As human being and thinking individuals, we come across a wide range of issues in our daily life. Some problems are personal while some on the social level. Every one of us is inherently programmed to react to such problems in one way or the other. While some choose to ignore or live with it, some take it upon themselves to solve them. The problem of waste management today is critical both at an individual level as well as social, national and global level. And the solution lies at all these multiple levels, starting with individual or household management and ending at the global platform.
Saurabh Kumar’s attachment with NGOs during his college and subsequent professional life made him realize that turning a blind eye to this problem was no solution at all. Working in the environmental services industry, holding leadership roles in AIESEC and serving NGOs like Nepal Connection, Kartavya, Fast Forward India, Subh Drishti, Shadhan, the thought of settling down with a 9 to 5 job completely vanished and serving the society became the topmost priority in his life. Fuelled by his skill in Entrepreneurship Education, Event Management, Public Speaking, and marketing and empowered by a Master’s Degree focused in Environmental Science and Engineering, he set out to complete the broken cycle of waste management.
Recognizing Solutions
Towards Solution( TowaSo) Pvt Ltd was established by Saurabh with the thought of “Resources at the right place is a resource, but at the wrong place, it is a waste”. The idea sparked when he was sitting at a fruit shop where he a saw a cow munching of the fruit peels thrown out as a waste for the shop, but a resource for the cow. TowaSo aims at providing end to end Waste management to the solid waste(garbage) generated in daily life. Improvising on the existing solutions for waste management it has developed patentable technologies such as Home Composter, biogas storage balloon. TowaSo is interested in waste management, waste to energy, resource management and pollution reduction practices.
Treating Waste
To tackle the problem, TowaSo offers solutions around the following points:
- Segregation & Collection – It designs and improvises garbage segregation and collection with the help of IT and present trends, making it sustainable and providing a better working condition for sanitation workers.
- Tracker App – Makes the collection service effective by giving tracking rights to the user, they can request garbage pickup, lodge complaints, and make payment as well.
- The Recycler – It outsources the service currently, but is eyeing to start the service on its own by integrating the stakeholders through its technology and app.
- Composter Tumbler – To compost wet waste it has a patentable setup that is more eco-friendly and less costly and provides everything required for composting including microbes.
- Bio Gas – Patentable gas storage tank that maintains the pressure and is working to include IoT to it. It has a target to provide gas at 4 rupees a day to a family of four.
- Bio Cleanser – Made from citrus fruit waste, this organic cleanser enhances the microbial population in the septic tank and the rate of degradation and keeps the floors germs free.
Challenges are Hidden Opportunities
Being a startup, TowaSo had had its share of teething troubles like people behavior, broken system, reliability on human but it took them up as opportunity. Saurabh adds with a suggestion, “The biggest challenge right now is getting projects as Government floats tenders for Integrated Solid Waste Management valued in hundreds of crores which is nearly impossible for a startup like us to participate and execute. If the government promotes decentralized projects it will allow many startups to work for the society in the field of waste management.”
TowaSo has been managing quite well on its own with its systematic approach and lean methods to handle waste making it successful in handling every city it has worked in. Its expertise combined with the efficient use and integration of technology to offer solutions has helped it to help cities.
All Hands on the Deck
TowaSo has been working since 2016 with Urban Local Bodies(ULB) for Swachh Bharat Mission, helping improve the cleanliness index of several cities. As projects for Integrated Solid Waste management are getting bigger, the Mission brings a lot of hope to the industry. Saurabh adds, “Working with the government has both pros and cons, the best benefit is one can create awareness with lesser effort. At present we are helping the ULB to collect garbage from more than 20000 households and with expenditure on awareness campaign we promote segregation at source.”
He also shares his findings with the start-ups in the industry saying, “Make Something that is Scalable and Sustainable, if your solution is not fulfilling these two criteria I’ll suggest not to go with the idea. Sustainable does not only mean financially you can not ignore the environment, but you also need to be sustainable economically and ecologically.”
Relentless Work Ahead!
For three years, TowaSo has been bringing change by following its in-house 3S strategy – Service, Satisfaction and Strictness. It is now focusing on products- Organic Cleanser, Home Composter and Bio Gas for direct customer so that it does not completely rely on Government. Few patents are under process and this will surely give the company a boost as it targets getting more investors on-board in the coming year.
