For most of us, it’s just scrap. For enterprising youngster Ashok Kumar R.P., though, scrap materials that he comes across are worth their weight in gold. A newly-qualified electrical engineer, Ashok is the chief executive officer of city-based start-up OnlineAkkiri, an online solution for all things scrap.
Onlineakkiri.com
“I really didn’t want to follow the oft tread path to an IT life. I’ve always wanted to do something different, having been influenced by the likes of the Bansal brothers of Flipkart. I wanted to start with something small, which did not require too much capital. While brainstorming with a few friends, we realised there was an opportunity in scrap as far as online services in the city are concerned and came up with the idea of OnlineAkkiri. Besides, I like the idea of doing something that gives back to the environment,” says the 23-year-old, a native of the city, who recently graduated from Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology.
OnlineAkkiri’s USP, says Ashok, is that they will buy and collect scrap from your doorstep, from homes, institutions, offices and apartments, all with proper invoicing.
They buy a whole range of items, from old newspapers and eWaste to plastic waste, metal waste, broken wooden and metal furniture, antiques... This includes computers and their paraphernalia, cables, wires, mobile phones, washing machines, refrigerators, ACs, TV and other electronic items, ferrous and non-ferrous forms of metal scrap, plastic waste, including furniture, water storage tanks, and plastic water bottles and so on. These items can be in any condition and any size.
“We accept almost anything that comes under solid dry and recyclable category. At the moment, however, we’re not taking plastic bags and covers and glass bottles simply because there is no re-sale value for them in the city. We also do not take clothes, tubelights, bulbs, and lamps that contain hazardous or toxic material. The price of the goods will be determined only by weighing and measuring. For example, if it’s an air-conditioner we suggest a price after weighing the quantity and quality of the copper and iron parts in it,” says Ashok.
All that a customer has to do is schedule a pickup (online or via a phone call) according to his/her convenience.
“We have divided the city into different zones and scrap will be picked up from each zone on particular days of the week,” explains the entrepreneur, who himself often goes on collection drives. All the scrap is brought to a storage facility in Kamaleswaram, Manacaud. There each item undergoes a recycling process and is then re-sold, mainly to specific traders in Chala bazaar and from Tamil Nadu. “My family and friends were initially sceptical but one month in to the business, they’re agreeing that trash is cash!” says Ashok.
Log on to www.onlineakkiri.com or Contact: 8289908838
