per capital global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce
food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses;
12.4. By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes
throughout their life cycle … significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil … minimize
their adverse impacts…;
12.5. By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling
and reuse;
12.6. Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable
practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle;
12.7. Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable …;

167

BOX B3. Definitions

Natural resources
Natural resources are materials or components found within the environment, that may be
transformed to produce benefits as increased wealth or enhanced well-being, and in the process
may be consumed. On the basis of origin, resources may be categorized into abiotic and biotic
resources. Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere (living and organic material) eg.
forests and animals, and the materials that can be obtained from them. Abiotic resources are
those that come from non-living, non-organic material including land, fresh water, air, rare earth
metals and heavy metals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc.
Secondary Raw Materials (SRM) are recycled materials that can be used in manufacturing
processes instead of or along with virgin raw materials.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
Life Cycle Analysis is a holistic and systematic assessment of environmental impacts associated
with all the stages of a product’s life from raw material extraction, material processing, product
manufacturing, use and maintenance, disposal or recycling.

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Resource Efficiency (RE) and Resource Productivity

Resource efficiency (RE) implies judicious use of earth’s limited resources to achieve maximum
benefit for sustained human well-being while minimizing the adverse impacts on environment. It
is the ratio between a given benefit or result and the natural resources use required for it. While
the term ‘resource efficiency’ is predominantly used in business, product or material context;
term ‘resource productivity’ is used in context of regional or national economy. Resource
efficiency reduces waste, drives greater resource productivity, delivers a more competitive
economy, addresses emerging resource security/scarcity issues, and helps reduce the
environmental impacts associated with both production and consumption.
Circular Economy (CE)
Circular economy (CE) is an alternative to the traditional linear economy in which resources are
kept in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value, recovering and regenerating
products and materials at the end of each service life.
6Rs Principles
6Rs Principle is key to drive resource efficiency and refers to reduce, reuse, recycle, refurbish,
redesign and remanufacture. Reduce means to require less use of material, reuse is the use of
goods or items again by different set of consumers or by re-purposing them for a different use,
recycle means transformation of the good into raw material that can be reshaped into a new
item, refurbish means restoration of a used product for its intended use by performing minor
alterations, redesign means to rethink the design of a product to minimize use of materials,
facilitate recyclability and reduce environmental impacts, and remanufacture means rebuilding a
product to specifications of the original product using reused, repaired and new parts

Figure B3.1. Life Cycle approach using 6Rs principle (Source: www.spcadvance.com In InRP, 2017)

Each life cycle stage associated with any product or system is intended to be made maximum
possible resource efficient using one or more of the 6Rs principles as relevant to that stage, bringing
a circular economy approach, so as to minimize the resource use and adverse environmental
impacts through the whole life cycle.

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BOX B4. Costs and Benefits of Resource Efficiency

Resource efficiency brings about multiple benefits along the three dimensions of sustainable
development - economic, social and environmental. It has enormous potential for cost savings
from reduced material use, reduction in social conflicts due to mining, increased job
opportunities, reduction in climate change and environmental degradation

Figure B4.1. Benefits of resource efficiency to India (NITI Aayog, 2017; TERI, 2019)

Cost of Resource Efficiency Policy

The multi-dimensional benefits of the resource efficiency will drive the agenda of resource
efficiency. Cost savings from the reduced material use and regulatory instruments as polluters-
pays-principle, precautionary principle, differential pricing of virgin raw materials, landfill
taxes/ban etc. will provide economic impetus to resource efficiency. Consistent, well-defined and
efficient pro-resource efficiency and environmental regulations together with the existent
support system for SMEs will enhance development of innovative business models to further the
cause of resource efficiency.

171

172 2. Vision
173 The National Resource Efficiency Policy envisions a future with environmentally sustainable
174 and equitable economic growth, resource security, healthy environment (air, water and
175 land), and restored ecosystems with rich ecology and biodiversity.
176 The guiding principles of the policy are set as:
177  Reduce primary resource consumption to ‘sustainable’ levels, in keeping with achieving
178 the Sustainable Development Goals and staying within the planetary boundaries
179  Create higher value with less material through resource efficient and circular
180 approaches
181  Minimize waste creation and loss of embedded resources at the end-of-life of products
182

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183  Ensure security of material supply and reduce import dependence for essential
184 materials
185  Create employment opportunities and business models beneficial to the cause of
186 environment protection and restoration
187

188 3. Scope
189 Scope of the National Resource Efficiency Policy encompasses resources and materials used
190 across all life cycle stages of any sector. Resources can be broadly defined to include both
191 biotic and abiotic resources as well as ecosystem services that include air, water, forest,
192 land, metals, minerals, fossil fuels, biomass etc. The National Resource Efficiency Policy
193 covers these resources (biotic and abiotic) across all the life cycle stages including raw
194 material extraction, material processing, production, use, disposal and end-of-life
195 management of any product or system.
196 3.1. Resources and materials
197 3.1.1. Water: India has around 4% of world’s fresh water, out of which 80% is used in
198 agriculture. Only 48% of average annual precipitation (4,000 billion cubic meters) is
199 absorbed in surface and groundwater bodies. Ground water is a source of irrigation to 65%
200 of the total agriculture area and contributes to about 85% drinking water supply in rural
201 areas and more than 60% of the urban water needs. With dwindling surface water sources,
202 intensive and unregulated extraction of ground water for agriculture and drinking and
203 inefficient water use management, water resources are already acutely stressed in many
204 regions, jeopardizing our progress towards achieving many of the sustainable development
205 goals.
206 3.1.2. Land and Soil: India supports 18% of the world's human population and 15% of the
207 world's livestock population, but has only 2.4% of the world's land area. Soil degradation in
208 India is estimated to be occurring on 147 million hectares (Mha) of land (out of total land
209 area of 329 Mha). For year 2014-15, economic losses from land degradation and change of
210 area of land use stood at 2.54% of India’s GDP, with land degradation alone accounting for
211 82% of the cost.
212 3.1.3. Air: Deteriorating air quality in India is emerging as a major threat to human health in
213 particularly in urban areas. Air pollution has been found to contribute significantly to India’s
214 burden of cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and lower respiratory
215 infections. Outdoor air pollution caused 6.4% of India’s total Disability Adjusted Life Years
216 (DALYs) in 2016, while DALY estimated from household air pollution was 4.8%, and lead to
217 over 2,750 cases of deaths or severe illnesses per lakh people in 2016.
218 3.1.4. Fossil fuels: India imports more than 80% of the oil that is processed in the economy
219 and about 85% of its coking coal demand. Their consumption is projected to increase to 4.2
220 billion tonnes in 2030 as per current trends, meaning that India would have to import about
221 2/3rd of internationally traded fossil fuels.

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222 3.1.5. Non-metallic Minerals: Extraction of non-metallic minerals, predominantly used for
223 construction has notably grown. In 2010, such minerals constituted 38% of the total
224 material consumption of 5 billion tonnes, and the same is projected to rise to 6.5 billion
225 tonnes in 2030 in a continuing current trends scenario. Mining for extraction of these
226 resources and wastes in the value chain put socio-environmental challenges along with
227 possible increased costs for imports.
228 3.1.6. Metals: Demand for metals is projected to be 0.8 billion tonnes in 2030 for continuing
229 current trends. Import dependency is nearly 100% for majority of the ‘most critical’
230 materials such as cobalt, molybdenum, copper, chromium, nickel, lithium, rare earths that
231 find extensive application in high-end technology industry. Coupled with challenges with
232 extraction, processing wastes and end-of-life product wastes may pose severe import
233 dependency constraint.
234 3.1.7. Biomass: Biomass is a unique renewable resource and finds applications as source of
235 food and feed, fuel, industrial raw material, and also has numerous ecological functions
236 such as habitat and carbon reservoir. Though India has decades of experience in managing
237 biomass however considerable inefficiencies remain that lead to wastages in the supply
238 chain.
239 3.2. Life Cycle Stages
240 Life cycle of any product covers all stages including raw material extraction, material
241 processing, production, use and maintenance, disposal and end-of-life management. There
242 are multiple interlinked economic-social-environmental concerns at each life cycle stage.
243 Figure 3.1 illustrates few of the environmental concerns associated with each life cycle
244 stage, and requires multi-pronged approach to minimise. The policy aims to minimize
245 resource use, minimize adverse environmental impacts, prevent trade-offs and problem
246 shifting at all life cycle stages by adopting the concepts of resource efficiency and circular
247 economy viz. reduce, reuse, recycle, refurbish, redesign and remanufacture.

