Circular Supply Chain Management for Resource Sustainability and Human Health in Water/Effluent Treatment Plants (WTP) of Nagpur SMEs

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the industrial development in a belt of the Nagpur Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) which encloses clusters like Butibori, Hingna, Kalmeshwar, Wadi and MIHAN-SEZ. These clusters produce significant amounts of process water, and trade effluent due to the textile, engineering, chemical, food processing and allied manufacturing. This paper explores the possibilities of incorporating the principles of circular economy into the supply chain management of Water/Effluent Treatment Plant (WETP) having SMEs as operators or as part of the supply chain in Nagpur, with the dual aim of resource sustainability and human health protection. The study adopts a conceptual approach based on literature to establish a closed-loop model for water in the industrial sector of Nagpur, connecting the raw water intake, industrial water production, effluent treatment, resource recovery, and industrial water re-use.In order to propose a closed loop model for industrial water in Nagpur for reuse, the study combines circular economy theory, Indian research on the sustainability of MSMEs, and secondary data on the existing water infrastructure. The paper highlights the main challenges for adoption, including financial constraints, technical capacity gaps, inadequate inter-firm coordination and high operating costs of treatment technology, and explains how a circular supply chain helps to lower freshwater withdrawal, reduce contamination of water bodies by discharges and limit occupational and community health risks due to untreated or inadequately treated discharges. The study ends with a set of managerial and policy recommendations for the water governance at the cluster level in the SME ecosystem of Nagpur