We often talk about sustainability as if it were a burden, a "tax" we pay to be good corporate citizens. But if you look closer, the story changes. The linear economy where we dig things up, use them once, and bury them isn't just bad for the planet; it is a clumsy way to do business.
Therefore, in many ways waste is a design flaw.
In nature, there is no such thing as a trash can. A fallen leaf isn’t "waste" rather it is breakfast for the forest floor. The output of one process is always the input for another. Humans are the only species that create things the planet doesn't know how to digest.
For the last century, we’ve been running the global economy like a household that earns $100,000 a year but spends $170,000. We are currently using 1.7 Earths’ worth of resources annually. We have been covering the deficit by liquidating our natural capital which is akin to draining the savings account instead of living off the interest. That era is ending. As the saying goes: "Yesterday, circularity was a CSR slide. Today, it is a procurement strategy. Tomorrow, it will be a license to sell".
The New Mining: Looking Above Ground
So, how do we fix the design flaw? We can design for recyclability. For example, the hardest part to recycle in a car are the seats. That’s because they were not designed with recyclability in the mind. If we designed the foam and fabric from recyclable materials, it would have solved the issue.
Going forward, sustainability will mean that we can stop looking down at mines and start looking around at our cities. This is the concept of "Manufacturing Sovereignty". Instead of relying on volatile geopolitical supply chains for raw materials, we can mine the "urban forest" of end-of-life products.
To meaningfully take the sustainability mission forward the world needs to innovate rapidly and bet on newer technologies. This is an opportunity which exists now but may not be available a few years down the line as this space matures.
This is where Ester Industries is planting its flag. We view Polyester (PET) not as a disposable plastic, but as a "magic material". It is the clay of the modern world capable of being molded, melted, and remolded infinitely without losing its soul.
To push the envelope on the sustainability mission, we joined hands with NASDAQ listed technology company Loop to form a joint venture ELITe (Ester Loop Technologies Limited). This venture will make it possible, for the first time ever, to achieve true circularity in textile at commercial scale. It will be a unique chemical recycling project which will make possible to chemically recycle practical textile waste into virgin like material. This investment has been ably backed by trust of global giants like Nike and Taroplast who understand this need of backing novel and proven technologies.
Another example of innovation pushing the sustainability envelop is our patented ultra-high heat seal BOPET offering which makes mono material PET laminates possible for the first time. This along with our ELITe (Ester Loop Infinite Technologies Ltd.) investment will be able to provide a truly circular laminate to laminate recycling solution for the first time.
Our new investments in Hyderabad have pushed our rPET capacity to over 25,000 MT/annum. We are innovating to produce many materials from this sustainable feedstock. This is what has led to rPET based recycled flame retardants and PBT specialty materials that act as the building blocks for everything from electronics to automobiles. We have also ventured into novel BioPET business with a unique proposition of 100% sustainable content where as usual BioPET has 33% sustainability content. In many such ways we are proving that you can have safety, performance, and sustainability in the same package.
There are myriad such ways that industries can innovate to make meaningful difference in the sustainability economy beyond the usual slogans and sustainability charters which look good on paper but far from action on ground.
Cleaning the Kitchen, Not Just the Ingredients
One cannot bake a healthy cake in a dirty kitchen. It is pointless to make a "green" recycled product if you burn tons of coal to produce it.
That is why we need to look beyond just the materials that we use and produce. We need to invest radically in decarbonizing the entire manufacturing value chain. On our end we are rapidly shifting to renewable power, using sustainable fuels like rice husk for heat and investing in newer technologies to save energy. Such actions are required to ensure that our electrons are as green as our polymers.
The "Class to Mass" Shift
Right now, you might think, "This sounds great, but it’s too expensive." And its true innovation often starts with a premium.
In early days of the smartphone or the electric car they were expensive. At first, only the "Class" could afford it. But as adoption grows, the technology matures, and costs crash. We are currently designing for the cohort leading consumers and brands ready to pay for the future. We along with the sustainable economy in general are driving the efficiency that will take these materials to the "Mass."
Bottom Line
Ultimately, the Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. The Linear Age won’t end because we run out of oil. It will end because we realized that throwing things away is a luxury we can no longer afford.
At Ester, we are rewriting the code of manufacturing with sustainability in our mind. We are securing our supply chains, cleaning our energy, and proving that the best raw material isn't found in the ground it's found in what we've already built.