248
249 Figure 3.1. Life cycle stages
250
251
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254 4. Priority Resources, Materials, Sectors, Indicators and Targets

255 4.1. Priority resources, materials and sectors
256 The policy aims to cover all resources (biotic and abiotic), environmental aspects and all
257 sectors across all life cycle stages, necessary for sustainable development. These will include
258 resources and materials (both biotic and abiotic), dependent sectors, waste (or secondary
259 resources) generated from these sectors, few of which are categorized as under (non-
260 exhaustive list):

261  Resources and materials: Metals, non-metallic minerals, air, water, land, biomass, fossil
262 fuels
263  Sectors: Construction, transport, plastic, packaging, electrical and electronic equipment,
264 agriculture, metal industry (steel, aluminium etc.), textile, renewable energy (solar,
265 wind etc.), food
266  Wastes: Municipal solid waste, plastic packaging, waste electrical and electronic
267 equipments, industrial waste
268 4.2. Indicators
269 The progress on resource efficiency will be tracked on the set of indicators that will include
270 the established indicators, sector specific indicators, recovery and recycling indicators.
271 Set of established indicators will include:
272  Resource Productivity - ratio of monetary output to resource input
273  Domestic Material Consumption - total amount of materials consumed by the economy
274  Domestic Material Extraction - input from natural environment to be used in the
275 economy
276  Direct Material Input - direct input of materials for use in economy
277 Sector specific indicators will include amount of resources/primary materials/secondary raw
278 material used and environmental emissions/stressors relevant to the sector
279 Resources covered in these metrics will include metals, non-metallic minerals, fossil fuels,
280 biomass, water, land, energy
281 Waste recycling related indicators eg. secondary raw materials recovered, recovery rate,
282 waste to landfill etc. will also be tracked.
283 The National Resource Efficiency Authority (NREA, proposed in this policy) will specify
284 details (eg. resource type, imports) for established indicators and design sector specific
285 indicators (eg. specific resource/primary material/secondary material use, waste to
286 water/air/soil, waste recycling efficiency) and recycling related indicators in consultation
287 with the concerned stakeholders. The indicators so defined will be made a part of the
288 progress monitoring framework.
289

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291 4.3. Targets

292 The targets will complement the sustainable development goals (at minimum) till 2030 and
293 will include targets on environment restoration along with the resource efficiency targets for
294 period beyond 2030. Resource efficiency targets will be developed for each specific sector
295 (and region) by the concerned Ministries (and state governments) in consultation with
296 stakeholders.

297

298 5. Institutional Set-up

299 Institutional set up for design and implementation of the National Resource Efficiency Policy
300 comprises of multiple stakeholders that will work together on developing policies and
301 regulations. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change through a dedicated
302 in-house body - National Resource Efficiency Authority - will in coordination with the
303 ministries, state/union territory governments and other stakeholders develop plans,
304 compile information, review progress and undertake tasks for capacity building and others,
305 to forward the agenda of resource efficiency. State governments, industry organizations,
306 scientific experts, civil society organizations, education and research organizations and
307 government funding agencies will form an integral feedback and implementation group.
308 5.1. National Resource Efficiency Authority (NREA)
309 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the apex administrative body in the
310 country for regulating and ensuring environmental protection and develops the legal and
311 regulatory framework for the same. National Resource Efficiency Authority (NREA)
312 constituted under the provisions of Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
313 will be mandated to drive the agenda of resource efficiency across the country.
314 NREA will have a collaborative structure with a core working group housed in the Ministry of
315 Environment, Forest and Climate Change and a members group with representations from
316 different ministries, state/union territory governments, government agencies and other
317 stakeholders. An inter-ministerial National Resource Efficiency Advisory Board (NREAB) will
318 provide necessary guidance on the aspects critical to the implementation of resource
319 efficiency across all sectors.
320 NREA will oversee, administer and review implementation of the National Resource
321 Efficiency Policy. NREA will act as a facilitator for cross-sectoral collaborations, regulator for
322 resource efficiency, will be a repository of resource efficiency related data, undertake
323 capacity building of stakeholders, prepare action plan and progress report. Authority for
324 development and implementation of sector and region specific resource efficiency
325 strategies will lie with the concerned ministries and state/union territory governments.
326 5.1.1. Key functions of NREA
327  Mainstream holistic and integrated approach to identify and integrate resource
328 efficiency concerns in relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral policies, develop synergies

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329 among regulators and identify emerging areas for legislation, through review and
330 consultation.
331  Develop action plans with defined time frames, for NREA functions and different
332 sectors in consultation with the stakeholders
333  Establish resource efficiency targets in consultation with the concerning government
334 agencies and stakeholders for material recycling, reuse and landfilling targets for
335 various sectors.
336  Set standards and guidelines for reuse of secondary raw materials to address concerns
337 regarding material quality, for product design to make products more durable, make
338 use of secondary materials, and easy to repair and/or recycle.
339  Create and maintain database of material use and waste generated, recycled and
340 landfilled, across various sectors and life cycle stages and across different regions
341 (states/zones). To this purpose NREA will design database templates which will be fed in
342 by concerned government agencies.
343  Measure progress on identified resource efficiency indicators by compiling the
344 inventorized database and use them to establish targets.
345  Establish audit mechanisms with deterrent penal provisions regulated by law, which
346 will be undertaken by the concerning government agencies.
347  Support collaborations between different stakeholders including government,
348 communities, research institutions and industry associations and also facilitate
349 dialogues with relevant government and foreign agencies on experience sharing,
350 knowledge transfer and governance models for achieving resource efficiency.
351  Provide training and capacity building to key actors responsible for undertaking or
352 overseeing resource efficiency plans and strategies.
353 5.2. Shared responsibility of Stakeholders
354 To achieve Resource Efficiency and foster the transition to circular economy, it is important
355 to have influence, participation and collective action of all major stakeholders including
356 industry, policy makers, government agencies, academic, civil society organizations
357 including non-profit institutions, think tanks and business groups, consumers, and
358 technology developers.

359 5.2.1 Role of Government

360  Set-up in house resource efficiency institution (resource efficiency cell) in their
361 ministry/region to work and coordinate the tasks on resource efficiency in their
362 concerned sector/region
363  Develop resource efficiency strategies for their concerned sector/ region in consultation
364 with stakeholders
365  Implement the resource efficiency strategies, for their concerned sector/region
366  Develop and implement policy instruments and enabling regulatory frameworks for
367 resource efficiency in their concerned sector and/or region.
368  Facilitate data compilation on resource efficiency relevant datasets for their concerned
369 sector/region
370  Facilitate setting-up of infrastructure for recovery and recycling eg. setting-up of
371 Material Recycling Zones (MRZs) that co-locate recyclers and end use producers with
372 common facilities and shared infrastructure.

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

373  Facilitate industrial symbiosis through setting up of industrial parks and clusters that
374 enable the utilization of the waste of one sector or industry as secondary raw material
375 in another
376  Develop quality standards and certification schemes for secondary raw materials to
377 increase the confidence of potential users of the materials
378  Set up/accredit testing and research laboratories to assess quality of secondary raw
379 materials
380  Institutionalize product labelling requirements that include relevant information about
381 product with information on its safe usage and disposal
382  Implement green public procurement that includes procurement of products
383 manufactured from recycled scrap materials, use of recycled materials etc.
384  Implement waste segregation at sources in all its offices, residential areas and other
385 establishments
386  Incentivise production and consumption of resource efficient products through
387 appropriate fiscal incentives in order to correct for market failures
388  Establishment of audit mechanisms and regular inspections regulated by law and
389 imposition of deterrent fines
390  Facilitate access to finance for technology and process improvement
391  Create a Research & Development Fund to acquire technology for resource efficient
392 design, production and management of waste
393  Provide platform for exchange of best practices, research and industry collaboration
394 and peer to peer learning for designing innovative solutions

395 5.2.2. Role of Manufacturers and service providers

396  Integrate design for recovery and recyclability in the product design, improving design
397 of products to be reusable, repairable and recyclable with recyclable and optimised
398 packaging
399  Use less (and eventually no) virgin material and more recycled or renewable materials
400  Formulate and implement end-of-life management policy as applicable to their industry
401  Minimise resource usage and waste generation at each stage, through more responsible
402 and efficient production processes and technology use
403  Set up local branches to provide repair, upgrade, refurbishment and maintenance
404 services through their licensed stores or by local actors in the informal sector
405  Implement Extended Producer Responsibility for management of end-of-life products
406  Collaborate with authorized recycling companies or with Producer Responsibility
407 Organizations (PROs) for end of life management of their products
408  Provide training to its employees. For example, those in operations need education in
409 dematerialization and remanufacturing, while those in design need to be trained in eco-
410 design, recyclability, and practices that extend product lifetimes
411  Provide consumers with information on product use, management of broken and
412 unwanted products, with emphasis on options for reuse, return through take-back
413 programs, and recycling ahead of disposal and destruction
414  Label product parts to facilitate disassembly for source-separated material recovery

415

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

416 5.2.3. Role of Consumers

417  Create demand for resource efficient products and services
418  Engage in shared use of products (for example car-sharing, outcome oriented services)
419  Engage in environmentally safe disposal of their end of life products
420  Assume personal responsibility for responsible consumption

421 5.2.4. Role of Civil Society Organizations

422  Undertake awareness generation activities informing benefits of resource efficiency
423  Building awareness and advocating use of secondary material use
424  Push for long terms targets on aspects such as recycling, landfilling of waste etc.
425  Design and initiate innovative mechanisms to bring behavioural change in consumption
426  Educate the informal sector managing waste about occupational and safety hazards,
427 pushing for their integration with the formal sector

428 5.2.5. Role of Recyclers

429  Maintain required statutory norms and standards for occupational Health, Safety and
430 Environment at premises
431  Engage in training, skill development and research and development for efficient
432 recycling
433  Provide opportunities to the informal sector to become part of their formal set-ups and
434 build on their practices and experience

