Amrit Gupta
Mukesh Patodia
SUSHMITA SAHA
ANUJ KILLA
Prajakta Pai Bhatekar
Goa Institute of Management
Divya Singhal
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Tons of waste is generated but a major problem faced is that it is not disposed in a proper manner resulting in huge dumps of wastes on land or in water polluting the ecosystem. A large portion of it is recyclable and convertible to compost. The innovation involves pickup, treatment and disposal services for wastes generated by homes and communities by charging a service fee in return. The waste items are segregated into 20 categories at source, further segregated by the firm and sent to the concerned parties. The firm also sells recycling bins, composting units, signage stickers for bins & compost units and composting aids like effective microbes, fly and smell control liquids. It also deals in purchase of recyclables and reuse of waste.
vRecycle undertakes about ten thousand homes and help them dispose their garbage. The waste is diverted from going to the local Government disposal facilities so the Government does not have to spend on this process. The waste that is picked up primarily includes domestic wastes coming from homes and commercial units. Medical wastes and industrial wastes are not catered by the firm. It provides waste disposing service that charges a service fee that varies from Rs. 50 to Rs.300 a month and it depends on the level of service the client asks for. Major clients are local village government body that issue a contract for collecting residential wastes. Other clients include private individuals and housing societies. The firm gives employment opportunity to unskilled workers and people moving to the state in search of employment. The firm provides a rehabilitation to the people picking wastes from dump-sites.
When asked about the driving force for this innovative idea “This is the need of the hour,” said Clinton Vaz. He further mentioned the concern of garbage and waste management all over Goa and India. He added that he had started with this concept since he wanted to manage his own garbage. He couldn’t find a way of getting help with this so he took it up and learnt waste management on his own and began sharing his experiences.
Clinton replied that the firm is peaked and happy at ten thousand homes and considers the business idea as one which is free to be cloned and adopted. Talking about the impact of the business he said that he has noticed people accepting of what the firm does as a service over the 11 years of business instead of categorizing the business as an NGO and appreciate the efforts of the team.
The business is on CSV model. It can generate a decent amount of profit by undertaking contracts from government thereby reducing the government expenditure on waste collection and also earns through private individuals. Also it provides employment opportunities to the economically backward groups of waste pickers. The recyclable items provide shared value to the clients getting the refund, the firm, and also the scrap dealers.
This innovation will benefit the society by saving the time and resources required for segregation of waste. The wastes gets dumped at the right places after going through segregation and treatment thus preventing air, land, and water pollution. It enables the society to better handle wet wastes and recyclable wastes also generating shared value for its stakeholders.
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Clinton Vaz, Sole Proprietor
vRecycle is a firm based in South Goa founded by Clinton Vaz, a young passionate Civil Engineer who provides waste disposal services aiming to make Goa a cleaner place and help the Government meet its dream of making the state garbage free by 2020. Clinton started the firm in his own name in 1999. It was then registered in 2008. It provides collection services and waste bins to be installed at clients site for wet and dry waste segregation. The wastes are then disposed in the right places. It focuses on collection and segregation of waste from residential and Corporate houses. The firm contributes to the SDGs 3,6,11,12,14 and 15.