Page 33 - Plastics News Issue September2025
P. 33
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
policy, a key component of which is the ‘certifi- han Ramteke, Head–Carbon Unit, MMCM. In an
cate of deposit’ (CD), a government coupon that interaction with businessline, Ramteke said that
makes the holder eligible for discounts on road MMCM has partnered with Cercarbano, a US-
tax (typically 10 per cent of vehicle value) and based standard, in preference to others such as
registration charges when buying a new vehicle. Gold Standard or Vera, because of its advanced
The discount on road tax varies by State. The registry support for digital measurement, re-
CDs can be traded in the market. porting, and verification (DMRV) processes.
Despite the policy, the uptake of formal vehi- DMRV enables complete traceability of every
cle scrapping has been disappointingly low. The piece of material and every credit generated,
government estimated there were one crore ensuring transparency and eliminating double
ELVs in 2022 and projected 2.5 crore by 2025. counting. MMCM estimates that carbon credits
However, fewer than 2,00,000 vehicles have from scrapped vehicles could fetch $20-25 a
been scrapped under the policy, representing tonne in the global voluntary market.
less than 1 per cent of the total. A major reason
for the low adoption is the disparity in infrastruc- The main buyers of these credits would be auto
ture and profitability. OEMs — after all, these credits originate from
their own value chain, offering a more relevant
While there are nearly 140 licensed registered offset compared with generic credits, such as
vehicle scrapping facilities (RVSFs) in India, with those accruing from distributing eco-friendly
about 78 concentrated in the National Capital Re- cookstoves.
gion (where compulsory scrapping is enforced
by the National Green Tribunal), formal RVSFs Carbon marketplace
require substantial investment (`10-20 crore per MMCM is working with Niti Aayog, the Indian
facility, totalling around `2,000 crore across the government’s think-tank, to introduce ELV cred-
sector) to meet de-pollution and environmental its into the evolving Indian Carbon Market (ICM),
standards. In contrast, the informal sector, which which is expected to be operational next year.
often disregards environmental protocols (for MMCM’s methodology has already been submit-
example, spilling oil, releasing AC gases), enjoys ted for inclusion in the offset (voluntary) segment
higher profitability by reselling parts. of ICM, Ramteke said. He expects that credits
from the Indian offset market would be allowed
Now, Meta Materials Circular Market (MMCM), a
joint venture of NCDEX e-Markets Ltd and the to be traded in the global obligated markets, to
MTC group, is trying to put carbon credits in the help India meet its commitments.
pockets of those who scrap their vehicles. Furthermore, MMCM is strategically aiming to
place its methodology under Article 6.2 of the
The company helps vehicle recyclers, provid-
ing the know-how and tools to generate carbon Paris Agreement. The article governs the glob-
credits, for a revenue share. al compliance markets. India is on the verge of
signing a joint credit mechanism (JCM) with Ja-
“Climate finance is the solution,” says Yashod- pan. This is particularly relevant given that 70 per
September 2025 PLASTICS NEWS 33
