INTERVIEW
69recyclinginternational.com | May/June | 2023
‘Investors are looking at us, the recyclers’
The road towards global circularity will be long and bumpy, says
Surendra Patawari, founder and chairman of recycling major Gemini
Corporation. ‘There is so much ignorance: three billion people have
no access to proper collection systems. Three billion. How do you
expect to get full recycling and circularity off the ground’?
Plastics and metals recycling firm
Gemini may be more than 30 years old
but its headquarters in the west of
Belgium’s port city of Antwerp looks
very young. It’s a modern, white, spa-
cious office building featuring floor-to-
ceiling windows and art decorating the
walls. What’s more, the car park offers
charging stations for both visitors and
employees. ‘Obviously, being a circu-
larity business, we were eager to be
among the first adopters of greener
solutions in mobility,’ says Surendra
Patawari over Indian Jain lunch.
It was about time to be catching up
with Gemini’s founder and chairman
after three years which have been
largely dictated by pandemic restric-
tions. No conferences, less travel,
fewer face-to-face business meetings.
Not that Gemini’s global activities
stood still. On the contrary: Covid
offered ‘plenty of challenges – not
least on the logistics side,’ he says. At
the same time, Gemini’s management
team has been busy exploring new
business opportunities.
INVITATION FROM HM THE KING
In the post-Covid era, regular confer-
ence speaker Patawari, who chaired
the Global Plastic Task Force (GPTF)
for one year and, among other roles, is
on the board of directors of the
Alliance to End Plastic Waste, has
returned to attending major congress-
es and summits. Recent events includ-
ed the COP27, the conference on the
UN Global Plastic Treaty, the Annual
Meeting of the Alliance to End Plastic
Waste and MRAI, and the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
with representatives of 130 countries
or so discussing how to combat cli-
mate change and global warming.
Another highlight: Patawari was invited
by His Majesty King Charles to set up
the Plastics Task Force to act on plastic
waste and circular economy related
topics. ‘I felt honoured receiving a let-
ter in which he personally thanked me
for sharing my insights.’
BUZZWORDS MISUSED
What strikes him is that big brands are
preaching sustainability and recycling,
but in reality, they continue to use pri-
mary resources. ‘Sustainability and cir-
cularity have become buzzwords mis-
used by big company board rooms,
Fotobijschrift
KADERKOP
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Surendra Patawari: ‘The fact is that the global circularity rate is going down.’
68-69-70-71_surendraborad.indd 69 04-05-2023 08:30