435 5.2.6. Role of Academia

436  Introduce practices of waste sorting, waste collection, recycling, concept of ‘Circular
437 Economy’ and ‘Resource Efficiency’ in school and college/university curriculum
438  Undertake research on resource flows, life cycle analysis, secondary materials and
439 provide capacity building and technical support for setting up MSMEs/start-ups in the
440 waste sector
441  Introduce short training courses on different aspects of resource efficiency such as
442 resource efficient designs, recycling and waste reduction in all public administration,
443 health, engineering, training and education programs
444  Engage in multi-disciplinary research and development, establishment and testing of
445 developed frameworks and tools to address the implementation and challenges of
446 resource efficiency
447

448 6. Policy instruments

449 To improve material resource efficiency and promote circular economy, it is necessary to
450 handle all the drivers viz. regulatory instruments, market based incentives and disincentives,
451 public procurement, capacity building of stakeholders, awareness raising and information
452 sharing, and to involve all stakeholders, such as businesses, consumers, communities,
453 scientists and academics. A mix of instruments is able to address the multiple resource
454 domains and contains interacting instruments targeting multiple actors, levels of

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

455 governance and sectors and life-cycle stages of resource use. (BOX B5. Case examples of
456 policy instruments)

457 6.1. Addressing regulatory gaps

458 A coherent and future-ready regulatory framework that integrates resource efficiency and
459 circular economy across life cycle stages needs to be developed across various life cycle
460 stages with adequate focus on efficient extraction of resources, fostering design for
461 resource Efficiency and circularity, enhancing implementation of waste management laws
462 and ensuring product recycling across sectors and for different materials.
463

464
465 Figure 6.1. Policy instruments for implementing resource efficiency at different life cycle stages

466 Guidelines for best available technology and processes addressing each life cycle stage is
467 needed to achieve the potential of resource efficiency. Quality standards for use of
468 secondary materials should be prioritised, followed by more complex standards targeting
469 resource efficiency in the design phase (design for recycling) gradually over time. With
470 mandatory eco-design standards producers will be encouraged to develop products that do
471 not inhibit the reuse and repair of whole products or their components and generate
472 relevant resource saving potentials. Transparency about the materials used, especially in

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

473 the case of complex durable goods (such as electronic appliances and devices), is necessary
474 to facilitate methodical deconstruction of products to enhance material recycling
475 opportunities. The amount of recycled content in these goods should also be public
476 information. Certificates to recognise remanufactured products as comparable or

BOX B5. Case examples of policy instruments

Tax on natural gravel

Sweden, introduced a tax on natural gravel with an objective to promote the use of crushed rock
and recycled materials, such as concrete, and thereby address the shortage/limited supply of
natural gravel in parts of the country. The tax encouraged substitution of natural gravel with
other materials. Between 1996 and 2010 the same was doubled primarily to increase the
incentive effects.
Landfill tax
Landfill taxes are successful in mitigating the environmental impacts related to waste disposal,
such as contamination of groundwater or soil, methane emissions from decaying organic waste,
odour etc. Thus, landfill tax provides incentives for alternative and more sustainable ways of
waste disposal. Several countries have ‘landfill ban’ that indicates how much of a certain types of
waste may be landfilled. Revenue from landfill tax may be used for waste management, cleaning
up of contaminated sites or other environmental measures.
UK demonstrated a continuously increasing tax level, whereby landfill tax has been increased by
£8 per tonne to £80. This has led to closure of landfill sites, thus reducing the number of such
sites from 1200 landfill sites in 2001, to 450 landfill sites in 2008/09.
LCA for Green Public Procurement
The Netherlands has adopted Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using a software tool, DuboCalc, to
support Green Public Procurement. DuboCalc calculates the environmental impact of
construction materials considering the embedded environmental impacts of raw material
extraction and production up to and including demolition and recycling. It also considers the
energy consumed by infrastructure works during the use phase. Using LCA data from a built-in
database, it calculates 11 environmental impact parameters. It then uses shadow prices (of
avoided emissions) to calculate the Environmental Cost Indicator (ECI). The ECI is converted into
a monetary value which is a measure of the avoided environmental impact that can be compared
with the total cost of the project. The contracting authority may then use the most economically
advantageous tender (MEAT) criterion to identify the preferred tender in a way that takes into
account resource efficiency.
An important advantage of this approach is that it monetises the environmental impact, thus
allows environmental factors to be considered in the framework of MEAT which is a commonly
used criterion in public procurement.

477 equivalent to new products need to be designed. Environmental liability as a regulatory

478 instrument makes the “polluter” pay for remediating the damage he has caused and is one
479 of the forms of implementing the “polluter-pays” principle.
480 6.2. Design of innovative market based instruments
481 It is fundamental to ‘get the prices right’ through internalising environmental costs and
482 implementing the precautionary principle and polluter-pays principle. Market based
483 instruments have the potential to take into account issues of equity and competitiveness

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

484 concerns in its design and help in transforming economies to become greener. These
485 typically include fiscal instruments in the form of taxes, charges, subsidies, incentives and
486 budget allocations, marketable permits, deposit-refund systems and performance bonds.
487 These instruments can also help generate revenue for environmental and social purposes.
488 Taxes must incorporate the cost of externalities and better reflect the effects of extraction
489 and value creation and may range from taxes on extraction to taxes and fees on generating
490 hazardous waste. Tax exemptions for components using recycled material in the product
491 value chains will help promote resource efficiency from the supply side, whereas tax sops
492 for eco-labelled products to encourage consumers to purchase such products will help
493 promote resource efficiency from the demand side. Rationalization of tax regime to make
494 secondary raw materials price-competitive and incentivize businesses to enter
495 remanufacturing, refurbishing and recycling sectors. Subsidies or tax holidays could be
496 provided to businesses engaged in providing remanufactured/refurbished/recycled products
497 and related services. Grants or financial support for cleaner and resource efficient
498 technologies and innovative circular start-ups, is crucial to the innovation ecosystem and
499 could be given to provide for the viability gap funding. Over time, it will be extremely
500 important to move towards zero landfill. For this, it will be important to dis-incentivize
501 landfilling by imposing landfill taxes, high tipping fees especially for bulk generators of
502 waste, thereby encouraging the optimal use of material and redirecting of waste to
503 appropriate channels for their management.
504 6.3. Green Public Procurement
505 Preferential procurement of products with lower environmental footprints, by large
506 organizations, public or private, can be used to aggregate demand and create scale for
507 products made from secondary raw materials, thereby bolstering market demand.
508 Public tenders that include quotas for locally sourced materials could be designed. Green
509 procurement guidelines providing information on resource efficiency criteria to be used in
510 the procurement processes for the prioritized products/service categories. Circular
511 procurement (such as leasing or sharing options, or procurement of repaired and second-
512 hand goods) can encourage the availability of more take-back options and third-party
513 arrangements, e.g. between manufacturers and remanufacturer and/or recycling
514 businesses. A comprehensive and well-designed national level Sustainable Public
515 Procurement (SPP) policy can be a key instrument to promote Resource Efficiency in the
516 economy, in addition to helping meet many other environmental goals.
517 6.4. Supporting recycling and recovery structures
518 Holistic transformation of country’s waste management sector into a secondary resource
519 recovery sector, coupled with its integration with the manufacturing sector, is a must to
520 implement and promote circular economy. There is also the need to standardise materials
521 and components to facilitate re-use, recovery and recycling.
522 Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) needs to be set up equipped with best available
523 technology systems for efficient end-of-life collection, effective sorting after collection, and
524 then the optimum suite of physical separation and metallurgical technologies for an

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

525 economically viable recovery of metals from the sorted recyclables. MRF operators should
526 also enter into collection contracts with industrial and commercial establishments to gain
527 additional sources of recyclables and should also adopt buyback schemes in coordination
528 with the collection contractor. Protocol should be developed for MRFs, with clear minimum
529 standards and criteria for the processing of recyclables to produce consistent, high quality
530 streams of recyclable material. Common testing infrastructure should be set up which
531 should be accessible to recyclers and provide them with a strategic, lower-cost approach to
532 assess the quality of the recovered secondary raw material.
533 6.5. Strengthening product responsibility - Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and
534 Shared Responsibility
535 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has the potential to reduce the cost of end of life
536 management of the products that is borne by tax payers and municipalities, and also
537 incentivize integration of sustainability measures into the design of products, including
538 design for value recovery.
539 EPR systems should be accompanied by reporting and monitoring mechanisms and could
540 be supported by the creation and accreditation of more Producer Responsibility
541 Organizations (PROs). The PROs, as contractors to the EPR system, need to design
542 appropriate collection schemes which are adapted to the various local situations and carried
543 out in cooperation with the local municipality. These collection schemes could be innovative
544 and based on a register to be compiled of waste streams. Collection costs to be covered by
545 the PROs must cover the entire cost of end of life management of the product. Setting up
546 of EPR waste-recovery targets should be encouraged. EPR principles need to be extended
547 to other sectors including automobiles, paper and cardboard, tyres and container glass
548 industries, enabling systematic framework for collection and recycling of such material
549 6.6. Creation of resource efficient business models
550 Resource efficient business models must lead to value creation or profit for enterprises so
551 that more and more companies are motivated to get involved. Business models for
552 collaborative consumption and shared economy may be evolved. While some business
553 models may be viable based on market prices there could be a need for government
554 support through direct subsidies, viability gap funding, mandatory public procurement,
555 networking and dissemination of solutions as well as regulation to accelerate adoption of
556 certain technologies and/or practices.
557 Viability Gap Funding (VGF), which entails supporting projects till they can be financially
558 self-sustaining, can enable firms to meet high initial costs and address long payback periods
559 and also support scaling up or technology up-gradation. Local governments can provide
560 seed-funding for circular business models that are suitable to the local context. Business
561 models based on green technologies can be encouraged by using levers like Public Private
562 Partnership (PPP) models. Creating a dedicated Green Fund to invest in emerging
563 technologies, setting up Green science parks which promote collaboration between
564 businesses, research institutions and universities and providing fiscal incentives for early
565 adopters are also important instruments.

