Last financial year, the Indian Solid Waste Management Market stood at US$88.49 Million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.59% through FY2026 to reach USD 141.42 Million during the forecast period.
The global waste management market will reach 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2027, based on a CAGR of 5.5 % from 2020. The waste management market consists of collecting, transporting, disposing, recycling, and monitoring of waste items. This growth is expected due to emerging markets such as China and India.
The growth of waste management market in the Chinese and Indian market is anticipated on account of the growing demand for the management of solid waste because of high population density and increased industrial activity, which is generating high amounts of wastes, both hazardous and non-hazardous.
In last decade, many innovative startups have stepped in this area with creative and tech-enabled ideas to manage waste, as well as convert them into valuable resources. Here are few of these unique and impactful waste management startups -
The global waste management market will reach 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2027, based on a CAGR of 5.5 % from 2020. The waste management market consists of collecting, transporting, disposing, recycling, and monitoring of waste items. This growth is expected due to emerging markets such as China and India.
The growth of waste management market in the Chinese and Indian market is anticipated on account of the growing demand for the management of solid waste because of high population density and increased industrial activity, which is generating high amounts of wastes, both hazardous and non-hazardous.
In last decade, many innovative startups have stepped in this area with creative and tech-enabled ideas to manage waste, as well as convert them into valuable resources. Here are few of these unique and impactful waste management startups -
1. Attero
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| ATTERO Recycling [ Image - youtube.com/Studio 309 ] |
Touted as India's largest electronic asset management company, Noida-based Attero promotes the reuse and recycling of electronics sustainably through its recycling plants. Attero recovers reusable resources and precious metals by processing e-waste with clean technology to minimize carbon footprint. Attero also list of global pending patent applications.
Backed by World Bank (IFC), DFJ, IUVP and Granite Hill, Attero was among 9 innovators from across the globe that made it to the NASA conference on waste management in 2018. Aterro is also the only e-waste management firm in India which has taken environmental clearance from Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF).
2. Banyan Nation
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Hyderabad-based Banyan Nation, an incubatee of T-Hub, India's largest startup incubator, is a vertically integrated plastics recycling company that helps brands/companies to use recycled plastics instead of virgin plastics in mainstream product and packaging.
Banyan Nation collects discarded HDPE and PP (High-Density PolyEthylene and Polypropylene) -type consumer plastics from the street corners, water bodies and landfills. Once collected, the plastics are recycled at Banyan’s state of the art recycling plant. Banyan’s proprietary plastics cleaning technology removes product and packaging contaminants such as labels, adhesive, inks, etc. from post-consumer plastics.
Besides, the waste-management company leverages mobile technology to map, integrate and train thousands of informal recyclers.
Backed by Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) and Artha Capital, Banyan Nation was among chosen one shortlisted for Awards at The World Economic Forum (WEF), in year 2018. It also won Intel DST Challenge 2.0 2017.
3. Craste
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| Craste's products from crop residues [Image ~ Craste.co] |
Pune-based Craste is a crop waste management company that is creating value added products out of crop residues for furniture and food-grade packaging products and in addition to this it provides additional revenue to the farmers.
Craste purchases the agricultural waste from the farmers at Rs 6 per kg and recycles them to make packaging materials and engineered boards for furniture. These engineered particle boards are free of formaldehyde, a strong-smelling, colourless gas used in pressed-wood products and that is harmful to human health.
Besides managing crop waste, the company expects that for each particle-board panel of 8ft x 4ft size and 18mm thickness produced, it reduces 30kg of CO2 emissions as it prevented burning of crop residues by purchasing it from farmers. For uninitiated, 80 million tonnes of crop residue is burnt in India. The emission from crop burning is 17 times more than the total annual particulate pollution from all sources.
4. Lucro
Mumbai-based Lucro Plastecycle is a Mumbai-based recycling company that converts the dirtiest plastic waste into recycled granules which ultimately are remade into recycled products at a cost less than virgin plastics to produce high quality, innovative and recycled-content products such as shrink wrap and films. The company claims to handle the entire waste value chain right from collection to recycling and manufacturing of final recycled products. |
| Lucro's products made from ocean bound plastic waste |
Funded by Singapore-based Circulate Capital, Lucro has recently became first company in India to be successfully certified Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP) recycling, which means that it can now offer clients globally looking for OBP certified recycled films made from flexible plastic.
In a latest city-cleaning campaign launched by Recity, it is managing Pondicherry's waste digitally by using a QR code placed on front-doors of each home. Sanitation workers scan these QR-Codes everyday before collecting segregated waste from each homes until it reaches a recovery plant.
ReCity Network also concentrates on the welfare of sanitation workers.
As per a media report, Recykal has saved 12.86 million-kWh energy, 57.71 million litres oil, 18.23 million cubic feet landfill space, 44.44 million litres water and 28,047 trees.
