Introducing Hasiru Dala Innovations

India’s cities and towns are growing faster than ever before. The amount of waste we generate is also exponentially increasing. We need more people solving for waste management solutions. The team at Hasiru Dala wants to do their part to create a waste-free world. This journey starts with a holistic approach to waste management.

Hasiru Dala offers waste management solutions to commercial establishments, apartments & residential townships, and also for all kinds of events. They collect, segregate, and transport waste to processing facilities. Along the way, Hasiru Dala empowers waste workers – by giving them autonomy to operate as ‘waste entrepreneurs’. These waste entrepreneurs employ their own labour force and are responsible for picking up waste from Hasiru Dala’s client centres and transporting it to the sorting facility. Hasiru Dala has been at the forefront of waste management since 2015, while simultaneously empowering the waste worker community. We believe that their focus on livelihoods, particularly in the waste management space, will result in better and more resilient waste management in the spaces they operate in.

We love their collaborative philosophy of partnering with other startups working in the waste management space, helping with on-ground execution so that the other startups can focus on their strengths. Given the scale of the waste management problem confronting us, we feel this collaborative approach is the most optimal way forward.

We are excited to support them in this journey. Here is a note from Shekhar Prabhakar (Founder, Hasiru Dala).

Introducing Hasiru Dala Innovations

Hasiru Dala Innovations is a for-purpose company, innovating circular economy models that integrate waste pickers into the evolving circular economy value chain, all while creating a waste-free world. This is an ethos we call Inclusive CircularityⓇ.

India generates more than 1,50,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, of which 80,000 tonnes end up in landfills or remain unattended. Mismanaged waste aggravates the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature & biodiversity loss, and pollution. Not only does mismanaged waste contribute to global warming, but when dumped in landfills, it leaches chemicals and contaminants into the soil and groundwater decreasing plant growth and productivity, as well as altering reproductive functions in wildlife.

There are between 15,00,000 and 40,00,000 informal waste pickers in the country. They’ve been recovering and sorting recyclable waste from landfills, streets, bins, etc. They’ve developed the knowledge and skills in waste management and, though informal, are major contributors to the recycling value chain. Despite their crucial role in the recycling economy, waste pickers struggle to find identity, basic human dignity, dignity of labour, be paid fairly and economic opportunities to rise in the value chain. Waste pickers have a huge role in our society as silent environmentalists, and yet they remain unrecognised and often invisible to businesses, governments and citizens.

Inclusive CircularityⓇ

Our solution to the problem of waste management and social inclusion is Inclusive CircularityⓇ – the deliberate and planned inclusion of waste pickers and informal waste workers in the evolving circular economy value chain.

While our business model and revenue streams are designed to directly benefit waste pickers, our solutions to waste are based on the principles of a circular economy. As opposed to a take-make-use-throw economy, a circular economy is based on principles of eliminating waste and pollution, and circulating products and materials. By effectively recovering resources from waste and keeping materials in circulation, the extraction of new materials can be avoided.

With our joint venture with Carbon Masters, we process organic wet waste collected by us into compressed biogas (CBG) that replaces fossil fuel-based LPG and organic manure to displace chemical fertilizers.

Our vision

Our vision is that of a world with no waste and no waste pickers.

Key Highlights

• We’ve diverted over 1,00,000 tonnes of waste from landfills; and processed 10,112 tonnes of organic waste into biogas, substituting LPG as cooking fuel.
• We have been granted the status of a fair trade organization by the WFTO. We’re India’s only multi-stream end-to-end waste management company to have been granted this status.
• We have transitioned 22 waste pickers into entrepreneurs, creating over 300 predictable livelihoods through them, and leading to a 122% increase in the average income of waste pickers.
• We’ve established a circular and end-to-end waste management system across 32,258 households in Bangalore, which constitute bulk waste generators (apartments, villas, corporate, etc.).
• We’ve won the ET Now Leaders of Tomorrow Award 2024, FICCI Circular Economy Award 2022; The Sankalp X Artha Impact Circular Economy Award 2023; and the Karnataka State Environment Award, 2016 amongst other accolades.

Looking forward

The funding from Rainmatter opens doors to new opportunities for us, both in terms of financing and networks. We are looking forward to our continued commitment to Inclusive CircularityⓇ and amplifying our social and environmental impact through responsible and inclusive waste management services that enable a circular economy.