TED Talks India: Nayi Baat
Mani Vajipey: How India's local recyclers could solve plastic pollution
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India has one of the world's highest rates of plastic recycling, thanks largely to an extensive network of informal recyclers known as "kabadiwalas." Entrepreneur Mani Vajipey discusses his work to organize their massive efforts into a collection system that could put India on the path to ending plastic pollution -- and show the rest of the world how to do it, too.
Mani Vajipey - Entrepreneur
Mani Vajipey has dedicated his life and career to the overhaul of waste management in India. Full bio
Mani Vajipey has dedicated his life and career to the overhaul of waste management in India. Full bio
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00:12
Shah Rukh Khan: Say no to plastic.
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The one thing that
all environmental warriors teach us.
all environmental warriors teach us.
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But we begin and end the day
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with products that have been made
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from this virtually
indestructible material.
indestructible material.
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The truth is that our consumption
and disposal of plastic has reached
and disposal of plastic has reached
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such unsustainable proportions
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that we need to address this
using every idea and resource at hand.
using every idea and resource at hand.
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Please welcome someone who's helping
solve India's waste management issues,
solve India's waste management issues,
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Mani Vajipey,
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recycler and cofounder/CEO
of Banyan Nation.
of Banyan Nation.
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(Applause)
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Mani Vajipey: If recycling
were an Olympic sport,
were an Olympic sport,
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India would win the gold medal.
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India has one of the highest rates
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of plastic recycling and recovery
in the entire world.
in the entire world.
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Higher than the likes of Singapore,
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countries in North America
and even countries in Europe.
and even countries in Europe.
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India recovers and recycles
over 60 percent of its plastic waste,
over 60 percent of its plastic waste,
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whereas a developed country,
like United States,
like United States,
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manages just about 10 percent.
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This high rate of collection
is largely possible
is largely possible
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thanks to the millions
of informal recyclers,
of informal recyclers,
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the kabadiwalas, the bhandiwallas
and the raddiwalas
and the raddiwalas
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that we find at every street corner
across every city in India.
across every city in India.
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And yet, in spite of such a ubiquitous,
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extensive and intricate
network of recyclers,
network of recyclers,
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India's national scenery
is dominated by filth and squalor.
is dominated by filth and squalor.
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And the general perception
is that we don't recycle our plastics.
is that we don't recycle our plastics.
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The other thing about plastics in India
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is that any product
made from recycled plastic
made from recycled plastic
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is considered to be substandard
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and we expect it to be cheaper as well.
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What we don't realize is
there are several types of plastics
there are several types of plastics
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in their virgin and pure form,
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if recycled scientifically,
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can be recycled several times over
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without any compromise in quality.
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If we can recover and reuse
our discarded plastic,
our discarded plastic,
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then we save a significant
amount of virgin plastic
amount of virgin plastic
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that we would have otherwise
produced and consumed.
produced and consumed.
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And this is very important,
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because virgin plastic
is made from fossil fuels
is made from fossil fuels
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that are an exhaustible resource.
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The more virgin plastic
we produce and consume,
we produce and consume,
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the more plastic waste we have to manage.
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Mismanagement of plastic waste
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leads to the leakage of such materials
into our water bodies.
into our water bodies.
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It's now common knowledge
that by the year 2050
that by the year 2050
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we'll have more plastics
in our oceans than fish.
in our oceans than fish.
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About seven years ago,
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my friend and cofounder Raj and I,
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we decided that we were going to focus
on solving this massive problem.
on solving this massive problem.
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We went around the city of Hyderabad,
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talking to local recyclers.
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Very soon, we found out
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that there were many recyclers
just in Hyderabad alone.
just in Hyderabad alone.
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We soon realized
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that the plastic recycling
industry of today
industry of today
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is not very different
from the milk industry
from the milk industry
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of the '60s and '70s.
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Milk in India is produced
by marginal milk farmers,
by marginal milk farmers,
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with two or three cows or buffalos,
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who produce five to ten
liters of milk a day.
liters of milk a day.
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Instead of blindly aping
solutions from the West,
solutions from the West,
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India championed
the milk cooperative model,
the milk cooperative model,
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where thousands of such
small-scale recyclers
small-scale recyclers
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were brought together into groups.
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With scale came innovations
and investments.
and investments.
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India was transformed
from a milk-deficit nation
from a milk-deficit nation
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to the world's leading
exporter and producer of milk.
exporter and producer of milk.
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It dawned upon us
that India had in the past
that India had in the past
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solved much larger problems,
like milk deficiency.
like milk deficiency.
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We only need to look back to our past
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to find inspiration in solving
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what is perhaps the most
fundamental issue of our times,
fundamental issue of our times,
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that is plastic pollution.
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But before we could do this,
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or before brands
could use recycled plastic,
could use recycled plastic,
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we had to solve two things.
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Quality and scale.
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For us, to make a shampoo bottle
from discarded plastics,
from discarded plastics,
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we had to collect tens of thousands
of tons of discarded plastics.
of tons of discarded plastics.
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For that, we needed data.
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Raj and I built a simple
data intelligence platform
data intelligence platform
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that allowed us to map all the recyclers,
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giving us a bird's eye view
of every recycler in Hyderabad.
of every recycler in Hyderabad.
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The results were astounding.
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There were 2,000 kabadiwalas
just in Hyderabad alone.
just in Hyderabad alone.
