Five Waste Management Startups That Provide Door-to-Door Services

As we enter the years labelled as most crucial in determining our planet’s future, the call of the hour – loud and clear – is sustainability. As a citizen, it is best to understand sustainability as an umbrella term: it extends to every way of living that leaves behind as little environmental damage as possible. One of the most devastating – and irreversible – ways of environmental damage that we participate in on a daily basis is waste disposal.

Waste lives a long life. Even biodegradable products break down over a long period of time – and without proper segregation, these products may not even break down entirely. While the thought of living sustainable often comes along with the apprehensive “but how will my actions make a difference in the bigger picture?”, perhaps the only good thing about waste it that it defeats this question. Every day, an urban Indian household produces an average of 1.4 kilograms of waste. In the backdrop of this increasing figure, even individual household practising responsible disposal of waste paves the way for a safer way of living. The bigger picture of waste management is made up of significant smaller pieces – and there are several ways to make each piece matter. While large scale waste management services like SKRAP help corporates navigate their waste, many smaller services provide door-to-door waste management solutions to households. Here is a list of five such services that help you do your part for the environment:

I. Swachh Coin

An average household produces over 2000 kgs of waste every year. Swachh Coin asks you: are you working towards a better world or worse? While this non-profit organization works largely toward developing technologies to enable industries to manage their waste efficiently, it also focuses on developing an ecosystem where individuals on a mass level are made aware of the possibilities of waste management. Swachh Coin aims to do this by creating a token that will be used to provide monetary incentive to domestic household. These household will be able to sell the rewards received for proper waste management and use them for various utilities. With waste processing units at the centre of this economy, Swacch Coin has managed to build a system that incorporates large scale industries as well as household units to ensure proper
management of waste.

II. Pom Pom

Founded by Deepak Sethi and Kishore Thakur, Pom Pom is an app-based service that operates out of Delhi. Pom Pom works similar to traditional kabadiwala – but instead of accepting only paper-based waste, the service accepts any waste that is even remotely recyclable. Drawing an intersection between responsible disposal of waste as well as recycling, Pom Pom extends a user-friendly and convenient service. With one phone call, you can avail Pom Pom’s services at your doorstep – and get paid for it. The service collects your waste, segregates it and supplies them to industries which use it to manufacture new products. If there was ever a way to bring waste management right to your doorstep, this is it.

III. Swach

The Swach movement, in collaboration with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), has created a revolutionary network in the city of Pune that covers about 8,00,000 households on a daily basis. With over 3500 waste pickers involved in this movement, Swach collects all sorts of waste from households across the city. The typical waste picker, nicknamed as ‘Sugandhabai’ goes from house to house, segregating the dry and wet waste as she collects it. Sugandhabai then spends her afternoon sorting this waste and handing it over to the corporation. The waste that can be recycled is sent away for the same. Through a cycle of trained and structured door-to-door collection of waste, Swach ensures sound management of waste as well as generates employment for thousands of women who come from a financially-burdened background.

IV. Ecolekt

In an effort to live sustainably, we often overlook an important source of toxic waste: e-waste. Old pieces of electronic junk – even something as little as mobile phones – live forever, contaminating underground water and soil in landfills. Ecolekt makes sure your old electronic waste reaches the right hands. Using the Ecolekt app, you can schedule a free pick up, and the Ecolekt team will take your e-waste off of your hands. The service also aims to educate people about e-waste and sustainable living through its app. It stands tall amongst the dew services in the country that tackle this problem.

V. Waste Ventures

Based out of Hyderabad, Waste Ventures extends waste management services to corporates as well as household. Waste Venture helps households – as well as large housing societies – go green. Their services include not only door-to-door pick up services, but also structural and logistic help in helping societies manage their waste. As a member subscribing to their service, you can also sell recyclables and be sure that your waste finds a green, safe spot.

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