Svanika Balasubramanian, rePurpose Global [Video]

Company: rePurpose GlobalTitle: Co-founder & Chief Executive OfficerIndustry: Waste managementHometown: Muscat, OmanNotable in 2023: Collaborated with 300-plus consumer brands to reduce plastic waste and increase margins.

Plastic waste is one of the biggest environmental problems that exists, and experts say consumers won’t simply recycle their way out of it. Recycling is expensive. Not all plastic can be recycled. And most alarming, according to Svanika Balasubramanian, co-founder and CEO of rePurpose Global, the global economy has pushed the plastics issue off on low-income, exploited communities around the world.

Instead of a waste economy tied to a circular economy that functions in line with the broader goal of reaching plastic neutrality in the decades ahead, her research uncovered what she has called “an unregulated, corrupt informal waste sector” engaging millions of people from impoverished communities.

The same communities with decades of experience handling waste don’t lack innovative ideas, she says. What they …