Aspirelabs Accelerator launched FINILOOP PLASTIC LAB program to support Plastic Waste Management Startups on 27th March, 2023

New Delhi (India), April 5: Aspirelabs launched FINILOOP PLASTIC LAB (www.aspirelabs.com/fpl), which is a part of FINILOOP (Financial Inclusion & Improved Livelihoods out of Plastics) – a city-level solid waste management program. FINILOOP is designed to achieve plastic waste-free cities by improving solid and plastic waste management while strengthening the livelihood opportunities of informal waste workers and fostering innovation for plastic waste enterprises. FINILOOP PLASTIC LAB (FPL) is a 14-month-long incubation program to support plastic waste entrepreneurs and startups from across the country who would work to make Udaipur and Amritsar plastic waste-free cities using the circular economy concept.

FPL is supported by the IKEA Foundation (www.ikeafoundation.org) and is being implemented by Aspirelabs (www.aspirelabs.com), WASTE Foundation (www.waste.nl) and Trust of People. It is also being supported by strategic partners like FINISH Society, Take a Stake fund and Shriram Institute of Industrial Research. The launch event held on 27th March 2023 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, featured eminent speakers from govt. and industry. Mr. Ranjit Singh, Aspirelabs founder, Mr. Jeroen IJgosse, WASTE Foundation, and Ms. Sophie Van den Berg, Program Director, FINILOOP, introduced the participants to the scope and objectives of the program and how the startups and cities will benefit from it. The chief guest, Mr. CK Mishra, Former Union Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), in his address, emphasized the need for a paradigm shift vis-à-vis plastic and congratulated Aspirelabs for adding a fifth ‘R’ – ‘Reimagine’ to the existing four R’s of plastic – Refuse, Reuse, Recycle and Recover and he hoped that FINILOOP would be able to close the loop on plastics.

The program was divided into three sessions with a common theme of “REIMAGINE PLASTIC”. The discussions focused on accelerating plastic circularity and covered the following aspects – • Policy challenges & interventions • Perspective of startups regarding challenges related to circularity in plastics • Bridging the critical gaps to catalyze circularity in plastics • In the first session, there were individual speeches by prominent researchers, policymakers, academicians, CSR experts & people from industry at large to explain the justifications for the laws and their long-term effects.

Some of them were Mr. Somveer Anand, CEO and Mission Director, Innovation Mission Punjab (Virtual), Mr. Prabhat Pani, Executive Director – CISD, SPJIMR; (Virtual), Prof Anup Kumar Ghosh, Emeritus Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, IIT Delhi, Mr. Harkesh Mittal, Chairman, Startup India Seed Fund Committee, Govt. of India, Ms. Saloni Goel, Head Circular Economy and Plastic Waste Management, UNDP India, Ms. Gitika Goswami, Associate Vice President & Lead Policy Research & Planning, Development Alternatives, Dr. Mukul Das, Director, Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, Ms. Rishika Chatterjee, Associate – Startup India and Mr. Pavee Raheja, Chief Strategy Officer, Terraform ESG. • In the second session, we had our first-panel discussion to understand the perspective of startups already working in Plastic Waste Management space and the challenges faced by them.