Features and Milestones
⭐ Featured - Jun 2023
Kabadiwalla Connect: Transforming Waste Management & Beating Plastic Pollution
On World Environment Day, Mongabay-India spoke to Siddharth Hande, to understand how cities can manage the growing plastic waste problem
🚩 Milestone - SEP 2022
KC becomes a member of Prevent Waste Alliance
Initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the PREVENT Waste Alliance was launched in May 2019. It serves as a platform for exchange and international cooperation. Organisations from the private sector, academia, civil society and public institutions jointly engage for a circular economy.
⭐ Featured - Jun 2022
Kabadiwalla Connects' work is featured in a report by Circle Economy
Kabadiwalla Connect work is featured in the Circle Economy report titled “Thinking beyond borders to achieve social justice in a global circular economy” as a case for decentralised technologies for inclusive waste management in India
⭐ Featured - Jun 2022
An Indian Business Case - Understanding Industry Transitions for Circular Business Models for Plastics
A case study on Kabadiwalla Connect featured in the June newsletter (Vol. 32 No. 06) of Development Alternatives, Delhi written by Aparajita Amita Mathew.
⭐ Featured - JAN 2022
5 Q’s for Siddharth Hande, Founder and CEO of Kabadiwalla Connect
The Center for Data Innovation spoke with Siddharth Hande, founder of Kabadiwalla Connect, a startup based in Chennai, India that develops data-driven waste management solutions for the developing world. Hande spoke about mapping the activities of thousands of waste-pickers in Chennai and how policymakers can use this data to make more cost-effective, lower-carbon waste management decisions.
🚩 Milestone - Dec 2021
KC's work on informal sector mapping was featured in the The Economist's report on plastics management in India
As befits a country of 1.4bn people with a fast-growing middle class, India’s plastic waste crisis is of enormous scale. The government’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates that 3.5m million tonnes of plastic waste is generated each year in the country, a figure that some experts believe to be an underestimate.
⭐ Featured - Dec 2021
In a Tamil hybrid web series called Theervai Nokki (The Stars), Ganesh Kumar was interviewed on his journey co-founding Kabadiwalla Connect
"The Stars" is an initiative taken to inspire and popularise Careers with Social Vision in a hybrid format.
⭐ Featured - Sep 2021
Kabadiwalla Connect’s work is featured by the World Trade Organisation
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but try figuring out different types of plastic! Luckily, there's an app for that. Young environmental entrepreneur, Siddharth Hande, shares how Kabadiwalla Connect helps map and scale up plastic recycling”
⭐ Featured - Sep 2021
Kabadiwalla Connect’s work is featured by the World Economic Forum
What’s your big idea for tackling plastic waste? The Indonesia National Plastic Action Partnership and UpLink are partnering with the Ocean Plastic Prevention Accelerator, a social innovation ecosystem builder powered by The Incubation Network, for this challenge. Supported by: The Circulate Initiative, Global Affairs Canada, The Alliance to End Plastic Waste
🚩 Milestone - Sep 2021
India’s Young Climate Leaders
The company's co-founder, Ganesh is selected as one of seventeen young climate change leaders by United Nations India
#WeTheChangeNOW brings young climate leaders together to spark a dialogue with the country’s decision-makers, amplifying solutions, and working with the government to ensure that India’s future is green, sustainable, and just.
⭐ Featured - JuL 2021
Kabadiwalla Connect's work is featured by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Kabadiwalla Connect, a social enterprise in the southern city of Chennai has set out to tackle the problem locally – employing one of urban India’s vital, if often overlooked, resources – informal waste pickers.
🚩 Milestone - JUn 2021
We lead a webinar on 'Increasing Waste Recycling Through Better Informal Sector Data' organised by C40 and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition
The webinar looks at how cities can increase recycling through better informal sector integration and data.
🚩 Milestone - JUn 2021
The Shell Gamechanger Program supports the proof of Kabadiwalla Connect's business Model in India
A panel of Shell technology experts has selected Kabadiwalla Connect, a start-up company based in Chennai, India, to receive advice and funding through the Shell GameChanger programme.
