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India: National Startup Challenge for Innovative Waste Management
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The year 2022 saw major advances in France’s commitment to reducing plastic waste, with its decision to ban plastic packaging for nearly all fruit and vegetables, for example. India is also doing its bit to cut down on plastic, by launching a new nationwide start-up challenge, with backing from AFD.
At the end of January, AFD launched the “Swachhata Startup Challenge” in collaboration with India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoHUA), further cementing Indo-French relations. Supported by a €500,000 in-kind grant to the Ministry, the challenge will facilitate key interventions in India's waste management sector. Grants will be issued to ten successful startups that demonstrate how they effectively mobilize technology to work towards sustainability and social inclusion.
The venture was jointly announced by Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India and Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India and Bhutan, along with Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA, at an online event.
Find out more about the Swachhata Startup Challenge
Four Key Interventions
The launch event featured a panel discussion among experts from the waste management sector, public sector administrators from both the national and city levels, as well as private sector startups and investment firms. Speakers highlighted some of the most challenging aspects of waste management in India and welcomed AFD’s financial support for startups dedicated to the issue through raising awareness, collection in both affluent areas and low-income settlements, as well as sorting and recycling/upcycling services.
Responsible waste collection is also a potentially promising sector for gainful employment. “It is important that the waste generator pay fees for availing those services,” says Wilma Rodrigues, CEO of Saahas Zero Waste. “Safe working conditions and minimum wages are indispensable for the workers working in the waste collection sector."
This challenge also calls for mechanical solutions for sewage evacuation and its safe transportation, and the provision of resources for informal waste pickers. Startups may also propose interventions such as ensuring zero dumping through tracking and recycling of segregated solid waste, solutions for plastic waste management and the creative use of technology to track the life cycle and environmental impact of plastic waste.
The panelists concluded that today’s priority is for startups to find ways to incorporate all stakeholders - from consumers to service providers - in a practical working model of waste management using scalable technology.
Evaluation Criteria
AFD and MoHUA are seeking to identify startups that will maximize the potential of the seed fund for their entrepreneurial project. Technological solutions will be evaluated on the basis of their uniqueness, robustness and replicability, while social impact strategies will be judged on the basis of their measurability. Teams are expected to be diverse in composition with added bonuses to those led by women.
Impetus for Change
The top ten startups can win 25 lakhs (2500,000 Indian Rupees or approx. €30,000).
In addition, AFD will provide one year of personalized professional support to eligible startups along with additional investments and support, to serve as incentives for innovation. With this challenge, AFD hopes to diversify France’s role in global sustainable development, and continue the fight against plastic pollution.