Innovation

Saahas Zero Waste (SZW) has handled anywhere between 2 tonnes to 150 tonnes of waste at a variety of events ranging from weddings, marathons, comicons, conferences and large-scale industrial exhibitions. Following are some of the events they helped make zero-waste:

GANDHI JAYANTI CLEAN-UP WITH BRITANNIA on 01st October 2019,

INDIA VS SA T20 AT CHINNASWAMY on 22 Sep 2019, 99% WASTE RECOVERY AT NEB MARATHON on 07Jul 2019 , 250 TONNES IN 7 DAYS AT IMTEX on 24Jan 2019 and for the 12th season of IPL ,Saahas Zero Waste partnered with RCB, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and DNA Networks to execute the IPL as a Zero Waste event. Currently, they are the official partner to handle waste for matches, including the IPL, held at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru.

SZW provides a complete end-to-end essential office waste management system for all kinds of waste. They are driven by systems and processes with a laser focus on accurate data collection and reporting. SZW has high compliance with labour laws, operational health and safety requirements compliance with various statutory requirements.

To ensure effective office waste management in Bangalore, they work with various departments of their client's teams to help their organizations achieve their sustainability goals. Awareness programs and employee engagement are core to their professional decentralized Waste Management solutions in India.

It involves close coordination with all stakeholders including Resident Welfare Associations, property managers, resident volunteers, housekeeping teams, and maintenance staff. Their training and awareness sessions incorporate the basics of waste segregation, waste types, and how one could minimize their carbon footprint.

Saahas Zero Waste has taken a proactive step towards adopting the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 as part of the holistic waste management solutions offered. Partnering with authorised vendors and certified recyclers for handling different streams of waste generated at a construction project, SZW keeps in-line with its zero waste philosophy by extending its services to clients looking for solutions for a sustainable construction project while complying with all the regulations.

Saahas Zero Waste operates one of the biggest Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) in Karnataka. MRF represents the future of dry waste management in India. It is a mechanised processing factory for dry waste that focuses on complete resource recovery. The objective is to move us closer to a circular economy and achieve the global goals around sustainable development. Each category is first segregated into 20 categories, compacted for easy storage and dispatched to authorised end destinations. The waste that is sent to recyclers is transformed into products such as stationery, chipboards, and t-shirts.

To convert the wet waste from the premises to compost they also use centralised and decentralised biogas plants operated by our partners for the biomethylation process of wet waste. The end-product – which is biogas – can be used safely used in our premises for cooking, heating or to generate electricity. Their collection vehicles also run on biogas.

Inspiration

"Waste is a critical aspect in cities, towns and villages. All of the above- mentioned areas are basically waste centres or generators. Across the world, especially in India, waste collection is looked at as charitable and social work. Our experience from 2001 to 2013 has shown us that waste collection should be looked at as a business and waste should be used as a revenue source. Ignorance of waste generators, exploitation of the resources and disregard of the waste management rules; all these experiences have led to the creation of the brand Saahas Zero Waste."

Overall impact

"At present we have a number of regulations for waste management. We have regulations for solid waste management, plastic waste management, wet waste management, paper waste management; but those regulations are not enforced across the society and hence, they are not practised."

"Even though we have developed some awareness regarding wastes by putting them in the garbage disposal places. But these wastes are not managed and are put in the landfills. This further results in land pollution and we cannot keep exploiting our natural resources in this manner. We prevent those wastes from going to the landfills by properly segregating them and managing them. Presently we are preventing 25 tonnes of wastes in Bengaluru from reaching the landfills and further, we are hopeful of scaling up to 300 tonnes by 2021."

Business benefit

"So basically, with the circular economy in effect with this business, we are not only managing the resources already used but also we are saving the unused resources for our future generations. The circular economy has the potential to sustain itself and will work with the increasing population on the earth."

"With the help of this innovation, we are creating employment for business and making people involved in the business independent and create a living for themselves. This helps us achieve the sustainable development goal of decent work and economic growth."

As this innovation runs by collecting wastes by different MNC's also, this indirectly helps these MNC's in doing their CSR initiatives and contribute their share towards the SDG's.

Social and environmental benefit

"People should understand that technology is an enabler and we should be using it to make waste a resource and not simply waste it. Waste can be reused in our packaging; it can be used to grow our food. Resources should not simply be dumped when their use is over. People should be more aware of the consequences of their actions. They should understand that they too can contribute towards building a sustainable future if they are more responsible for their disposal practices. This combined with businesses being more socially aware can help us reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for waste management."

"Our mission is to create a circular economy where people and technology work together with increased awareness about waste management, where waste is not wasted. The end result is to help society in living a better life where our air is not polluted from burning of waste, the water is not polluted due to irresponsible waste dumping and lands are not filled with waste."

Interview

Wilma Rodrigues, Founder & CEO