⭐ Featured - May 2021
Kabadiwalla Connect is featured by Azo Cleantech
An Indian technology start-up – is working to transform waste collection and management in cities in the Global South by using the Internet of Things (IoT) and building on the contribution of existing informal networks.
⭐ Featured - Jan 2021
The Knowledge Hub, which is an open-collaborative library of circular economy case studies presents a business case on Kabadiwalla Connect
The recovery of post-consumer waste in cities in the developing world is driven by the informal ecosystem. Kabadiwalla Connect, a technology-based social enterprise based in Chennai, is leveraging the informal ecosystem of urban waste recyclers with the aim of decreasing the amount of waste sent to landfills in Indian cities by 70%.
🚩 Milestone - JAN 2021
The company's final report presenting the results from the informal sector census in Chennai is published by the World Bank — presenting it as a potential 'New Methodology for Urban Waste Management'
Leveraging Informal Waste Ecosystem for Better Management of Post-consumer Recyclable Waste in Urban India - Collection and interactive visualization of previously non-existent data on the informal urban recycling ecosystem
🚩 Milestone - JUn 2020
KC unveils it's B2B collection solution — Hyperlokal, which utlizes scrap-shops and their waste-pickers to organise last mile collection of waste from households and other small generators in Indian cities
Integrating informal stakeholders and their infrastructure into the formal waste management system offers an exciting opportunity for cities in India to manage their waste-streams much more inclusively and efficiently.
🚩 Milestone - Jan 2020
The company's founder, Siddharth is invited to join the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry's Circular Economy Committee
Despite a work-from-home white-collar workforce and record-breaking unemployment claims, efforts to improve environmental, social and governance policies in business are charging ahead in the corporate and nonprofit communities.
⭐ Featured - NOV 2019
KC contributes to a discussion on 'India's Pollution Problem', organised by the BBC World Service
Listen to the discussion featuring Ruth Kattumuri - Co-Director of the India Observatory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Rajeswari S. Raina - Professor, Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University. Partha Bhattacharya - former CEO of Coal India Ltd. Samit Aich - former Executive Director of Greenpeace India. Also featuring, Siddharth Hande - Founder, Kabadiwalla Connect
🚩 Milestone - Oct 2019
The company is invited to present its work at the 2019 Ellen Macarthur Foundation Annual Summit
Many of the most commonly cited examples of circular economy today are European based, whilst many other common examples come from the US. But what will the circular look like in a more diverse range of contexts? One story that hints at a different model is the story of Kabadiwalla Connect. Siddharth Hande was studying flows of materials in the informal economy when he stumbled upon a business opportunity and identified the networks as potential circular economy supply chains if they could be incentivised in the right way.
🚩 Milestone - Oct 2019
The informal waste sector : A solution to the recycling problem in the developing countries' is published online through the Veolia Institut
The recovery of post-consumer waste in cities in the developing world is driven by the informal ecosystem. Kabadiwalla Connect, a technology-based social enterprise based in Chennai, has determined that leveraging the informal ecosystem of urban waste recyclers has the potential to decrease the amount of waste sent to landfills in Indian cities by 70 percent.
⭐ Featured - OCT 2019
The company showcases it's work in Chennai to Xynteo's 2019 Leadership Vanguard cohort
On the first day in Chennai, the leaders spent two days building a relationship with an award-winning start-up, Kabadiwalla Connect. The organisation is deploying digital solutions including mapping and tracking to integrate the vast, informal network of waste pickers and recycling collectors (‘kabadiwallas’) into hyperlocal reverse-logistics solutions, making the recovery of post-consumer waste effective and inclusive.
⭐ Featured - SEP 2019
The company is featured in Living Circular — Veolia's online resource to share ideas on sustainable models for future growth.
"Our development focus," says Siddharth Hande, "is to continue to professionalize the kabadiwallas, which means continuing to expand urban mapping and more precisely quantifying the impact of their activities.” KWC also benefits from the experience of Veolia, global leader in waste management, which shares its observation about the role of the informal economy in waste management and is considering adapting the start-up’s model for Senegal and Indonesia.