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566 6.7. Awareness and capacity development of stakeholders

567 A robust awareness generation campaign and marketing strategy (along with labels and
568 standards) is required by involving the consumer bodies, government, and these campaigns
569 towards knowledge dissemination by showcasing benefits that directly and indirectly accrue
570 to consumers as a result of lower environmental impact of the resource efficient products.
571 The multi-stakeholder character of environmental issues and continuous developments in
572 the field of environment, make it necessary to have a continuing focus on capacity building
573 in all concerned institutions: public, private, voluntary, academic, research, and the media.
574 Waste related information should be provided to different stakeholders. To better account
575 for the influence of raw material imports and hidden flows, a material footprint approach
576 should be developed. Education about value of resources, sorting of waste types, proper
577 collection routes, resource efficient technologies from an early age will play an important
578 role in bringing about the needed behavioural change. Capacity building should be done for
579 local administration, particularly the institutions of the municipality to support public
580 policies and initiatives in the field of resource efficiency, among students and entrepreneurs
581 to conceptualize, design and develop new RE/CE related services, products and co-operation
582 frameworks, and among citizens to foster circular economy awareness, sharing and their
583 participation and contribution. Informal sector involved in waste collection and sorting
584 should be integrated into formal sector that uses newer processes of waste management.
585 For this, technical support to entrepreneurs will encourage them to set up new businesses
586 and create new employment opportunities. Joint ventures can also address issues
587 associated with technology access and transfer, and enable cross-country learning, building
588 domestic capacities.
589 6.8. Strengthening research and knowledge base
590 Research and Development (R&D) support should be oriented towards producing resource
591 efficient solutions and the development of resource-efficient products and services. R&D to
592 improve process efficiency and for introducing new processes that decrease the use of
593 hazardous and rare materials in the production process and consequently improve the
594 recyclability and resource recovery potential of materials at the end of life and help
595 generate less waste should be encouraged and supported.
596 R&D should develop sound methodologies to carry out the inventorization and
597 characterization of major waste streams. Industrial training networks should be supported
598 where appropriate in order to deliver the required courses and skill sets needed for a
599 resource efficient and low-carbon economy. It is important to improve the knowledge and
600 decision base for the secondary raw material sector with databases and dynamic
601 forecasting models. This will permit targeted analysis and assessment of volumes and types
602 of waste and what percentage of the stock will be available as a source of secondary raw
603 materials that can help substitute the virgin raw material in the future.
604
605

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606 7. Action Plans

607 Action Plans with timeframe of 3 financial years will be prepared by NREA in consultation
608 with concerned ministries, state/union territory governments, government agencies and
609 stakeholders. Resource efficiency strategies will be developed for specific sectors and
610 regions by the concerned governing authorities (Central Ministries/State Governments) in
611 consultation with stakeholders, which will lay out sector/region specific scope, targets,
612 timelines, action plans and interventions. NREA will adopt these resource efficiency
613 strategies into the 3 year Action Plans, for monitoring and reviewing progress, in
614 consultation with concerned government authorities (Central Ministries/State
615 Governments), agencies and stakeholders.
616 Action Plans will lay out distinct tasks for NREA and implementing sectors with specific
617 milestones and deliverables. The action plans will be guided by the long-term goals of the
618 National Resource Efficiency Policy and developing sound supporting ground rules for
619 markets to innovate and comply with resource efficiency targets will be set as part of the
620 action plans.
621 To this effect the First Action Plan for the National Resource Efficiency Policy has been
622 prepared as - Action Plan (2019 - 2022) and provided in this policy document. Action Plan
623 (2019 - 2022) covers setting-up of dedicated required institutional structure of NREA and
624 NREAB, data and indicator, capacity building, policy instruments, sectoral resource efficiency
625 strategies, regional resource efficiency strategies, research and development, progress
626 report and next action plan.
627

628 8. Monitoring Progress

629 Monitoring of progress of the action plans is critical to the successful implementation of
630 resource efficiency. NREA will lay out the targets, set of inventory data points on which
631 reporting by concerned sectors will be made, resource efficiency indicators and reporting
632 time frames. Concerned implementation agencies will lay out simple and effective
633 monitoring frameworks for respective sectors and will be responsible to provide data points
634 inputs to be fed into the national database. Progress on tasks undertaken for capacity
635 building, pilot studies, research and development will also be reported by the concerned
636 stakeholders to NREA. NREA will compile the data into resource efficiency indicators and
637 prepare ‘Progress Report’.
638 The review of the progress will form an integral part of developing next Action Plan to
639 further the agenda of resource efficiency.
640
641
642
643
644

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

645

646 ACTION PLAN (2019 - 2022)

647 Action plan establishes tasks to be undertaken and their expected timelines.

Action Points Agency Timeline*

1. Institutional Set-up National Resource Efficiency MoEF&CC Q3 - Q4
Set-up Authority (NREA) 2019
Constitute National Resource Inter - Q3 - Q4
Efficiency Advisory Board (NREAB) Ministerial 2019

2. Data and Identify inventory data points and NREA in Q4 2019 -

Indicators indicators to be reported upon at collaboration Q1 2020
different levels (sectoral/regional) with
stakeholders
Identify resource efficiency indicators NREA in Q1 2020
to be reported in progress report collaboration
with
stakeholders
Prepare database template and its NREA Q4 2019 -
user manual Q2 2020
Prepare framework for data NREA in Q2 - Q3
collection, compilation and collaboration 2020
monitoring and evaluation with EU-REI
and
stakeholders
Reporting of Baseline data for Concerned Q3 2020 -
selected sectors Sector/State Q4 2021
governing
authority
Data Report (Baseline and Progress) NREA Q4 2021 -
Q1 2022

3. Capacity Capacity building of state NREA in Q3 2019

Building government/agencies on resource collaboration Q1/Q3 2020
efficiency with EU-REI Q1/Q3 2021
and other
funding
agency
Capacity building of state government NREA in Q1/Q3 2020

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

and sectoral stakeholders on indicator collaboration Q1/Q3 2021

framework and monitoring with EU-REI
and other
funding
agency
Generic RE Manuals, Brochures and NREA in Q3-Q4
Videos - Innovative Communication collaboration 2019
Tools for visibility with EU-REI Q1 2020
Support Start-Ups and other agencies NREA in Q3 2019 -
in development and collaboration Q2 2020
commercialisation of Waste Exchange with EU-REI
Platform

4. Policy Identification of products/sectors for NREA in Q4 2020

Instruments which Eco-mark scheme be revised, collaboration
strengthened and developed with BIS and
stakeholders
Work on development of standards BIS Q4 2020 -
for secondary raw material for Q3 2021
selected secondary materials
Development of resource efficiency NREA in Q3 2019 -
sectoral standards collaboration Q2 2020
with EU-REI,
TERI and
stakeholders
Deliberation on regulatory instrument NREA and Q2-Q3 2020
(tax/ban on disposal to landfill) and Stakeholder
Green Public Procurement Ministries
Deliberation on strengthening and NREA and Q2-Q3 2020
implementation of EPR Stakeholders
Report on deliberations undertaken NREA Q1-Q2 2021
on policy instruments for resource
efficiency

5. Sectoral Develop sectoral resource efficiency Concerned Q3 2019 -

Resource strategies Ministries Q1 2022
Efficiency with
Strategy stakeholders
Adoption of resource efficiency NREA in Q4 2019 -
targets as developed by concerned collaboration Q1 2022
ministries into Action Plan as per with

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

National Resource Efficiency Policy Stakeholder

Ministries
and agencies
Development of Sectoral Toolkits on NREA in Q4 2019 -
Resource Efficiency and Circular collaboration Q1 2020
Economy with EU-REI
and TERI
Co-ordination with Ministries to cover NREA with Q3 2019 -
more resources, sectors and life cycle stakeholder Q1 2022
stages for resource efficiency ministries

6. Regional Develop regional resource efficiency Concerned Q3 2019 -

Resource strategies State/Union Q1 2022
Efficiency Territory
Strategy Government
with
stakeholders
Adoption of resource efficiency NREA in Q4 2019 -
targets as developed by concerned collaboration Q1 2022
state/union territory government into with
Action Plan as per National Resource Stakeholder
Efficiency Policy State/Union
Territory
Governments
and agencies
Co-ordination with State/Union NREA with Q3 2019 -
Territory Governments to cover more stakeholder Q1 2022
resources, sectors and life cycle stages State/Union
for resource efficiency Territory
Governments

