Traceability is vital for a circular economy, ensuring waste is recovered and reintegrated into the system. At Saahas Zero Waste, we’ve spent over a decade improving waste management. Recently, we were selected by UpLink – World Economic Forum for our ‘Traceit for Circularity’ solution, which connects the waste supply chain. In this blog, we highlight how technology enables circularity and the need for system-wide collaboration.
Today, waste management has to be addressed through resource recovery, which in turn plugs into a system that works towards a circular economy.
As humans across the globe, we generate 5.5 million tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) every day. India, with a population of 1.2 billion, generates 0.15 million tonnes per day.
In a circular economy, the materials in this waste must be brought back into the consumption system. Our MSW comprises different types of material (at the very least). This makes material recovery a complex process.
At a fundamental level, materials cannot be disposed of as garbage in a landfill, nor should we choose to burn waste in a cement kiln or an incinerator. Instead, we need to track and trace each waste stream (wet, dry waste, e-waste, textile waste, etc.) and ensure it reaches a destination where the material will go through a cycle of processing, remanufacturing, and moving back to the consumer.
Last week, Saahas Zero Waste was selected by UpLink - World Economic Forum (The innovation platform of the World Economic Forum) along with 13 other entrepreneurs who have built tech platforms that will report in real-time the implementation of a circular system.
Over the last 11 years, we have worked diligently with various platforms to bring accountability to MSW. We have used MIS/app-based solutions, cloud-based solutions, blockchain, etc., but these solutions have been disjointed.
UpLink has now recognized our integrated approach, ‘Traceit for Circularity’, to connect all the players in the supply chain. These different entities can now converse with each other and other members of the supply chain—a form of ERP for the reverse supply chain of waste.
At the ground level, operation-related data is fed in. Over this, a business intelligence platform supports automated analytics that gives us important information around efficiency, compliance, and impact, along with trends and scoreboards.
As one of the selected entrepreneurs, we now look forward to collaborating with the World Economic Forum and the UpLink platform for added technical expertise, funding, and networking opportunities.
Yes, technology can enable and unlock solutions, but the message from the ground is that tech has to work as a part of the larger system. There is no running away from all the other critical pieces, including operations.
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