Abstract

The case study “Banyan Nation: Driving India’s Circular Economy” talks about the contributions made by India-based plastic recycling start-up Banyan Sustainable Waste Management Pvt. Ltd. in building India’s circular economy. It was in the early 2010s that Banyan’s founders Mani Kishore Vajipeyajula and Rajkiran Madangopal learnt that the un-scientific recycling methods used by the plastic recyclers in India’s informal sector were not only causing untold health damage to the people who did the processing, but were also harming the environment irrevocably. That prompted them to establish Banyan in 2013. Banyan employed a varied range of technologies to ensure a safe and effective plastic recycling process. The case discusses in depth the functioning of Banyan – a vertically integrated plastic recycling company involved in all the three stages of plastic recycling – collection (pre-sorting and post-sorting), recycling, and the subsequent sale of recycled plastic to companies. It describes Banyan’s product that it referred to as Better Plastic that could compete with virgin plastic on aspects such as quality, price, and reliability. The case ends with a look at the challenges being faced by Banyan and the various avenues for its growth. Considering the fact that the circular economy can be an important instrument to tackle the planetary crises on climate, biodiversity, and pollution, can Banyan spearhead India’s circular economy?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the significance of a social enterprise.
• Develop successful business ideas.
• Analyze the role played by social enterprises in building a circular economy.
• Examine the way digital technologies enabled a circular economy.
• Formulate appropriate strategies to market and sell circular economy products

Keywords

Circular Economy; Solid Waste Management; Vertical Integration; Business Idea Incubation; Digital Technology; Apps and Platforms; Social Enterprise; Startup; Sustainable Development Goals; Plastic Value Chain; Triple Bottom Line Framework; The Product Management; Informal Sector; Sustainability Leadership; and Waste Recycle Management