Last year in June, Recykal partnered with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) for Project Prithvi, a joint initiative for developing sustainable plastic waste management practices in the country.
Backed by Artha India Ventures and Indian Angel Network, Saahas Zero Waste claims to have diverted 10,000 MT of plastic waste from dumpsites and other open spaces under the extended producer responsibility program, in the year 2019.
In 2018, Saahas Zero Waste was awarded the Swachh Best Practice Award by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as recognition of the work done in the space.
To add to the circular economy, the company also offers products made from waste such as roofing sheets, clipboards, stationary, upcycled textile products, apparel and more.
5. Phool.co
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Kanpur-based Phool (Fomerly HelpUsGreen) is one of most interesting startups in India that are into waste management's segments. It converts flowers and offerings collected from religious places into bio-degradable alternative to Thermacol and incense sticks.
With help of rural women self-help groups, Phool and its team collect floral waste from the temples and mosques in Uttar Pradesh and thereafter handcrafted by rural women self-help groups into patented organic fertilizer and incense sticks via what the company named as "Flowercycling". The company had also received the United Nations Young Leaders Award at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in year 2018.
Backed by Tata Trusts' Social Alpha and IIT Kanpur, the company raised US$1.4 Million in a funding round led by IAN Fund and San Francisco-based Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, in August 2020.
The company claims to have prevented 7600 Kgs waste flowers and 97 Kgs toxic chemicals from getting into the the Ganges river daily.
6. Recity
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Mumbai-based Recity is a technology-enabled solid waste management company for cities. The company provides a platform for governments, corporate manufacturers, and CSR organizations to identify and solve urban issues. It is dedicated to planning, implementing, and sustaining an end to end solutions in solid waste management, EPR, and circular economy.
In a latest city-cleaning campaign launched by Recity, it is managing Pondicherry's waste digitally by using a QR code placed on front-doors of each home. Sanitation workers scan these QR-Codes everyday before collecting segregated waste from each homes until it reaches a recovery plant.
ReCity Network also concentrates on the welfare of sanitation workers.
7. Recykal
Hyderabad-based Recykal is an end-to-end digital solutions provider, facilitating transactions for all stakeholders across India’s waste management and recycling value chain. It is India's first w-commerce (Waste commerce) platform that bridges gaps between waste generators and waste processors.As per a media report, Recykal has saved 12.86 million-kWh energy, 57.71 million litres oil, 18.23 million cubic feet landfill space, 44.44 million litres water and 28,047 trees.
Last year in June, Recykal partnered with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) for Project Prithvi, a joint initiative for developing sustainable plastic waste management practices in the country.
8. Saahas Zero Waste
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| Image - Facebook.com/saahas.bangalore |
Founded by a journalist, Wilma Rodrigues, Saahas Zero Waste is socio-environmental enterprise with 17 years of experience in waste management and resource recovery. The company specializes in designing and executing customized solutions for the goal of zero waste to landfills, especially for bulk waste generators such as technology parks, residential complexes, educational institutions, hotels and others.
Backed by Artha India Ventures and Indian Angel Network, Saahas Zero Waste claims to have diverted 10,000 MT of plastic waste from dumpsites and other open spaces under the extended producer responsibility program, in the year 2019.
To add to the circular economy, the company also offers products made from waste such as roofing sheets, clipboards, stationary, upcycled textile products, apparel and more.
9. Sampurna(e)arth
Sampurna(e)rth is an end to end decentralized waste-management solutions company ranging from waste audit, designing and setting up of the waste handling system and also providing further operation and maintenance.The customers range of Sampurna(e)rth varies from townships, corporates, school and college campuses to municipal corporations Read more about Sampurna(e)rth in our past featured story on it.
10. Spruce Up
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Recognized by Swachh Bharat Mission (PMO), Spruce Up is a cleantech startup which manufactures indigenous tech hardware machines for usage in cleaning the cities and villages of India. Spruce Up pioneered heavy vacuum litter picker technology in India with its 'JATAYU' brand tech machines.
One of its cleaning machine 'Jatayu Super', a heavy vacuum litter collection type Garbage Super Sucker, is an advanced machine for use as fully contactless roadside litter and garbage collection.
Picking up Indian waste under varied conditions has been an extremely challenging problem to solve and Spruce Up 6claims to have developed few of the worlds best solutions in this space. Also available with onboard disinfection system, the Jatayu machines allows a single operator to pickup up to 2 tons of waste a shift without touching it or getting tired in a safe and hygienic way.
Picking up Indian waste under varied conditions has been an extremely challenging problem to solve and Spruce Up 6claims to have developed few of the worlds best solutions in this space. Also available with onboard disinfection system, the Jatayu machines allows a single operator to pickup up to 2 tons of waste a shift without touching it or getting tired in a safe and hygienic way.
Spruce Up is founded by an IIT Bombay alumnus, Abhishek Shelar, who is also alumnus of Harvard University and has been listed in Forbes 30 Under 30.
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