Digital Disruption Paving the Way for More Collaborative, Transparent Waste Collection

Imagine if what was traditionally known as “waste” could instead be reframed as “raw materials,” filled with untapped value and potential. According to Abhay Deshpande, founder of Recykal — India’s first waste-commerce company — this approach is common among Indians, many of whom view waste as a resource versus something to be discarded.

This value-driven mindset fuels Recykal’s business model — disrupting the waste-collection space using digital technologies that connect brand owners, generators, processors and recyclers in one place. By bringing these crucial stakeholders together and allowing the traceability of waste through the system, Deshpande believes Recykal could be “the Uber or Amazon of trash for India.”

What’s more, this approach propelled Dow and Recykal to launch the Rethink+ Initiative — a unique plastics take-back program that provides attractive incentives to customers through a digital ecosystem. Deshpande recently spoke with Han Zhang, APAC Sustainability Director at Dow, in a ‘Looped In’ episode about how digital solutions such as these are:

• Enabling producer brands to fulfil their extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations in real time

• Helping companies, schools and commercial set-ups improve their own waste collection and recycling processes

• Utilizing investments from stakeholder partners, such as Circulate Capital’s Ocean Fund, to address pollution throughout Southeast Asia

Watch the video to learn more about how Dow and Recykal are driving sustainable innovation and addressing some of the biggest challenges facing the waste management industry today.