Recircle is Fixing India’s Waste Management Issue

Recircle, a tech startup based in Nashik, was co-founded by Gurashish Singh Sahni and Rahul Nainani to fix the waste management issue. The story of these two amazing men is very inspiring because they got their startup idea when they came across a common problem that had never been addressed with a solution.

Summary:

1. Recircle, a tech startup founded by Gurashish Singh Sahni and Rahul Nainani, aims to address the waste management issue in cities.

2. Recircle has redirected over 169,000 tonnes of trash from over 310 Indian cities, collaborating with over 45 processing and 400 collecting partners.

3. The startup has touched over 3,500 Safai Saathis and collaborated with over 60 brands, including Hindustan Unilever and UNDP. ReCircle has received awards for India’s Most Innovative MSME of the Year – Small at the ET MSME Awards 2024.

Since this issue is a common concern in most city areas, it is often ignored not only by the common people but also by government officials. But these two men, Gurashish Singh and Rahul Nainani, saw something and thought to bring a solution to fix this issue. So, let’s quickly walk through their story.

How Was ReCircle Found?

The story of establishing Recircle is quite interesting and inspiring. In January 2016, two old friends, Rahul Nainani (a chartered finance analyst) and Gurashish Singh Sahni (a real estate employee), were thinking about possible startup ideas for their business and stumbled on a dumping ground in Mumbai.

Although fire is common in Deonar, that day it fueled these two friends and gave them their startup idea.

They then conducted a survey and research with an NGO on the dumping ground, and they discovered that the average life expectancy of those who lived near the dump site was 37 years. Furthermore, the Deonar garbage site was strategically situated in Mumbai. The couple understood that such issues would soon influence the entire city, which sparked the concept of this tech startup, Recircle, for the trash management organization.

Gurashish and I would have visited about 40 dump sites across the nation in the four to five years that would have passed since the Deonar dump site, and the situation there is just as dire as it is in Mumbai. So that’s how our journey began in 2016,” shares CEO and Co-founder Nainani on this latest startup news.

The tech startup seeks to create a circular future in the country. It has redirected over 169,000 tonnes of trash from over 310 Indian cities, collaborating with over 45 processing and 400 collecting partners till now. Its main initiatives are ClimaOne (a technology-enabled waste supply chain tracking system), Plastic EPR Services, and the Textile Recovery Facility (TRF). Recircle has touched over 3,500 Safai Saathis and collaborates with over 60 brands, including Hindustan Unilever and UNDP. India

The startup has received an award for India’s Most Innovative MSME of the Year, Small, at the ET MSME Awards 2024.

The company began with a B2C approach in 2016, but switched to B2B in 2018, realizing that major businesses and producers of plastic packaging needed to be held accountable for the waste they created.

The tech venture focuses mainly on the dry waste industry. Its primary service is helping brands such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and Mondelez, essentially FMCG companies, to become zero plastic consumption while adhering to plastic waste management or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirement.

The company’s ClimaOne platform, which was introduced last year, uses an inclusive model that connects local scrap dealers, aggregators, and garbage management firms, among other partners in the waste management supply chain. This concept consists of an accumulating partner app and a web-based dashboard for the brand owner.