You know those annoying friends who badger you to finish everything that's on your plate when you are at a restaurant? Or those who kick up a fuss when you litter despite conveniently placed dustbins in the vicinity? These are the friends to keep close because they are not just your companions, but also defenders of Mother Earth.
Yamini Krishna Rapeti is staunchly among that number. And she is taking her friendship with the planet to the next level with Circle, an environmental start-up that goes beyond just picking up waste and sending it for recycling — it's about involving more hands to make waste segregation an everyday habit. "The solution needs to go beyond clean-ups because the trash keeps coming back. It needs to be prevented from getting there in the first place. Also, no matter how much we keep saying that we need to reduce plastic usage, we have to understand that plastic is here to stay at least for a few years," observes Yamini reasonably.
So the plan is this, Yamini and Co are getting residential complexes like Shriram Panorama Hills in Visakhapatnam to sign up. After getting the administrative body of the apartment to agree, the number of Circle is circulated among the residents. Of their own accord, they reach out to the WhatsApp number, watch a few videos on waste segregation and the circular economy and then, proceed to consciously segregate the waste into wet waste, which goes to Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. As far as the dry waste goes, that's the treasure the start-up is after. The dry waste is separated into LDPE (low-density polyethylene), HDPE (high-density polyethylene and pet bottles.
"We hire vehicles whenever we need for the pick up of this waste and get them to the two collection points at MVP Colony and Madhurwada and from there, straight to the recycling facility at Jawahar Nehru Pharma City, Parawada — from where the paper waste will go to a paper facility in Srikakulam. We also collect e-waste and send it to Green Waves Environmental Solutions," explains Yamini. An integral role is played by the collection staff of these residential complexes. They are incentivising them, directly or via the administration, depending on their policy, to help with segregation when need be and contact them when it's time for collection. "It's an uphill task inculcating a segregation culture, but we are working on it. With three complexes on board already, we are hoping to get more," says the youngster who has been working for NGOs and clubs that care about the environment.
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Why waste segregation is a difficult culture to imbibe is mostly because of the dignity and dirt associated with it. The aim of this start-up is to make people understand that there is value in waste. "We can't buy a Rs 10 water bottle and not be responsible for it. We need to understand what happens to the bottle and how we can help," says Yamini who pursued Electronics and Communications Engineering from GITAM and passed out in 2014. If things go according to the plan, they are in talks with MSME who work to upcycle plastic and create products from it.
For more on them check out circleindia.co.in
