Creating a Dump-Free India: one start-up’s model for cleaner cities

Ecowrap is an IOT (Internet of Things) and SaaS-based (Software-as-a-Service) one-stop solution for waste segregation, collection, tracking, recycling and up-cycling generated by HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, Cafe, Bar, and so on) units. Their main focus is on waste source segregation and building the necessary infrastructure to make the waste management sector financially viable. They are using digital technology to assist India’s garbage generators and recycling industry in overcoming some of their most pressing issues. Ecowrap’s mission is to improve the environment and the quality of communities by changing the behavior of businesses, community leaders, and neighbors to work together and to create a clean and safe place to live and work for future generations. With the motto “Mera Desh, Zero Waste”, they want to build a high-net-worth corporation whose work is to develop an efficient ecosystem for optimum utilization of waste resources and to create vast economic, environmental, and social impact. Ecowrap provides dustbins, pick-up services, and incentives to HORECA waste generators for properly segregating their waste and then sells these post-consumed products to recyclers. It is an innovative model for addressing source segregation in Jaipur and has the potential to address the waste management problem across India.

As a 2022-2023 American India Foundation Banyan Impact Fellow, I was placed with Ecowrap and had the opportunity to better understand this model first-hand. What follows is an interview I hosted with one of Ecowrap’s co-founders, Angraj Swami.

Co-founder Angraj Swami accepting Excellence in Swacchta Award on behalf of Ecowrap. Picture credit: Josh Talks

Ecworap has created dustbins that are portable and keep waste segregated even after collection. Picture credit: Ecowrap

Can you share a little bit about the problem Ecowrap is trying to address?

It was our initial thought that the recycling infrastructure is not good in India, but ironically India has the largest number of recyclers after China. After seeing resources dumped into landfills that we would have otherwise utilized in our villages, we challenged ourselves to solve India’s waste problem. Our intention was to do something to address the waste that India itself was producing. However, after jumping in by starting a recycling business, we were perplexed as we were not finding recyclables in the market. We saw waste being dumped in landfills, but had no way to get our hands on the materials. We quickly found that most of India’s recyclers are actually importing waste from other countries that have more efficient systems of segregating. Everyone was importing waste and we realized that in order to survive, we needed to do the same. After two years of importing waste from other countries, we realized that we had strayed from our initial goal of utilizing India’s waste and bringing it back into the value chain. We started meeting other stakeholders, discussing the problems municipalities was facing, and researching how other countries were managing their waste. Ultimately, we realized that the real problem in this market is source segregation. When waste is mixed there is no technology that is able to redeem its usable properties. The real problem is a human behavior problem, but everyone has been treating it as a lack of technology for treatment or lack of infrastructure for treatment problem. We decided to build Ecowrap focused on addressing human behavior in source segregation.

Ecowrap’s vision is to tackle India’s waste problem. Picture credit: Himani Bansal.

How is your startup addressing this problem?

The government is already making efforts to address the problem of source segregation within society, but not only is there a lack of civic participation, but also, all of the stakeholders are working in silos isolated from one another.

We have found that money is one of the biggest tools to influence societal behavior and started incentivizing waste generators (specifically bars, hotels, restaurants, and cafes) based on their ability to properly segregate. To ensure long-term participation, we as an organization are also working to improve the service infrastructure by decentralizing waste collection, digitalizing communication through our platform, and tracking waste material. Our platform also has a lot of user engagement features such automatic generated waste audit reports, trackers for waste generation patterns, and live-tracking of waste collection.

Pictured: Ecowrap’s logistics truck and Co-founder Chandrakant Swami overseeing operations at the warehouse. Picture credit: Ecowrap.

Ecworap’s logistics team further segregating waste after collection. Picture credit: Ecowrap.

How did you decide to target/work with the HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, Café) sector?

Within hotels, restaurants, bars, and cafes there is already dedicated housekeeping staff who can be easily trained in proper source segregation. These bulk waste generators have been strategic in helping us to secure financial viability and lower logistic costs. HORECA is the only segment where waste management is a major pain-point for them. As per the SWM(16) rule, If any commercial enterprise is generating 100 or more kg of waste per day, they are responsible for treating their waste on their own and civic bodies are restricted from helping them in dumping their waste. For this reason, they are eager to adapt this model and become strategic partners.

