Waste Ventures
The challenge
Urban areas in India generate 0.14 million tons of dry and wet waste on a daily basis, of which only 29% is adequately recycled. The informal sector dominated by waste pickers is responsible for this recycling effort, whose lives are plagued by low and irregular incomes, low social standing, as well as unfair pricing.
The innovation
Waste Ventures India has established a formalised market for waste streams which averts waste from landfill and creates higher incomes for the waste pickers, with standardized prices with upfront payments. They purchase and segregate dry and wet waste from third-party waste pickers, corporates and apartment complexes, and process it to sell to recyclers.
The impact
They provide up to 25% additional income to 1,200+ waste pickers and improve their long-term living standards.
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