One of the eligible projects for the "Expo Live" program
Kapadiwala Connect..the poor make money from recyclable waste
Waste collectors form an important part of the informal and unregulated waste management supply chain.
From the source
picture
Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, is a mega-city of over nine million people that produces more than 5,000 metric tons of waste per day. Like many other large Indian cities, 90% of the waste collected ends up in Inefficient landfills are often burned on site, exacerbating air pollution and serious public health and safety problems, not to mention pollution from accumulated waste, which is the same situation in most urban centers in South Asia and Africa.
The co-founder of "Kabadiwala Connect" company, Siddharth Hand, has been involved in cleaning up the waste that pollutes the beaches of his city, since he was a young man. It is collected across the city, using information technology, to ensure that recyclable waste does not just end up in landfill.
Using ICT and IoT-based technology, the company that qualified for the Expo Live program of Expo 2020 Dubai is integrating informal actors into the formal waste management system, to provide cost-effective waste management solutions. Every time the apartment complex's trash bin is full, neighborhood scrap dealers will receive a text message on their phones, and will ride their bikes to the garbage collection destination, where it will be separated for smooth recycling.
There are also smart bins called "Urbin" that contain field sensors to inform merchants and waste collectors when they are full, and these bins contain "hooks" attached to bags, which can be removed and replaced with others easily. The company also has a smart app that connects scrap dealers with consumers, so people can use the app to find the nearest scrap dealer or waste collector, see what kind of scrap they're dealing with, and even ask them to collect waste from their homes. The app also provides information on how to manage waste responsibly at home, separation, composting, etc.
The company began its work in 2014, by mapping informal waste collectors, in the city, with the help of a grant it received from the World Economic Forum (WEF), and its long-term goal is to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill by 70% across the Indian subcontinent. Others, recover 48.16 million metric tons of waste.
Kapadiwala Connect means 'waste collector' in the Chennai dialect.
The company also operates a smart material separation facility, which handles polyethylene bottles, and has plans to expand the business by recycling all types of recyclable waste.
At the facility, the collected bottles are cut into pieces after labels and caps are removed, and the pieces are then sold directly to manufacturers.
In Chennai, according to surveys, the informal sector recycles 19,000 metric tons of plastic and generates $4.3 million in revenue each year. They have computer applications specially developed by the company that allow them to better plan their daily work and set prices for the materials they have collected. 68.8 million metric tons of waste is produced annually, and it is set to reach 160.8 million metric tons in 2041 in India, an increase of 133%, of which 50% is organic waste. In 2014 and 2017, as India's cities continue to expand, so does the waste it generates.
By collecting and selling trash from neighborhoods across the city, waste pickers form an important part of the informal and unregulated waste management supply chain. Officially from the decentralization of waste management, their digital innovations finally got the support of the multinational energy company Shell to prove the feasibility of the solution.
"Decentralizing urban waste collection will be essential in developing countries to eventually create a circular economy based on reusable and recycled products," says Siddharth Hand.
Informal waste pickers sell street recyclables to local scrap dealers, so mapping was critical to understanding how it worked. Gaining data-driven insights makes it easy to track and trace recyclable and reusable materials.
Their use of a tricycle for assembly is also cost-effective and reduces environmental impact.
The company has recycled more than 1,000 tons of paper, 400 tons of plastic, 2,000 tons of metal, and nearly a million bottles of waste, according to its data, enabling a network of hundreds of scrap dealers and waste collectors.
Financing Innovative Solutions
Expo Live is an innovation and partnership program launched by Expo 2020 Dubai with a budget of $100 million to fund innovative solutions that improve people's lives while preserving our planet.
Expo Live provides financial support to social entrepreneurs of up to $100,000 per project, and helps solve global challenges identified in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Problem
: Disposal of recyclable and reusable products in landfill.
The solution
: a mobile app that connects informal garbage collectors with waste sources and recycling facilities.
Sector
: Waste management.
Location
: India.