Segregated bottles collected by Ecowrap from HORECA. Picture credit: Ecowrap.

What’s the dream?

Our aim is to build India’s first dumping free city by 2030 and to create an ecosystem for optimum utilization of natural resources; creating job opportunities for a million people.

Ecowrap co-founder Ajay Buri. Picture credit: Ecowrap

How’s it going?

We have completed the first two phases of this venture. Phase 1: validating the technical feasibility, financial viability, and social acceptability of our model. Phase 2: we created a scalable asset-light model and determined how to implement the right set of technology to achieve our goal. In Phase 3 we are presently working with urban local bodies and smart cities to further validate our model on a larger scale and in Phase 4 we will begin scaling this model across India.

Ecowrap co-founder Manoj Sabu with the business development team. Picture credit: Ecowrap.

What has been the impact of Ecowrap so far?

Economically, within the past 2.5 years we have saved 5 crore INR worth of resources, that otherwise would have been dumped in landfills. We have saved 802,886+ Kwh of energy.

Environmentally, we have saved 12,960 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. We have saved 16,938+ trees and 20+ crore liters of water.

Socially, we have partnered with 1,130 HORECA units who are now doing 4+degree primary segregation of waste materials. 11,000+ individuals have been trained in source segregation. We have created job opportunities for 32 individuals who work with us, and have also begun a women’s livelihood project to help rural 7+ women secure sustainable livelihoods from opportunities in up-cycling.

Ecowrap’s logistic team preparing a truck load of segregated waste that will be sold to recyclers. Picture credit: Ecowrap.

What would it take to bring the rest of India along on the dream of “Mera Desh, Zero Waste”?

Tangibly, we need to provide a decentralized mode of waste collection services throughout all of society. It would help if there were a local hub for sourcing recyclable materials for recyclers in every city. This would help build a closed-loop ecosystem. Right now, there are minimal options for people to recycle their waste, even if they wanted to segregate it properly. Waste management is a human behavioral problem. It would be essential for people to start taking accountability for the waste that they produce. As a society, we need to shift the mindset that it is the urban local bodies’ responsibility to take care of waste, and find ways to come together with other stakeholders to tackle this deep rooted and complex problem ourselves.

“The key to to solid waste management is to make people understand the importance of community involvement and participation.” -co-founder Angraj Swami. Picture credit: Ecowrap.

To learn more about Ecowrap and what they do, check them out at their website.

Author

Erin Burneson

Erin graduated from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois with a degree in Global Studies (Developing States) and a minor in Leadership. She has done graduate coursework in World Arts where she explored how local traditional art forms can be used to meet a community’s goals. She spent the past 8 years learning with and from Indian communities both in the U.S. and in India where she has grown as a storyteller, as a harmonium player, and as a student of Hindi and Hindu culture. While navigating the beauty and complexity of culture in India, staying there during COVID-19, she co-founded a collaborative learning program in the U.S. for learners from different religio-cultural communities to learn with and from one another. She loves how collaborative learning requires working together with others who have much different perspectives and experiences than her own. Her role as Learner Engagement Designer focused on making online co-learning opportunities more impactful and holistic. After returning to the U.S., she was deeply stirred by the plight of Afghan refugees when Kabul fell and decided that she wanted to be directly involved in the refugee response. She found that her experience adapting to a culture radically different from her own in South Asia fostered empathy and acutely informed her understanding of some of the challenges faced by those striving to adjust and become self-sufficient in a cross-cultural environment. She used this understanding to influence her work alongside U.S. Mission Operation Allies Welcome where she facilitated Afghan guest teacher workshops and taught English to newly arrived Afghan refugees. Erin focused on developing curriculum to help allies foster confidence, creativity, self-expression, and resilience during their transition to the United States. Working in this context rekindled her passion for development work and for helping women secure a means of livelihood, which ultimately lead her to pursue this fellowship opportunity with AIF. She is honored to be selected as an AIF Banyan Impact Fellow and is excited to see her background as a creative, as a facilitator, and as a co-learner, intersect with India’s Development sector.

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