Gurashish Singh Sahni
Co-Founder & COO, ReCircle
ReCircle, a prominent player in waste transformation on a global scale, is dedicated to fostering sustainability and generating immense value environmentally, socially, and economically through their innovative approaches. Their ultimate goal is to create a circular future that benefits every individual.
To gain insights into ReCircle’s operations and aspirations, the TVC Media Team interviewed the company’s Co-Founder and COO, Gurashish Singh Sahni. Gurashish Singh Sahni, along with co-founder Rahul Nainani, firmly believes in the potential of a circular economy to pave the way for a more sustainable future. Their venture, ReCircle, was launched in 2016 as a response to one of the most pressing challenges of our time — the efficient recovery of waste.
ReCircle’s impact during Mumbai’s Diwali waste collection drive? Registrations received and areas covered?
The Diwali waste collection drive in 2023 saw over 1200+ registrations across the city of Mumbai — from Dahisar to Churchgate. With over 60 waste collection trucks and an on-ground team of over 40 employees & volunteers across seven days, ReCircle connected with over 1200 households across the city and diverted a total of over 20,000 kgs of dry waste (equivalent to 714,286 chips packets) from landfills and oceans back into the economy, thus ensuring complete traceability and transparency.
ReCircle’s education and public engagement plan for the Mumbai drive on Jan 19-20?
We’re using ReCircle’s partner network to spread awareness about the upcoming drive in Mumbai on Jan 19, 20 & 21. Due to the incredible demand for participation, we have added another day to the drive, which is Jan 21 (Sunday). We’re using informational and awareness-building content on our social media platforms to garner interest toward participation in the waste collection drive. We believe in the power of community to drive a circular economy, which is why every bit counts and everyone’s participation can make a significant impact in creating a cleaner Mumbai.
Why collect e-waste and dry waste like paper, plastic, metal, glass, utensils, and clothes?
Our waste drives are mostly focused on collecting paper, plastic, metal, glass, e-waste, apparel and utensils, which are collected and then sent to our Material Recovery Facility in Dahisar, Mumbai. We are steadily adding more verticals, and this time, we have added clothing into the upcoming monthly waste collection drive to help turn old clothes into a new resource. We are collecting clothes which have never been worn, or worn but are still wearable and even clothes that cannot be worn but can be repurposed. Every year, 92 million tonnes of clothing end up in landfills, and only 20% is recycled (Source: Theroundup.org).
Can you explain how waste is managed at ReCircle’s MRF in Dahisar?
Once the collected materials reach our Material Recovery Facility in Dahisar, it is segregated by ReCircle’s informal waste workers or Safai Saathis where it is cleaned, processed and bailed. This processed waste is then sent out to recyclers, which will further convert it into plastic granules to use in creating new products.
ReCircle collaborated with Dabur India and the Institute of Development Management. The drive’s proceeds were allocated and donated to which NGO?
These numbers are a testament to what we can achieve when we unite for a common cause. For instance, our Diwali drive was formed in partnership with Dabur India Limited and the Institute of Development Management, and all the proceeds from individual households, societies, schools, colleges and offices #PuranaSamaan were donated to ReCircle’s partner NGO for the last three years, St. Catherine School of Siena and Orphanage. From educational resources to essential supplies, this will empower the children at St. Catherine School & Orphanage and provide them with the tools required to create a bright future. Together, we lit up lives, not landfills.
ReCircle empowers people and brands to reduce waste. How does it work? Can you give examples of its impact?
Did you know India imports 465 crore plastic bottles annually? Yes, imports. This startling discovery led the founders Rahul Nainani & Gurashish Singh Sahni to launch ReCircle in 2016, a leading resource recovery clean-tech innovator, on a mission to address one of the greatest challenges of our time — waste recovery. ReCircle has diverted over 1,00,000+ MT (equivalent to the weight of 16,666 elephants) of waste from landfills and our oceans across 270 cities & towns in India with the help of 45+ processing partners who have a pan-India network of 400 collection partners, all while impacting the lives of over 3100 informal waste workers or Safai Saathis.
We empower consumers to divert waste away from landfills and our oceans by participating in our on-ground community events, such as our monthly waste collection drives. We also assist in responsible waste disposal at offices and events. For example, we were the official waste management consultant for the ICC Men’s World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad (the largest cricket stadium in the world) alongside UnitedWayEUP, pursuing innovative concepts and technologies for waste management.
As for brands, we have built long-term collaborations with over 60 industry giants, including HUL, UNDP India, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, Mondelez, Tata Starbucks, and others, aiding them in accomplishing their sustainability objectives. We also enable them to meet their environmental compliances (EPR) by offsetting their plastic footprint. The business generates plastic waste every single day. We exist to help them take ownership by investing in the removal and processing of an equivalent amount of plastic waste from the environment. Over the years, we have helped brands become Plastic Neutral by delivering on transparency and trust. We also built ClimaOne, which is a multi-stakeholder tech-enabled platform to address the existing challenges in the industry by building a unified, transparent platform that provides real-time tracking, backed by data analytics and simplifies reporting and compliance.
What are your plans for upcoming community collection drives?
We aim to continue on our journey towards building a recycling revolution by organising monthly dry waste collection drives. Living sustainably isn’t a trend. It is a promise of environmental responsibility towards the community. We are making recycling a habit this year and have recently announced a monthly calendar for waste collection drives right through the year. We will be at the doorstep of our community in Mumbai every 3rd weekend of the month. And we’re only getting started.
How does ReCircle work with locals, businesses, and groups to boost waste collection impact?
The recycling space is massive and untapped, with stakeholders (collectors, processors, recyclers, informal waste workers and businesses) largely disjointed and fragmented — and we want to be at the forefront of formalising the waste sector and play an active role in the transition to a circular economy.
We work closely with all stakeholders in the ecosystem, including local communities, so that we are present at all touch points when it comes to waste. When it comes to waste collection initiatives, we develop an effective plan by including waste management partners or brands/ businesses and institutions who believe in our mission of circularity. We also set targets to reduce waste and execute proper waste segregation in conjunction with Safai Saathis and, after that, recyclers.
For sustainability and the environment, what principles guide ReCircle’s operations and decisions?
Over the years, we have learnt that many of the climate emergencies that we face today are interconnected — be it our overflowing landfills, intense heat waves or the increasing vulnerability of our mountains. It makes sense then that we must come together as a collective first to change consumer behaviour and then look for interconnected solutions, too. We have always kept sustainability, environmental consciousness and circularity front and centre of our operations and decision-making; it is a key part of our business and growth plan, how we continue to expand our ecosystem by collaborating with institutions and consumers who share our alternative vision of the future as well as making bold decisions when it comes to achieving financial growth and benefiting the planet.
Anything else you want to say about ReCircle’s mission and vision for a waste-free future?
There is an urgent need for circularity and inclusivity if we want to transform our society along with our industries truly. And we believe that every effort counts. The journey towards sustainable waste management begins long before waste is created. The choices we make while designing products and materials, the consumption and life cycle of a product, and the systems and spaces within which waste is created are all key to creating a circular economy that sees waste through a regenerative lens.
