India’s ‘Technology Capital’ has come up with a solution to manage solid waste. In a first of its kind, a waste management platform, ‘I Got Garbage’ (IGG), was launched by Mindtree, a tech services company in a bid to improve working conditions of waste pickers.
The cloud-based technology platform could massively bolster the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)’s struggle against the gargantuan problem of garbage transportation and disposal. Currently, the city produces about 4,000 tonnes of garbage daily.
Launched in collaboration with social businesses, including the Hasiru Dala, the Waste Wise Trust and seven others, the IGG (www.igotgarbage.com) will enable waste pickers to offer waste management services by organising themselves into franchises. Bulk waste generators such as households in apartments and offices, as well as individual households can seek the services of waste pickers.
“Waste pickers are self-employed in informal economy and help turn discarded waste to usable commodities. In doing that, they also create 24 jobs in the recycle hierarchy,” Nalini Shekar, co-founder, Hasiru Dala, told presspersons at the launch of IGG here on Tuesday.
“Since bulk generators have to manage their own waste, the platform can bring together both generators and waste pickers,” she said.
The Hasiru Dala, according to her, services about 5,000 households in 23 apartments. The average cost per household is Rs. 75 a month, she said. Commenting on the platform, Prashant Mehra, chief architect (social inclusion), Mindtree, said that the initiative had led to the codification of business model and process for waste pickers. “Six months of work with social businesses has given us the confidence to launch the IGG model. The user trials were conducted with Hasiru Dala since January during which 2,300 tonnes of dry waste has been recycled,” he added.
IGG offers capabilities such as an ERP for waste pickers, social engagement platform for citizens, marketplace for waste management services and waste picker benefits trackers, a release said.