7. Research and Organize workshop on Life Cycle NREA in Q4 2019

Development Assessment collaboration Q4 2020
with funding Q4 2021
agency
Identify sectors with need and scope NREA in Q1 2020 -
of resource efficiency improvements collaboration Q4 2021
and develop strategies for same with EU-REI
and TERI

8. Action Plan Report on progress on Resource NREA Q1 2022

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

Efficiency Action Plan (2019 - 2022)

Prepare Resource Efficiency Action NREA in Q1 2022
Plan (2022 - 2025) collaboration
with
stakeholder
Ministries/St
ate
governments
648 *For National Resource Efficiency Policy adopted in Q3, 2019.
649 (Q1 - January to March, Q2 - April to June, Q3 - July to September, Q4 - October to
650 December); in consultation with stakeholders
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

683
684
685
686
687

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

ANNEXURES

A. Chronology of National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019……….……… i

B. Sectoral Resource Efficiency Strategies………………………………………..… iii
B1. Automotive Sector……………………………………………………………………………………… v
B2. Plastic Packaging Sector……………………………………………………………….……………. viii
B3. Building and Construction Sector…………………..………………………………….………. xi
B4. Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sector……………………………………………….. xiii
B5. Solar Photo Voltaic Sector…………………………………………………………………………. xvi
B6. Steel Sector………………………………………………………………………………….…………….. xviii
B7. Aluminium Sector…………………………………………………………………….………………… xxi
National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)
 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

1 A. Chronology of National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019

2

3 1. Constitution of India Resource Panel (InRP) in 2015

4 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India constituted India
5 Resource Panel (InRP) in 2015 to mainstream resource efficiency in policy formulation and
6 in order to foster its implementation. The objective of the India Resource Panel was to
7 advise the Government of India and relevant stakeholders on the potential for enhancing
8 resource efficiency and the productive use of secondary raw materials. In addition, the
9 panel made efforts to raise the issue’s importance on the political agenda. In line with global
10 best practices and on the basis of a rigorous policy analysis, the Panel came out with
11 recommendations in April, 2017 that stressed that fostering Resource Efficiency would be
12 achieved at scale only through enabling policy framework (InRP, 2017)

13

14 2. Joint Declaration of Intent with EU-REI and Memorandum of Understanding with TERI
15 (June, 2018)

16 The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change signed a Joint Declaration of Intent
17 with EU-REI and a Memorandum of Understanding with TERI in June, 2018.

18

19 3. Re-constitution of Resource Efficiency Cell at Ministry of Environment, Forest and

20 Climate change in October 2018

21 The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change constituted Resource Efficiency
22 Cell (RE Cell) with aim to institutionalize resource efficiency for sustainable consumption
23 and production in policy and practice. Key functions of RE Cell are policy formation,
24 knowledge management, capacity building and mainstreaming of resource efficiency. The
25 RE Cell was re-constituted in October, 2018. The erstwhile India Resource Panel (InRP) was
26 re-constituted as Resource Efficiency Steering Committee (RESC) in November, 2018, as an
27 advisory committee to the RE Cell. The re-constituted RE Cell undertook the task to draft
28 National Resource Efficiency Policy for India with aim to institutionalize resource efficiency
29 and circular economy approach.

30

31 4. Initiatives by NITI Aayog

32 NITI Aayog along with EU Delegation to India prepared a Strategy paper on Resource
33 Efficiency in November, 2017 (NITI Aayog, 2017). In January, 2019 NITI Aayog released four
34 Strategy papers in the area of resource efficiency in Steel industry sector (with the Ministry
35 of Steel), Aluminium sector (with the Ministry of Mines), Construction and Demolition sector
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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

36 (with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) and E-Waste sector (with the Ministry of
37 Electronics and Information Technology) (NITI Aayog (a,b,c,d), 2019). Status paper on
38 Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy was also released in January, 2019 (NITI Aayog(e),
39 2019)

40

41 5. Works by TERI and EU-REI

42 Under the EU-REI project, consortium of GIZ, TERI, CII and Adelphi undertook sectoral
43 assessment studies on potential and recommendations for implementation of resource
44 efficiency. In September, 2018, four sectoral studies for resource efficiency strategies in
45 solar photo voltaic sector, electric vehicles sector, construction and demolition sector and
46 plastic and e-waste were completed (EU-REI (a,b,c,d), 2018).

47 Reference Report for Integrated Resource Efficiency Policy for India was prepared by TERI
48 and submitted to the Ministry in April, 2+019.

49

50 6. Consultations on Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy

51 The draft National Resource Efficiency Policy was led through multiple rounds of
52 consultations and comments so received were duly deliberated and incorporated. After
53 initial internal consultations, the draft NREP was taken to the Resource Efficiency Steering
54 Committee (RESC) that draws experts from government, international institution, industry
55 association, academia, civil society among others. Revised draft, incorporating the
56 comments was then put in public domain for consultation.

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

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 National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 (Draft)

68 B. Sectoral Resource Efficiency Strategies

69 The National Resource Efficiency Policy aims to implement resource efficiency across all
70 relevant resources including metals, minerals, fossil fuels, biomass, air, water, land, forests
71 etc. and across all life cycle stages including raw material extraction, material processing,
72 production, use, end-of-life management.
73
74 Towards this purpose, resource efficiency strategies for different sectors
75 (resources/material/commercial sector/life cycle stages) and regions (state/union territory)
76 will be developed by the concerned governing authorities (ministries/state governments) in
77 consultation with the stakeholders. These strategies will layout the scope, baseline, life cycle
78 approach, targets, interventions and plan. NREA with its collaborative institutional structure
79 will facilitate development of these strategies, and adopt them into the 3 year Action Plan
80 for the purpose of review and monitoring progress on the identified resource efficiency
81 indicators.
82
83 At this point, resource efficiency strategies are provided for seven sectors - automotive
84 sector, plastic packaging sector, building and construction sector, electrical and electronic
85 equipment sector, solar photo voltaic sector, steel sector and aluminium sector - across the
86 life cycle stages of manufacturing and/or post-consumer waste management. These sectoral
87 strategies are drawn from the sectoral assessment studies done under EU-REI project,
88 resource efficiency strategies developed by NITI Aayog, reference report for NREP and
89 consultations with selected stakeholders by TERI. Factors that have been taken into
90 consideration towards selection of hotspot sectors for assessing resource efficiency benefits
91 include sectoral income share, use of critical raw materials and their import dependency. A
92 summary of sectoral contribution to national income, use/generation of raw materials,
93 import dependency of raw materials (virgin/scrap), are presented in Table B.1.
94
95 These brief strategies are only indicative and are provided mainly to illustrate and
96 mainstream the life cycle approach as a key element of developing any of such strategies. As
97 yet, these strategies have limited scope in terms of resources, life cycle stages etc. and are
98 provided in this document to initiate early take-up of these sectors for implementing
99 resource efficiency. With formal establishment of NREA and expected participation of line
100 ministries to grow, detailed resource efficiency strategies will be developed for all biotic and
101 abiotic resources, across all sectors and life cycle stages.
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Table 4: Sectoral relevance based on share in national income, use of raw materials (including import dependency)

Share in
S.No Economic Sectors national Selected raw materials Import dependency
income
Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEV):
Steel, Copper, Aluminium, Zinc, Nickel, Lead, Copper (50-60%), Lithium (100%),
Automobile sector
Glass, Rubber, various plastics/synthetics Cobalt (100%), Aluminium scrap
1. (including electric 7.1 %
E-vehicles: Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Rare (90%), Steel scrap (20%-25%), Lead
vehicles)
Earths, various plastics/synthetics, Steel, (75%), Rare Earths (100%)
Copper, Aluminium
Chemicals 2%
2. Crude oil Oil (80 %)
(plastics) (0.5 % - 0.8 %)
Building and Cement, Limestone, Clay bricks, Steel, Aluminium scrap (90%), Steel scrap
3. 9%
Construction Aluminium, Copper (20% - 25%), Copper (50% - 60%)
Silver (75%), Rare Earths (100%), Gold
Electronics Gold, Silver, Rare Earths, Plastics, Platinum,
4. 1.8 % (90%), Platinum (95%), Copper (50% -
(including E-waste) Copper
60%)
Aluminium scrap (90%), Silver (75%),
5. Solar PV 2.1% Aluminium, Silver, Copper, Silicon
Copper (50-60%)

Steel scrap (20% - 25%), Molybdenum

6 Steel 2% Iron ore, Molybdenum, Nickel, Tugsten
(100%), Nickel (100%), Tugsten (100%)

7. Aluminium 0.8% Bauxite, Aluminium scrap Aluminium scrap (90%)

Source: Annual Survey of Industries (2015), NIPFP (2016), MoSPI (2017) in TERI, 2019

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1 B.1. Automotive Sector

2 1. Introduction

3 The automotive sector, comprising of the automobile and auto component manufacturers,
4 is one of the key sectors of the economy, having extensive forward and backward linkages.
5 With more than 35 automobile manufacturing companies in the country, the industry
6 contributes to more than 7% to India’s national income and accounts for 7-8% of India’s
7 total employed population. However, growing use of internal combustion engine vehicles
8 (ICEVs), increased road congestion and the consequent impact on tailpipe emissions, is
9 increasingly posing threat to ambient air. This, indirectly, is creating opportunities for
10 electric vehicles (EVs) on Indian roads. The government of India has demonstrated a strong
11 commitment in introducing electric mobility in India and targets to increase the share of
12 electric vehicles from its current level of less than 1% to nearly 30 % by 2030 while the share
13 of electric buses is expected to reach as high as 100%. This implies that by 2030, the total
14 number of electric two wheelers on Indian roads would be 211 million, and cars and buses
15 will be around 34 million and 2.5 million respectively.
16 Total material demand for ICEVs is expected to increase from 14 million tonnes to 100
17 million tonnes by 2030. EVs will also require many newer materials for enhanced
18 performance over ICEVs, particularly for manufacturing batteries and powertrain. Since the
19 volume of production of electric vehicles that run on lithium batteries is currently limited,
20 the demand for related materials is currently insignificant. Consumption of materials by
21 2030 for EVs will increase significantly from its current level of 0.03 million tons to 11 million
22 tons. Ferrous metals will contribute to 53% of the total estimated demand, followed by
23 17.4% of plastics and synthetics, 2.5% of aluminium and 7.2% of copper. Price volatility,
24 dwindling domestic materials availability and sharp increases in imports of critical materials,
25 calls for tapping opportunities in improving material consumption along their value chain
26 through resource use, recovery and recycling.
27 2. Life Cycle Approach for Automotive Sector

28 Figure B.1 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
29 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of automotive sector. This
30 sectoral strategy primarily focusses on the end-of-life stage of the sector.

