Waste Not, Want Not: A Q&A with Rajesh Sinha

Rajesh Sinha is the Washington, DC-based Principal Investment Officer for IFC’s Environmental and Municipal Infrastructure unit and Global Lead for the Waste Management sector. Here, he shares how his childhood experiences influenced a career aimed at both doing well and doing good—and how innovative, waste-to-value circular business models can help green the waste management and manufacturing sectors.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Was there a time when you became conscious of infrastructure gaps and the need for better waste management solutions?

My family belongs to Bihar, one of India’s poorest states. When I was a kid, my parents really struggled. As the first generation to go to college and as the youngest of three children, I had the benefit of access to more opportunities than others in my family. I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. I feel especially fortunate to have been given opportunities my siblings and parents did not have. But I also feel a responsibility to live up to what they sacrificed for me and to give back.

At some level, I’ve always had an awareness of infrastructure issues, which are so intertwined with poverty and explosive population growth, among other broader challenges. As a child, I played in garbage heaps along with my friends. I can’t say I had analytical observations about the downsides of playing in garbage dumps. But I did have some sense that this was a problem, especially since my friends and I got sick often.

How did these experiences inform your path to IFC?

In business school, I really began to put an analytical framework around how infrastructure gaps hinder development. After graduation, I went into investment banking. That’s when I realized that infrastructure challenges went well beyond financing. There were issues with the fundamental business models in sectors like energy, water, and waste. I wanted to get at the root causes of these issues, but in private-sector investment banking, you can’t focus on these things because they aren’t profitable. So, I redirected my career path. I accepted a position in Delhi with the World Bank, where addressing deep-rooted structural challenges is the mission. I see a link between this redirection and the sense of responsibility that goes back to childhood. It’s not enough to do well. You must add value, make a difference, and do good.

I moved over to IFC about 12 years ago, working first on a broad range of infrastructure projects including power, transport and urban infrastructure. I started my current role in the waste management sector in 2018. It’s a sector that’s a bit overlooked because let’s face it, the energy sector feels a lot more glamorous than waste! But maybe this also comes back to my childhood experiences—and my ability to relate with the poorest of the poor, working as waste pickers in dumps. 

There’s a lot of talk these days about circular solutions in waste management. What are they and what’s IFC’s role?

Great question! Circularity essentially means extracting value from waste streams: sorting and recycling materials such as plastics and metals and reintroducing them as raw materials for manufacturing; recovering landfill gasses and energy from waste for use as fuel sources and for decarbonizing the manufacturing sector. IFC is bringing such circular waste management solutions to emerging market municipal utilities. We did this in Belgrade, Serbia, with a project to extract energy from the Vinča landfill and produce steam and electricity for the city network, while also doing away with one of Europe’s largest open dumps.

We layer a private sector lens onto these solutions—bringing in private sector partners, crowding in commercial funding, building financially viable business models, improving operational efficiencies, and creating assets. Such solutions are tough for governments to do alone—especially emerging market municipalities that may not have the money, skill sets, or resources. We collaborate with our World Bank colleagues, who work with governments to implement the enabling policies and regulations essential to attracting private investment.

IFC’s role is also about bringing the business case for circularity to our waste management clients. They can reduce climate emissions, clean up the environment, improve public health, and increase revenue streams simultaneously: glass manufacturers can pay them for glass extracted, aluminum producers can pay for aluminum extracted, plastics manufacturers can pay for plastics extracted, and so on.

What are some other recent examples of IFC’s work in this area?

I am very excited about a project in Poland, where we’re partnering with Elemental Holding to build new metals recycling and refining facilities. Our $90 million equity investment—part of a larger IFC financing plan —will help the company scale up the extraction of metals from automotive parts, lithium-ion batteries, electronic waste, and the like for reuse. And IFC’s $30 million loan to Averda, which provides waste management services to more than 60,000 private and public sector clients across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, and will enable the construction of a plastics recycling facility in South Africa, while supporting ongoing projects in Oman and Morocco.

We also see great potential in markets like Brazil and India. Once the enabling policy frameworks are in place, we believe these markets will scale up rapidly.

Where do you see the future of IFC’s waste management work?

Building out and mainstreaming circular waste management business is super-complicated, yet exciting. Circular solutions also have the potential to yield hugely impactful change, contributing to sustainable, inclusive economic growth and a decarbonized future. So, we must incentivize the push to grow the business.

Most recently, we launched our Circularity Plus platform. It’s a unique offer, designed to assist companies and select municipal utilities with investment and advisory solutions that accelerate the waste-to-value approach. This involves developing circular waste management solutions that are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals. The focus is on implementing recycling and waste recovery business models that generate a triple bottom line of strong financial, environmental, and social returns.

Our vision goes beyond the solid waste sector. If we can do better here—if we can create viable business models to extract value and recover recyclable material like glass, metal, and plastic from this sector—it opens important opportunities to improve the sustainability of productive activities, like manufacturing, which is a huge climate culprit.

How do you find balance in life?

Right now, I am not doing a great job at that! I read a lot to keep on top of industry trends—The Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and the Economic Times of India. I also love reading world history. I’m hoping to get back to playing lawn and table tennis, which I really like. And in our house, we love watching soccer.

Any favorite book you’d recommend to your younger self?

I was a voracious reader when I was younger, something I hope to pick up again in the future. One of the books that left a deep impression was The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham. Written over 80 years ago, it remains relevant today, because it highlights the shortcomings and consequences of modern materialistic lives. It’s also a great read, despite the heavy theme. 

Related links:

IFC Waste Management