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That means, for every square kilometer,
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there were four kabadiwalas
or informal recyclers.
or informal recyclers.
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No developed country or city
in the entire world
in the entire world
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has the luxury of such a brilliant
collection system.
collection system.
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(Applause)
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Once we had the data,
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the rest was fairly straightforward.
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We started trading
with the informal recyclers,
with the informal recyclers,
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we started training them
to segregate the materials
to segregate the materials
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based on our quality specifications.
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In the past five years,
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we've developed several clusters
across South India,
across South India,
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comprising of thousands
of such informal recyclers,
of such informal recyclers,
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who interact with us
both directly and digitally.
both directly and digitally.
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In parallel, we began working
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on the problem of quality
and purity of material.
and purity of material.
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So in the past five years,
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we developed a proprietary
cleaning technology
cleaning technology
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that allows us to eliminate
all contaminants.
all contaminants.
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Today, Banyan's recycled granules
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have undergone stringent quality testing
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and have been certified by top
global FMCG and automotive companies.
global FMCG and automotive companies.
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In the next few months,
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tens of thousands of discarded plastics
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collected through informal
recycler networks
recycler networks
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will be converted
into high-quality granules
into high-quality granules
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and sent away to brands
and large companies
and large companies
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to make bottles for engine-oil packaging,
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for shampoo bottles and for lotions.
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In the next three years,
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we expect that over 500 million
such bottles will be made
such bottles will be made
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from our recycled plastics.
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(Applause)
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But this is just the beginning.
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In the next five years,
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we aspire to build an India
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where 100 percent of discarded plastics
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are recycled and
repurposed scientifically --
repurposed scientifically --
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where plastic waste
no longer threatens our water bodies,
no longer threatens our water bodies,
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and the very survival
of our terrestrial and marine life.
of our terrestrial and marine life.
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So the next time you go to a store
and pick up a shampoo bottle,
and pick up a shampoo bottle,
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see if that bottle uses safe
and sustainable recycled plastic.
and sustainable recycled plastic.
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That's not only just
going to help the Earth
going to help the Earth
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but also reward the street corner recycler
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for his all-important work.
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Now that will compel brands
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to use more and more recycled plastic
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for their mainstream products
and applications.
and applications.
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Our tradition and our culture
has a lot of ancient wisdom.
has a lot of ancient wisdom.
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Let's not destroy the only planet we have.
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The only home we have.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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SRK: Thank you, Mani.
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When I was young, I used to --
(sings in Hindi).
(sings in Hindi).
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How little do we know sometimes
that we are, as a nation,
that we are, as a nation,
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the biggest recycler
of plastics and waste,
of plastics and waste,
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if not just plastic,
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and we didn't know this
about our own country.
about our own country.
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MV: May I say something really cool?
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Cities like New York and Paris today
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are looking to put out
reverse vending machines
reverse vending machines
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so that people can go
and put trash in that
and put trash in that
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and then they can get some cash.
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For the past several decades,
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the entire country and the kabadiwalas,
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and the bhandiwallas,
we have been doing that.
we have been doing that.
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I'm very positive
that in three to five years,
that in three to five years,
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you'll wake up, you know
that the plastic is being recycled,
that the plastic is being recycled,
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you're going to pick up a packaging,
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you know that the package
actually has a mark
actually has a mark
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that uses recycled plastics,
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so I'm super optimistic about this.
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Even as an entrepreneur.
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(Applause)
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SRK: When I see a youngster
do what he has done and achieved,
do what he has done and achieved,
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I want that part to also be
a source of encouragement
a source of encouragement
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for people to take over.
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So tell me, are you making a lot of money?
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MV: What's so brilliant
about plastic recycling now is
about plastic recycling now is
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it's an idea whose time has come.
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And we're very fortunate to have signed
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a really big, multimillion-dollar contract
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with some of the top FMCG companies.
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So we are at the inflection
point in India.
point in India.
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And --
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SRK: Tell us the money,
money, money, Mani.
money, money, Mani.
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MV: (Laughs)
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SRK: Give the figure,
it will encourage people,
it will encourage people,
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it's not for greed,
it's not for any of the reasons ...
it's not for any of the reasons ...
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Say to them.
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They are making good money, yeah.
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(Applause)
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MV: For us, to build
these systems in place,
these systems in place,
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we need investors
who will back us to develop --
who will back us to develop --
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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SRK: You have to be like Mani
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that I'm asking, "How much you're making?"
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he's already making it off me.
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But I may look stupid, but I'm not.
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I totally and completely believe
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in the concept of recycling plastic,
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and I'm going to help Mani
with my first investment
with my first investment
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that all the plastic bottles
that we have at shootings,
that we have at shootings,
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in every shooting of mine,
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I'm going to send it
to his company to recycle,
to his company to recycle,
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starting from these four.
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Thank you very much, Mani.
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(Applause)
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MV: Thank you so much.
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SRK: Big round of applause for Mani.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mani Vajipey - EntrepreneurMani Vajipey has dedicated his life and career to the overhaul of waste management in India.
Why you should listen
Mani Vajipey is the cofounder and CEO of Banyan Nation, a technology-driven recycling company that is changing the way India looks at plastics, recycling and waste management. Banyan Nation was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Hyderbad. Vajipey holds dual MBAs from UC Berkeley (Haas) and Columbia Business Schools, an MS Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Delaware and a BTech Electrical Engineering from NIT, Warangal.
Mani Vajipey | Speaker | TED.com