31 3. Proposal for Action

32 A successful resource efficient automotive sector will need a very strong and financially
33 viable end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management in India. Central Pollution Control Board has
34 estimated that more than 8.7 million vehicles had reached the ELV status in 2015, and by
35 2025, the number of ELVs is estimated to reach over 21 million. Further, the recent ban on
36 diesel vehicles by the National Green Tribunal implies that more vehicles will soon end up as
37 ELVs. These vehicles usually end up reaching the un-organised dismantling centres. Auto
38 components are either refurbished or sent for recycling. Efficiency of material recovery is
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39
40 Figure B.1. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

41 very low due to inefficient dismantling. CPCB had issued guidelines to regulate the sector in
42 an environmentally friendly manner, recommending a system of "shared responsibility"
43 involving all stakeholders - including government, manufacturers, dealers, insurers,
44 consumers and recyclers. The guidelines also state that if large quantities of metal and other
45 materials present in ELVs are salvaged or recycled, it can once again be used by various
46 sectors, thus reducing the demand for virgin raw materials.
47 4. Needed Interventions

48  Define ELV based in age, mileage and emission criterion

49  Setting up of collection centres, which would collect vehicles from owners and carry out
50 the deregistration process

51  Setting up of de-pollution centres to remove hazardous materials from the vehicles. It

52 will also be their responsibility to safely dispose the harmful materials

53  Setting up of shredding centres which would segregate materials for recycling

54  Introduction of recycling targets on dismantlers

55  Careful separation at the de-pollution units and that could be sold to retailers or to
56 used-part dealers with warranty

57  Development of guidelines/Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by vehicle

58 manufacturers to dismantle model and type of vehicle, which can prevent damage to
59 components and encourage reuse of parts through proper channels and further label
60 components for identification of materials for proper segregation and down-cycling

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61  Encourage material substitution and promote use of recycled materials in new ICEV and
62 EV fleets
63 5. Targets
64  75% recycling rate for vehicles manufactured before 1990, 85% recycling rate for
65 vehicles manufactured between 1990 and 2000, and 90% recycling rate for vehicles
66 produced after 2000
67  Establish 20 official dismantlers and equal number of PRO across major urban centres,
68 by 2020
69  Use of recycled materials in commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles to 25% of the
70 kerb weight by 2030
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91 B.2. Plastic Packaging Sector

92 1. Introduction

93 The plastics industry is characterized by a relatively high level of market concentration in

94 upstream processes vis-à-vis low levels of concentration in downstream processes. With
95 regards to upstream processes, industrial manufacturers control the market for supply of
96 polymers alongside 200 equipment manufacturers which cater to roughly 30,000 plastic
97 processing units. Further downstream, collection and recycling are mainly dominated by the
98 informal sector with about 1.5 million workers in total, catering to around 4,000 informal
99 and 3,500 informal recycling units (FICCI, 2017). Hence, downstream processes tend to be
100 dominated by micro-, small and medium sized enterprises which specialise on certain end-
101 use applications and processing technologies for injection moulding, extrusion, blow
102 moulding etc.
103 The most common forms of plastic polymers on the market include Polyethylene
104 terephthalate (PET), High density polyethylene (HDPE), Low density polyethylene (LDPE),
105 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP) and Polystyrene (PS). There are a multitude of
106 end use applications for these polymers which vary considerably across different national
107 contexts and are swiftly replacing traditional materials due to their flexibility and unique set
108 of properties. Packaging industry is the largest consumer of polymers in India. PE and PP
109 accounted for around 33% and 29% of polymer usage respectively, followed by PET (17%),
110 PVC (7%) and others (14%) in 2016 (FICCI, 2016).
111 Plastic waste is a critical concern as it contributes to 8% of the total solid waste (CPCB).
112 Households generate maximum plastic waste, of which water and soft drink bottles form a
113 large number. In India, around 43% of manufactured plastics are used for packaging purpose
114 and most are of single use type. Multi layered plastics are categorized under either
115 recyclable, energy recoverable or with some other alternate use, but their recycling is an
116 expensive process.
117 2. Life Cycle Approach for Plastic Packaging Sector

118 Figure B.2 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
119 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of plastic packaging sector
120 sector. This sectoral strategy primarily focusses on the end-of-life stage of the sector.

121 3. Proposal for Action

122 Plastic Waste Management Rules (including the EPR) has become a central tool within the
123 Indian waste policy landscape to address plastic pollution in India. However, monitoring and
124 enforcement systems are yet to be fully implemented for effective implementation at sub-
125 national level.
126 EPR schemes are needed to be complemented by policy instruments to support wide-spread
127 adoption of secondary raw materials in markets. Typical instruments to facilitate this

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128
129 Figure B.2. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

130 process are standards for secondary raw materials (SRM), which is a major barrier to uptake
131 of recycled materials and create demand for SRM. By developing and facilitating the
132 adoption of standards, this uncertainty can be minimized and manufacturers could be
133 encouraged to substitute virgin feedstock with recycled materials in their production
134 processes.
135 4. Needed Interventions

136  Explore strengths and weaknesses of different implementation mechanics for EPR
137 schemes at a pan-Indian scale

138  Establish minimum requirements for EPR schemes in India to streamline

139 implementation processes and create administrative synergies

140  Promote large-scale formalization of the informal economy through dedicated

141 guidelines, establishment of institutional framework and tailor made capacity building
142 programmes

143  Strengthen capacities of CPCB and SPCBs in order to monitor and evaluate the
144 implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules.

145  Mandate step-wise introduction of minimum recycled contents in plastic (packaging)

146 across selected target sectors

147  Inclusion of collection targets into Plastic Waste Management Rules to ensure full
148 accountability of producers

149  Uptake of innovative and resource efficient processing technologies and inclusive
150 business models to support environmentally sound recycling process which integrate
151 the informal sector

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152  Introduce certification schemes in the field of CE and RE for high-priority packaging
153 products
154 5. Targets
155  100% recycling and reuse rate PET plastic by 2025
156  100% recycling of PET plastic and 75% recycling and reuse rate of other plastic
157 packaging materials by 2030
158  Ban on disposal of recyclable waste (plastics, metals, glass, paper, cardboard and
159 biodegradable waste) to landfills by 2025
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181 B.3. Building and Construction Sector

182 1. Introduction

183 More than 30% of India’s population lives in urban areas and it is projected that over 40% of
184 the population will be living in urban areas by 2030 (UN State of the World Population
185 report). It is estimated that almost 70% of buildings supposed to exist by 2030 are yet to be
186 built. Such demand for infrastructure will rely heavily on raw materials like sand (for
187 concrete and mortar), soil (mostly for clay bricks), stone (for aggregates) and limestone (for
188 cement). The key challenge will be to make materials available in a manner that takes into
189 consideration exhaustible nature of these resources and as well as address ecological
190 impacts associated with their extraction and processing.
191 A new construction (including repair) may lead to waste generation in the range of 45 to 50
192 kg/sqm, however, demolition can lead to waste generation of 425 kg/sqm. India’s annual
193 consumption of sand is estimated at 750 million tonnes, while 350 million m3 of soil is used
194 mostly for manufacturing of clay fired bricks. Annually 2 billion tonnes of stones are used for
195 making aggregates. Further 242 limestone million tonnes is consumed in cement plants to
196 manufacture 297 million tonnes of cement a year. A substantial share of the new demand
197 can be met using the waste of the existing stock. For resource efficient construction sector,
198 companies need to make manufacturing of sustainable construction products from recycled
199 materials. Dependence on virgin materials needs to be gradually reduced and enhanced
200 reuse of the construction and demolition wastes needs to be adopted.
201 2. Life Cycle Approach for Building and Construction Sector

202 Figure B.3 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
203 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of building and construction
204 sector. This sectoral strategy primarily focusses on the end-of-life stage of the sector.

205 3. Proposal for Action

206 The responsibilities for managing the C&D waste rests with the local bodies. To effectively
207 implement the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016, it is extremely
208 critical to identify and notify designated areas where consumers responsible for demolition
209 can dump the C&D waste. The C&D waste management rules mandates provision for giving
210 incentives for use of material made out of construction and demolition waste in the
211 construction activity including in non-structural concrete, paving blocks, lower layers of road
212 pavements, colony and rural roads. Property taxes need to be rationalized periodically and
213 funds can be allocated not only for incentivizing product development from recycled C&D
214 waste but also possibly supporting demonstration projects.
215 As a part of the mandated public procurement of materials made from C&D waste, the
216 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) need to explore suitable construction avenues recreational parks,

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217
218 Figure B.3. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

219 roads, pavements, filling of pits, and constructing buildings. Certification is an important
220 way to improve market acceptance of products like tiles, paver blocks, and manufactured
221 bricks. ULBs need to maintain a list of authorized sellers of these products and whose details
222 can be provided in e-market place for the larger benefit of the consumers. ULBs need to
223 create a sustained system of information, education and communication for construction
224 and demolition waste through collaboration with expert institutions and civil societies.
225 4. Needed Interventions

226  Develop codes and standards for quality of secondary raw materials to ensure
227 confidence in the product

228  Public tenders to include quotas for locally sourced materials

229  Greater use of indicator frameworks and green rating schemes that enable
230 comparability between building concepts with regards to their environmental impacts.
231 5. Targets
232  Municipalities in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to start inventorizing construction and
233 demolition waste data by 2022
234  Recycling rate for C&D waste to reach 50% by 2025 and 75% by 2030
235  By 2025, 30% of total public procurement of materials for civil construction from
236 recycled materials
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240 B.4. Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sector

241 1. Introduction

242 The Indian electronics market is one of the largest in the world and is anticipated to reach
243 US$400 billion by 2020 with domestic production expected to grow at CAGR of 27% to reach
244 $104 billion. Indian electrical and electronic equipments sector constitutes of about 31%
245 consumer electronics, 22% industrial electronics, 20% electronic components, 10%
246 communication and broadcasting, 17% computers and other equipments. Generation of e-
247 wastes is an eventual outcome from consumption of electrical and electronic equipments. In
248 2016, India was the fifth largest producer of e-waste in the world and generated nearly 2
249 million metric tons of e-waste.
250 There are many challenges associated with managing growing volume of E-wastes in India.
251 The informal sector in India is the backbone of recycling and resource recovery, thereby
252 contributing towards development of a circular economy. However, owing to lack of
253 economic prowess and access to technology, the ways and means employed are often
254 archaic in nature leading to low yield of resources, creation of waste and often pose risks to
255 human health and environment. Abrupt disruption to this informal sector will endanger
256 livelihood security and has socioeconomic consequences, however transition to a
257 completely formalized waste management sector that undertakes efficient recycling
258 processes and follows standards for environment, health and safety is needed.
259 2. Life Cycle Approach for Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sector

260
261 Figure B.4. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

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262 Figure B.4 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
263 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of electrical and electronic
264 equipment sector. This sectoral strategy primarily focusses on the end-of-life stage of the
265 sector.

266 3. Proposal for Action

267 Material recycling efficiency of the informal sector is only about 20 to 30%. The informal
268 sector has been at the heart of recycling of WEEE in India for the last two decades and its
269 integration into a formalized sector is the key to ensure that collection costs be kept at
270 sustainable levels. The informal sector, through its network of aggregators, dismantlers,
271 recyclers has been able to develop an ecosystem which has been able to sustain multiple
272 actors across different geographies in the country. Integration of the informal sector can
273 potentially be done by setting-up industrial cluster firstly by co-locating the e-waste
274 management industrial cluster in a manufacturing cluster, or secondly by co-locating e-
275 waste management cluster in hubs where the informal actors have been working.
276 Schemes to promote use of secondary materials in products is needed to be devised. The
277 use of secondary materials can be guided through a standardisation of technologies which
278 are being used for extraction of the material during the recycling process. This will ensure
279 voluntary certification by recyclers as the demand for secondary materials increases.
280 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an effective instrument that can help in making
281 available of best technologies to recyclers. Strengthening EPR compliance will enhance
282 access to secondary materials which will make economic sense for the recycler to then
283 recycle the material rather than sell it in the informal sector or export the same. There is a
284 need to gradually introduce penal system in case of non-compliance and the financial
285 resources thus collected can be used for providing access of recycling technologies to the
286 informal sector.
287 4. Needed Interventions

288  Producers to introduce ‘Deposit Refund Scheme’ for e-waste exchange

289  Establish recovery targets for various resources based on the volume of the e-waste
290 generated

291  Facilitate setting up of infrastructure for e-waste recycling which can disrupt movement
292 of e-waste to informal sector and incentivise them to formalize

293  Establish product design guidelines which can help make products and materials easier
294 to dismantle and recycle

295  Establish and implement standards for recycling to enable use of best available
296 technologies to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of unsafe recycling in
297 the informal sector

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298  Capacity building of monitoring and implementation agencies at the state level so that
299 e-waste rules are enforced across stakeholders

300  Outreach and advocacy with all stakeholders to ensure that the environment and health
301 hazards are communicated for formalising of disposal mechanisms

302  Research & Development on recycling technologies to address needed rapid

303 technological advancement in EEE waste recycling
304 5. Targets
305  Implementation of targets stated in the existing e-waste management rules.
306  By 2020, introduce deterrent penalty mechanism for violation of E-waste management
307 rules.
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327 B.5. Solar Photo Voltaic Sector

328 1. Introduction

329 ‘Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)’ with revised target, aims to deploy
330 100,000 MW of solar power. This will require supply and use of newer materials for
331 manufacturing different solar PV technologies while maintaining cost competiveness in the
332 sector and in this regard resource efficiency will be a key to achieve these objectives.
333 Silicon PV has more than 80% of market share and is expected to retain the share in the
334 short time to medium term. Key materials that are used in manufacturing silicon crystalline
335 solar PV are silicon, glass, silver, aluminium and copper. Typically, crystalline silicon solar PV
336 contains 70% of glass while aluminium, silicon and silver account for 18%, 3.65% and 0.053%
337 of total weight. Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulation takes up 5.1% of the share while
338 the back sheet represents 1.5% of the total weight. Under an ambitious solar energy
339 deployment scenario of nearly 170 GW by 2030, total estimated demand for materials will
340 increase from almost 0.7 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes between 2015 and 2030. Under
341 this scenario demand for glass, aluminium, silver will reach 7 million tonnes, 1.7 million
342 tonnes and 3.8 million tonnes by 2030, as compared to 0.4 million tonnes of glass, 0.1
343 million tonnes of aluminium and 0.2 million tonnes of silver was consumed in 2015 by the
344 sector.
345 2. Life Cycle Approach for Solar Photo Voltaic Sector

346
347 Figure B.5. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

348 Figure B.5 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
349 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of solar PV sector. This
350 sectoral strategy primarily focusses on the end-of-life stage of the sector.
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351 3. Proposal for Action

352 In order to make solar PV recycling sector ready for future stream of PV waste, there is a
353 need to train commercial recycling companies on the constituents of solar PV and procedure
354 to break them down. Nearly 75% of the material that gets separated out from solar PV is
355 glass, which is easy to recycle into new products but also has a very low resale value. As
356 solar panel technology improves, manufacturers will find ways around using components
357 that would have value to recyclers, like copper and silver.
358 Setting up proper solar panel recycling infrastructure that can manage the large volumes of
359 PV modules that will be disposed in near future, will facilitate increased scientific
360 dismantling of panels. Role of EPR is extremely important to support cost effective business
361 model of reverse logistics. Dealers’ network for buy back of end of life solar rooftop panels
362 holds the key while for large scale projects developers in association with original
363 equipment manufacturers need to come together for the same. The cost of take-back
364 arrangement needs to be specified within the total cost of installation.
365 Enforcement mechanism for such contracts should be designed by the Government in their
366 tenders/schemes or PPA agreements. Awareness generation through showcasing innovation
367 and good practices and exploring potential for up-scaling of the new technologies for end of
368 life solar PV need to be undertaken hand in hand with other initiatives. Easy financing
369 instruments need to be explored by banking and non-banking financial institutions for
370 promoting investment in formal recycling set ups. A cluster based approach could be
371 considered bringing different players can be undertaken close to PV manufacturing. The
372 waste generated from solar PV should be treated as E-waste, to provide a legal mechanism
373 for solar PV waste management.
374 4. Needed Interventions

375  Setting up a proper solar panel recycling infrastructure that can manage large volumes
376 of PV modules that will be disposed in near future
377  Establish cost effective business model of reverse logistics and dismantling
378  Generate awareness through showcasing innovation and good practices and exploring
379 potential for up-scaling of the new technologies for end of life solar PV
380  Easy financing instruments need to be explored by banking and non-banking financial
381 institutions for promoting investment in formal recycling set ups
382  The waste generated from solar PV should be treated as E-waste

383

384 5. Targets
385  By 2025 establish 4 major authorized dismantling facilities and 8 such facilities by 2030
386  85 % recovery rate of materials from discarded PVs
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387 B.6. Steel Sector

388 1. Introduction

389 India has witnessed more than 6 % growth in steel production capacity and has reached
390 more than 100 MT thereby making India the third largest steel producer. Steel industry
391 contributes nearly 2% of India’s income and provides employment to 25 lakh people,
392 directly or indirectly. Steel manufacturing output of India is expected to increase to 130
393 million tons by 2021 and it is estimated that increased per capita of steel consumption from
394 65 kg in 2017 to 160 Kg by 2030 will require increasing steelmaking capacity from present
395 level of 125 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 300 MTPA by 2030-31.
396 A sector wise break up in steel consumption reveals that construction industry has the
397 largest share of 35% followed by infrastructure development 20% and automobiles 12%.
398 Given the fact that majority of the construction and infrastructure is expected to come up in
399 the coming years, and human aspirations will drive vehicular ownerships, the potential
400 future growth of steel consumption in these sectors will be the future key drivers.
401 Stainless steel production too has increased in recent years, largely to meet demand for
402 their use in special application in special technologies, products and defence application.
403 Production has increased from 2.4 MT in 2009-10 to 2.9 MT in 2013-14. Consumption of
404 stainless steel during this period increased from 2.5 MT to 3.1 MT. The present demand of
405 around 5 MT is likely to double by 2030. This implies that the overall requirement of
406 stainless and alloy steel may be between 12-14 MT by 2030.
407 Steel manufacturing is extremely resource intensive. A quick analysis of material
408 embodiment in 1 ton of steel produced from Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) route suggests
409 that the same contains about 1.4 tonnes of iron ore, 0.55 tonnes of coking coal, 0.25
410 tonnes of limestone and 1.9 tonnes of air. By products consist of 0.3 tonnes of slag, 2.4
411 tonnes of blast furnace gases, and up to 0.05 tons of dust. This implies that by 2030, to
412 produce around 300 MT of steel from the BF route having the same share of 75% in the
413 total steel production, India will require 315 MT of iron ore per annum, 123 MT of coking
414 coal, 60 MT of limestone.
415 2. Life Cycle Approach for Steel Sector

416 Figure B.6 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
417 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of steel sector. This sectoral
418 strategy primarily focusses on manufacturing and end-of-life stages of the sector.

419 3. Proposal for Action

420 India need to explore into systematic and efficient scrap processing as it prepares for an era
421 when proportion of BF-BOF based steel making using coking coal and iron ore diminishes
422 and scrap based EAF/IF processes becomes preferred choice. Modern scrap processing

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423
424 Figure B.6. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

425 facility need to be planned which will source, separate, shred and process scrap that can be
426 used as preferred input for quality steel production. More scrap processing units to be set
427 up so that import volumes may be minimized. Therefore, Scrap Processing Units need to be
428 set up near the centres/clusters of scrap consumers. For steel output to grow according to
429 the plan, India’s Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) output will have to rise by at least 16.85 million
430 tonnes per annum, which can be achieved by full utilization of the existing EAF and
431 induction furnace capacities.
432 India has about 55 million tonnes capacity of steel production through BOF route, where
433 slag generation is about 150-175 kg/t of steel. While BF slag is mainly used for cement
434 production, steelmaking slag can be used for road construction, hydraulic engineering, as
435 fertilizer etc. BOF slag contains Ca, S, Fe, Si, P, Mg etc. which is useful for plant growth. It is
436 useful for acidic soils as it gives pH around 8 when mixed with water. There is a need for
437 better R&D collaboration between fertilizer and steel sector for up-scaling and
438 commercialization of such products. Establishment of joint ventures between fertilizer and
439 steel sector can possibly help in faster development of such products.
440 4. Needed Interventions

441  Incentives on investments for steel recycling technologies and processes for
442 manufacturing special steel products
443  Incentives for joint ventures between scrap trading and steel companies that will
444 minimize procurement costs
445  Imposition of import duty for scrap imports beyond certain limits to promote utilization
446 of domestic scrap

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447  Procurement targets by public and private sector infrastructure companies.

448  Standards for scrap be established such that independent agencies can assess and
449 certify scrap. Certified scarp be then linked to indexed price
450 5. Targets
451  By 2030, zero import of steel scrap for recycled steel production and 100% of the
452 recycled steel be produced from domestic scrap
453  By 2030, establish 50% of the steel manufacturing capacity from the EAF route
454  Increase steel recycling rate to 90%
455  Ensure 50% overall utilization of slag by 2025 and 85% by 2030
456  By 2022, introduce quality index-based pricing mechanism to facilitate continuous and
457 smooth scrap supply to recyclers
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477 B.7. Aluminium Sector

478 1. Introduction

479 India is the fourth largest producer of bauxite which is the key resource that goes into
480 manufacturing aluminium. Between 2012 and 2017, annual consumption of Aluminium has
481 increased from 2.85 million tonnes to 3.6 million tonnes. Currently, the electrical and
482 electronics sector is the largest consumer of aluminium accounting to nearly 37% of
483 domestic consumption followed by transportation (26%), construction (11%) and in
484 consumer durables (8%).
485 However there are substantial resource use related issues (including environment damage)
486 associated with primary aluminium production. The environmental issues of bauxite mining
487 include, air, water and soil pollution due to bauxite dust; leaching of bauxite into water
488 sources resulting in reduced soil fertility as well as affecting agricultural food products and
489 aquatic life. Further, aluminium production depends heavily on conventional energy. Nearly
490 one third of smelting cost accounts for power required for electrolysis process. Use of
491 conventional electricity (coal based) is associated with emissions of carbon. In producing 1
492 tonne of primary Aluminium, there are simultaneous production of about 8-10 tonne of by-
493 Products, in the form of bauxite residue (red mud), fly ash, spent pot liner (SPL), dross etc.
494 2. Life Cycle Approach for Aluminium Sector

495 Figure B.7 illustrates typical environmental concerns and other resource efficiency related
496 issues with the life cycle stages associated with the value chain of steel sector. This sectoral
497 strategy primarily focusses on manufacturing and end-of-life stages of the sector.

498
499 Figure B.7. Life cycle stages across value chain and related RE concerns

500

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501 3. Proposal for Action

502 Aluminium sector being a very important material for the economy calls for classification as
503 a core sector, which will increase the focus on the sector and enable production of high
504 quality metal with provision of critical infrastructure to avoid global volatility in supply and
505 prices.
506 Aluminium sector generates substantial waste during production of aluminium which can
507 converted into value added products with less efforts and resources. This can be achieved
508 through introduction of targets of resource recovery and reuse of wastes by various primary
509 metal producers.
510 Since domestic scrap usage is diffused and not regulated without any standards or end-use
511 restrictions. As a result there is heavy dependence on imported scrap. Increased availability
512 of domestic scrap can be achieved through various economic instruments including export
513 taxes, export quotas, and even export bans or punitive tax rate if recycler resorts to trade in
514 scrap without processing or adding value. Direct support measures may be in the form of
515 exemption on duties on scraps, capital subsidies on technologies for efficient recycling.
516 Product take-back through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) needs to provide for
517 drop-off locations allowing product return, and economic responsibility for the
518 management of end of life products by third party firms.
519 Organized metals recycling industry structure is needed. Due recognition of recycling could
520 encourage users of aluminium particularly in transport, housing, packaging and durable
521 sectors to broaden the organised markets for the scrap generated. Standardization and
522 certification of recycled aluminium products is needed.
523 4. Needed Interventions

524  A transition to zero waste concept by converting solid waste to value added products
525  Promotion of aluminium scrappage and recycling
526  Creation of zonal scrap collection, segregation and treatment facilities
527  Quality standards for recycled aluminium products need to be strengthened in
528 consultation with the bulk consumers
529 5. Targets
530  By 2030, domestic scrap to fulfil 50% of the total aluminium scrap requirement
531  Increase recycling rate to 50% by 2025 and 90% by 2030
532  Increase rate of utilization of dross to 40% by 2025 and 80% by 2030
533

534

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536

537 References
538 1. EU-REI, 2018a. Greening the Solar PV Value Chain.
539 2. EU-REI, 2018b. Towards Resource Efficiency Electric Vehicle Sector in India.
540 3. EU-REI, 2018c. Fostering Resource Efficiency in the India Building and Construction
541 Sector.
542 4. EU-REI, 2018d. Enhancing Resource Efficiency through Extended Producer
543 Responsibility - Sector Study on Plastic Packaging and E-Waste Management in India.
544 5. InRP, 2017. Recommendations for an Indian Resource Efficiency Program (IREP).
545 6. IRP, 2017. Resource Efficiency: Potential and Economic Implications.
546 7. NITI Aayog, 2017. Strategy on Resource Efficiency.
547 8. NITI Aayog, 2019a. Strategy on Resource Efficiency in Steel Sector.
548 9. NITI Aayog, 2019b. Strategy on Resource Efficiency in Aluminium Sector.
549 10. NITI Aayog, 2019c. Strategy on Resource Efficiency in Construction and Demolition
550 Sector.
551 11. NITI Aayog, 2019d. Strategy on Resource Efficiency in Electrical and Electronic
552 Equipment Sector.
553 12. NITI Aayog, 2019e. Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy - Current Status and
554 Way Forward.
555 13. OECD, 2018. Global Material Resources Outlook to 2060 – Economic Drivers and
556 environmental consequences.
557 14. TERI, 2019. Reference Report for Integrated Resource Efficiency Policy for India.
558 15. www.undp.org
559
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