⭐ Featured - SEP 2019
The company is featured by Impakter
In Chennai we’ve developed smartbins to collect plastic waste, integrating small and medium waste generators with local kabadiwalla shops. Like many Indian cities, Chennai has a large percentage (68%) of small households that produce small quantities of waste. The smartbins provide a place for people to drop off their household recyclables…
🏆 Awards & Recognition - JUN 2019
The company is the winner of the inaugural Indian Circular Economy Awards organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)
The winners of the Indian Circular Economy Awards were felicitated. The awards were curated to identify and reward organizations and individuals in India that have made notable contributions and brought in a change
⭐ Featured - JUN 2019
KCs work is featured by Expo 2020 Dubai
The recovery of post-consumer waste in cities in the developing world is driven by the informal ecosystem. Kabadiwalla Connect, a technology-based social enterprise based in Chennai, has determined that leveraging the informal ecosystem of urban waste recyclers has the potential to decrease the amount of waste sent to landfills in Indian cities by 70 percent.
⭐ Featured - Nov 2018
The company is featured in the report 'Industry 4.0:Empowering ASEAN for the Circular Economy' published by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia
Paper on managing the Transition through Multilevel Governance. Multilevel governance approaches for these countries should originate primarily at the macro level with the formulation of national circular economy policies and strategies (along with appropriate indicators). Policies should be directed not just at waste management but at circular product design and manufacturing processes and the creation of a recycling-oriented society as well…
⭐ Featured - OCT 2018
Our approach to informal sector integration is featured by Veolia
The start-up Kabadiwalla Connect is revolutionizing urban waste management, relying in particular on mapping technologies. Based in Chennai, India’s fourth-largest urban hub, the young company offers a social and environmental model that holds an appeal beyond the country’s borders.
⭐ Featured - OCT 2018
The company participates in the the Our Ocean Conference in Bali
Siddharth Hande part of discussion on Ocean Plastics: The Role of Catalytic Capital. Hosted by Ocean Conservancy in cooperation with Close Loop Ocean/Circulate Capital. In the discussion where representatives from Pepsico, Procter and Gamble, The Coca Cola Company, Unilever, McKinsey etc.
⭐ Featured - Sep 2018
The company participates in the EU's Circular Economy Mission to India and presents it's perspective on informal waste sector integration.
Mr Siddharth Hande, Kabadiwalla Connect, outlined the two intertwined solutions being offered by Kabadiwalla Connect: 1) integrating informal sector into reverse logistics; 2) processing facility as experimental space. He also highlighted key take aways based on their experience for different sectors and emphasised on the need for collection of data, mobilisation of funding for supporting innovations by informal sector towards strengthening of their work.
⭐ Featured - SEP 2018
KC's classification of the informal waste supply chain is mentioned in a Resource Efficiency (RE) publication authored by Adelphi
A key challenge to formalisation is the lack of knowledge about the structure and underlying mechanics of informal economies across India. In particular, there seems to be no structured approach to mapping informal economies and classifying the activities of different stakeholders in the value chain…
🚩 Milestone - Jul 2018
The company launches it's waste collection pilot in Mylapore, Chennai.
Every time the garbage bin in the apartment complex in Mylapore fills up with plastic, Santhanam, the scrap-dealer in the neighbourhood will get a text message on his phone. He will cycle to the place and pick up the waste. Imagine this system in place across the city — plastic will seamlessly be segregated and recycled.
🚩 Milestone - Jul 2018
KC publishes a video that details the nature of the Informal Waste Supply Chain, based on it's data collection in Chennai, India.
The recovery of post-consumer waste in the developing world is driven by the informal waste ecosystem. However, municipalities, multi-national brands and waste management companies struggle to work effectively with these stakeholders, and they continue to remain outside the purview of municipal waste-management systems and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs). How do we understand informality in ways that help us integrate them into the mainstream waste infrastructure?
