Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc (LON:SYM), the global specialists in technologies that make plastic and rubber products smarter, safer and more sustainable, has announced that Symphony Environmental India Pvt Ltd (“Symphony India”), its Indian joint venture with Indorama Corporation, has been honoured with a prestigious award for its contribution to sustainability with d2w biodegradable masterbatch technology for manufacturing non-bio plastics into biodegradable, environmentally safe compounds.
Sustainability award
This important award was given to Symphony India’s CEO Arjun Aggarwal at the Vivekananda Sustainability Summit in New Delhi on 19 April in the category of “Development of new materials contributing to Sustainability through scientific innovation to the improvement of environment”. The award was presented by Mr Nitin Gadkari (Cabinet Minister, Road, Transport & Highways India).
The summit saw many stakeholders working for sustainable development in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” (Clean India Mission) that aims, among other things, to tackle plastic products that escape collection for recycling. These are considered hazardous and they create non-biodegradable plastic waste that contaminates land, rivers and oceans. The awards honour those who have made important contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals published by the United Nations in 2015 which comprise 17 interlinked global targets “to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”
The Extended Producer Responsibility policy published by the Indian Ministry of Environment (“MoE”) in February 2022 requires significant changes for the treatment and disposal to pre-consumer and post-consumer plastic packaging waste that will encourage more recycling and use of biodegradable plastics.
Symphony India Operations Update
The low-cost d2w masterbatch technology was developed by Symphony, and is now being produced in India with locally produced materials. Initial d2w product sales have now been made (albeit at a small level) and delivered to Indian customers, but importantly, strong customer enquiries are being received. Plastic waste is a major issue and d2w deals with the plastic waste by converting it automatically at the end of its useful life into a waxy substance which is biodegradable in the open environment. It does not need to be collected and taken to a composting facility. The infrastructure is now in place for manufacturing at commercial levels and based upon current enquiries, the Board anticipate increasing sales volumes during H2-2022 and beyond.
Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony UK, said “We are delighted that Symphony India has been given this prestigious award for the enormous effort and contribution that it is making. India is a country whose environment suffers seriously from plastic pollution, and we will do everything we can to support our colleagues in India to solve this problem.
We believe this award will significantly strengthen our visibility in the country as new waste management laws banning or restricting ordinary plastics become effective later this year. As such we expect to see further material increases in enquiries and sales.”
Arjun Aggarwal, CEO of Symphony Environmental India, said: “As a responsible company, we feel it is our duty to ensure that the Earth – our only home – remains the blue planet that nature intended it to be and is not turned into a dumping ground for plastics. Our revolutionary masterbatch technology paves the way for an Earth free of plastic footprint, whether on land or the oceans. This is our humble response to the clarion call by the visionary Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Swachh Bharat (Clean India). We want to extend this goal to a Swachh Earth (Clean Earth).”
