AkshayaRath (CEO), MSc. Chemistry, comes with 20+ years of experience in e marketplace, supply chain. He was instrumental in conceptualization, designing and developing of bidnemo.com & bankeauctions.com. His expertise has helped him yield profitability out of every B2B business venture he has headed. He entered the “C-Suite” in the early stages of his career and has managed 30+ e-tendering implementation projects in Govt. departments & Public sector units in domestic market. Akshaya also brings his expertise in e-auctions as a subject matter expert and has also led a team to develop e-auction (reverse & forward) software solution in his previous organisation. At Ecoex, Akshaya is leading the team as CEO.
1. What are the company's offering's?
EcoEx is a first-of-its-kind electronic marketplace designed to promote a digital evolution toward a cleaner future. The firm developed a sustainable digital ecosystem that will enable all stakeholders in the plastic waste management value chain to conduct safe and beneficial transactions involving plastic credit certificates & waste commodities anytime, anywhere. EcoEx has also developed the first decentralised, block chain-based, credible plastic credit system.
2. What was the idea behind establishing the world's first decentralized, blockchain-based plastic credit system?
EcoEx created the world's first decentralised, blockchain-based plastic credit system and migrated to Hyperledger, assisting people in understanding and implementing circular economy concepts. The company's goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem and a waste-free future with monetary benefits. EcoEx provides a variety of waste management services, including EPR services, commodity trading, technology consulting, and the sale of environmentally friendly products. "EcoEx has leveraged the latest technologies to provide services by digitising the entire process and incorporating blockchain. Blockchain technology makes it possible for anyone to track the services offered by the firm, resulting in transparency, instant traceability, efficiency, automation improvements, and enhanced security ", says Nimit Aggarwal, EcoEx's founder.
3. How is the EcoEx roadmap different from other waste management companies?
We provide an Indian digital marketplace where recyclers meet brand owners and provide seamless transaction of plastic credit, assisting in the fulfilment of Plastic EPR as per the PWM guidelines 2016. EcoEx has 630+ members connected on our portal to provide a digital ecosystem for members to connect anytime and anywhere to generate plastic credit. We offer technology consulting, commodity trading, and the sale of eco-friendly products, all with the goal of creating a sustainable ecosystem and a waste-free future with monetary benefits. We have launched the world's first decentralised, blockchain-based plastic credit system.
4. Tell us about the challenges faced in the waste management Industry?
The waste management industry faces a material quality challenge because a typical waste stream can contain seven different types of plastic, each with a unique degradation pattern. The second problem is determining the source as well as the demand supply mismatch. Manual sorting results in an inefficient and uneven sorting procedure and waste pickers struggle to collect plastic waste and often disregard gathering specific plastic wastes owing to poor calorific value. Lastly, a lack of industry expertise and technology poses a significant challenge. Workers frequently encounter issues when they lack adequate competence in recycling plastic waste. In addition, a lack of access to technology may impede the recycling process.
5. We would like to hear more about the mission and vision of the company?
Our vision and mission is to become patrons of a cleaner tomorrow by guiding India's waste management industry toward self-sufficiency & self-efficacy and to build a secure, transparent & equitable digital ecosystem to connect the stakeholders of the waste management value chain & enable them to work in harmony.
6. What are the innovations/up-gradations that you are currently working on that might soon be launched in the market?
We have already started assisting and recycler partners to register in global carbon registries & generate plastic credit certificates which can be sold in global exchanges & fetch significant momentary value for next 10 years.
We have recruited subject matter experts for ESG audit and very soon start providing “BRSR & ESG” services to our partners and other enterprises.
7. What is the present waste commodity trading market scenario in India?
India’s annual demand for plastic packaging stands at 20 MMT – out of this, 15 MMT is met by virgin plastics and 5 MMT from recycled plastic materials. It has also been estimated that 45% of the 20 MMT – nearly 9.6 MMT – is consumed immediately and released as waste into the environment and surroundings. The remaining 55% (close to 11.4 MMT) is the growing stock which is used for products with longer life-span, such as batteries or bottles. The plastics industry employs almost 1.6 million people, directly and indirectly. The increasing awareness of the benefits of waste segregation, as well as strict government regulations, are driving market growth. EcoEx, founded in 2020 in Delhi, is constantly innovating and investing in new technologies to stay ahead of the competition.
8. Who all are the major clients company currently working on?
Supreme Agro, Marico, 'Mrs. Bector food specialties,' Canon, Bengal beverages, UNDP, CocaCola, Dabur, and Bikanervale are just a few of the firm's well-known clients. With over 630+ members on its portal, it offers a digital ecosystem for members to generate plastic credit whenever and wherever they want.
9. What is the growth path for you?
In sync with our role of empowering the recycling industry, we have identified following areas, wherein we are building technology tool to improve outcomes and help our community to leverage our E-market place.
1. Providing finance under EPR framework from PIBO’s
2. To optimise their procurement cost by using market place and reverse option tools.
3. To get better price realization for their finished goods.
4. To assist them to generate plastic credit certificates for selling in domestic and global market.
10. What will be the company's strategies for the forthcoming year?
We are working to create a vertical portal for recycling industry to automate their procurement process for goods and services
11. Anything else you would like to throw light on?
The proactive measures taken by Government of India in this space, including penalties, is helping more and more number of entities to register in CPCB online portal, which will help in gathering the relevant data on post-consumer waste collection, recycling and incineration