🏆 Awards & Recognition - JUL 2019
KC is a recepient of a grant from the Royal Academy of Engineers as part of their Frontiers program
Frontiers of Engineering for Development (FoE) symposia bring together around 60 outstanding early to mid-career engineers to network and engage with their peers outside their disciplinary silos on global challenges that cross disciplinary boundaries.
⭐ Featured - MAR 2018
KC is featured at the Data4Dev Festival in the UK
City Hall in Bristol, England, historic chambers echoed with the sound of the future, as scores of data scientists and advocates jostled to share their work at the first Data for Development Festival, hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD).
🚩 Milestone - Dec 2017
The company wins a grant from Expo2020 Dubai as part of their Global Innovation Grant program
Expo Live has announced that it has awarded grants worth up to $100,000 to two Indian projects which includes Kabadiwalla Connect. The projects are designed to reduce single-use plastic, which is one of the most significant environmental challenges of our time.
🏆 Awards & Recognition - JUL 2017
KC is one of 8 companies selected for the Upaya Social Ventures accelerator program
By integrating often invisibilized workers with the formal waste management sector, Kabadiwalla Connect aims to reduce urban waste that is ending up in landfills and oceans while improving industry standards and compliance.
⭐ Featured - MAR 2017
The company is featured in the book, 'Waste is information' written by Dietmar Offenhuber
For something usually viewed as a problem, waste continues to fascinate.While there is a lack of information about waste systems, there is no short age of perspectives and opinions about them.
🏆 Awards & Recognition - Dec 2016
The company is one of six innovtaors chosen for the Launch Nordic accelerator program.
Chennai metropolis generates over 5,000 metric tonnes of waste per day, most of which is dumped, without being segregated, into two landfills. It's possible to reduce this by 70 per cent, says Siddharth Hande…
🏆 Awards & Recognition - Sep 2016
KC wins the MIT Climate CoLab Award in the category of Waste Management.
In February 2016, the Climate CoLab opened over a dozen contests on key challenges in addressing climate change. Nearly 500 proposals were submitted to the platform, and evaluated by expert Judges, who then selected 136 Semi-Finalists.
🚩 Milestone - JUL 2016
The company acquires follow on funding from The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data to complete it's census of Chennai's informal sector.
The objective of this project is to provide a framework that cities in low and middle income countries around the world can use to manage their waste more efficiently by collaborating with the informal recycling sector.
⭐ Featured - May 2016
Celebrating our 'Invisible Recyclers' — a feature by Be Waste Wise highlights KCs initial results of it's data collection exercise.
Did you know that there are over 600 kabadiwallas in these three zones alone? They recycle over 900,000 bottles every month, among numerous other materials, and generate staggering revenues.
⭐ Featured - JUN 2015
The company is featured by Yourstory, India.
Kabadiwalla Connect: Bringing efficiencies into waste segregation: To curb waste, and determine the quality of waste going into the landfill, some Chennai based entrepreneurs have come up with a venture called Kabadiwalla Connect (KWC). It is primarily an online information service which aims to leverage the circuits of the existing informal waste ecosystem, and get communities living in Indian cities to send less, better sorted, waste to the landfill.
🚩 Milestone - Nov 2014
KC is mentioned in a speech given by Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway at the Climate Roundtable hosted by Statkraft at Vang Gård, Jevnaker, 18 November 2014
Last summer, I was part of the jury for a competition called ClimateSHAPE, where hubs all over the world were challenged to create the best environmental project. The winning project was called Kabadiwalla Connect, created by the Global Shapers Hub in Chennai, India. The idea was simple, but genius…
🏆 Awards & Recognition - JUN 2014
KC wins the ClimateSHAPE grant — made available through the World Economic Forum — and begins to map Chennai's informal sector
The Chennai Hub of the Global Shapers Community has been awarded the grand prize of a 50,000 CHF grant in the World Economic Forum’s ClimateSHAPE challenge with its project “Kabadiwalla Connect”. The project is a unique online platform that allows local rubbish collectors in India to collaborate with businesses and individuals on schemes to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.