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BUSINESS
37recyclinginternational.com | November/December | 2021
IE
R
C
20
22
Jan. 18 – 21, 2022
Salzburg, Austria
www.icm.ch
20th International Electronics Recycling Congress IERC 2022
Registratio
n now ope
n.
Early bird
ends Nov
. 30, 2021
.
BO O K N O
W !
options such as electric vehicles, peo-
ple will eventually move away from
petrol-powered vehicles. So their cur-
rent vehicles will no longer seem a via-
ble or smart choice and will end up as
ELVs.’
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC
AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS?
‘Since we operate in the booming
economy of India, we have been as
equally exposed to the pandemic as
other businesses in the country. At
first, the lockdown brought all eco-
nomic activities to temporary stagna-
tion. Then the international shipping
container crisis that followed made it
difficult and expensive to get car
bales from the international market.
Now, with the number of new Covid
cases on the decline and the increas-
ing availability of the vaccines, the
pandemic and its effects appear to be
fading. We are hopeful that every-
thing will get back on the track in a
few months and, once the vehicles
start pouring in from domestic collec-
tion, it will no longer be a factor to be
worried about.’
WILL YOUR EFFORTS HELP INDIA
BECOME LESS DEPENDENT ON
STEEL SCRAP IMPORTS?
‘Reducing India’s dependence on
imports of steel scrap is definitely
one of the key motivators for coming
up with this project. Obviously,
being an emerging economy India
definitely needs as many sources as
possible. One shredder alone cannot
feed India’s scrap demand. Let’s say
it’s the beginning of a new future.
A small initiative can bring major
change and our motivation is to help
bring a culture of car recycling to
India.’
obviously boosts car sales. Ultimately,
in the next 10-12 years, these ELVs
end up in the shredder. What helps is
a big difference in the perception of
people nowadays compared to, let’s
say, 15 years ago. A car is now viewed
as more of a necessity than the luxury
it was considered in the past. This
changed mindset, along with an
increase in people’s purchasing power,
has lead to a steep rise in the demand
for cars. From May 2002 to Aug 2021,
sales of motor vehicles grew at an
average rate of more than 9% per
year. And again, increased sales today
means a rise in the number of ELVs in
the future.
Apart from that, with time we expect
people to be more open minded and
aware of the need to replace their old
vehicles for better and safer ones.
Moreover, with the push of the gov-
ernment towards more sustainable
ANY PLANS YET TO INCREASE
SHREDDER CAPACITY AT B LAL
STEEL?
‘It is our ambition to expand our pres-
ence across various cities once the
Punjab shredder runs at full capacity.
In fact, we are doing research to set
up another scrap car collection centre
and a shredder in the Delhi area.
Considering that the government
seems keen on getting the policy
implemented soon, we expect a large
number of old vehicles to pour in for
recycling within the next couple of
years. When that happens, there will
be a need for more shredders at dif-
ferent locations and we will be
expanding accordingly. It is my vision
and dream to be present in every
major city in India in the future and
to recycle as many vehicles as possi-
ble.’
34-35-36-37_blalsteel.indd 37 10-11-21 14:36
