Waste generation and management is a global issue and is evolving as a 21st century `basic human right'. In the absence of effective action, it poses serious risks to people's health, safety, and the environment. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, "one of the most significant contributions humanity can make to lessen its impact on the natural world is how we manage the garbage we create”.

India produces 277.1 million tonnes of solid waste every year, which is likely to touch 387.8 million tonnes in 2030. Currently, approximately 90 per cent (1,35,000 MT per day) of the total amount is collected waste. The Indian waste management market is witnessing a healthy growth rate, owing to the high population density and increased industrial activity, which in turn is generating high amounts of wastes, both hazardous and non-hazardous. The Indian waste management industry offers huge potential as only 30 percent of the 75 percent recyclable waste is being recycled currently.

Shortage of proper policies for collection, disposal, recycling and the lack of efficient infrastructure, are few of the many reasons leading to poor waste management in the country. Besides, due to the sheer expansion of the IT and communications industries the use of electronic equipment has increased dramatically across India including Delhi-NCR region, thus making room for e-waste. The growing e-waste problem calls for a greater emphasis on recycling and better e-waste management.

More so important, the highly potent industry has been working informally and in silos. The need of the hour is a clear call for a ‘digitalization' via bringing all the stake holders onto a singular platform to transact. Established in the late summers of 2020, Ye Prayas has been making a humble, yet powerful effort to make this concept a reality. Leveraging the might of technology, Ye Prayas is a Waste Management and Climate Action company, providing mitigation, recycling, refurbishing, consultancy and a gamut of unique services & solutions to cater to the impending need for environmental course correction.

Introducing Transparency to the Waste Management Value chain
Bringing `digitalization' to the fold, Ye Prayas has built a platform wherein businesses can seamlessly adhere to the governmental norms for environment protection. Burdened with increasing amounts of waste, many governments have reviewed available policy options and concluded that placing the responsibility for the post-consumer phase of certain goods on producers, could be an option. Accordingly, Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) is a policy approach under which producers are given a significant responsibility financial and/or physical for the treatment or disposal of postconsumer products.

This essentially requires the manufacturers to retrieve the sold recyclable goods from the

market in order to remain compliant with the EPR target set by the government. A recycler receives the truck load of collected goods from the manufacturer and issues a certificate. However, there is little to no transparency in the process concerning the collection done, and delivery made. Ye Prayas has made this process ‘trackable' via its platform. Right from the generation & collection to the delivery to the recycler, the entire chain of progress is recorded on the platform, thus recording solid & accurate figures of the amount of waste generated, collected and recycled. At the same time, the platform enables the producers to carry out the task seamlessly and focus on their business'core competencies.

“Climate Action is not a charity, it's about the value we create

The Exclusivity of a Corporate Friendly Solution
"We are performing a tech based transition so that the informal waste management sector in India can become a formal industry", says Viresh Keshri, Business Head, