Reliance Industries looks to invest in waste management startups

Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest private company by revenues, has gone on record and said it wants to support waste treatment and management startups, both domestic and global.

“We are looking to fund and are scouting around for all the technology available for waste segregation, recycling, and waste-to-energy. We are thinking about the bets we should be making in this regard,” said Vipul Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Petrochemicals, RIL, as reported by Mint.

Shah said the firm had reviewed a few hundred applications from startups and was looking at a model that could be replicated.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned company is keen to give back to the environment as there is a lot of environmental damage, particularly to the oceans, caused by the sheer volume of plastic waste.

Considered one of the largest recyclers of PET (Post-consumer) waste in India, Reliance converted about two billion waste PET bottles into fabric in 2018. And now, it plans to double the current capacity of PET bottle recycling to five million bottles in the next few years.

To create value from waste, Reliance has also used recycled plastic in road construction. In its annual report, RIL said the PET business has involved end consumers in its recycling initiative. It encourages end consumers to deposit empty PET bottles at reverse vending machines installed at Reliance SMART stores, railway stations, and various other locations.

Earlier this year, Raymond Group, India’s leading fashion and textile manufacturer and retailer, joined hands with Reliance Industries to unveil an eco-friendly range of fabrics.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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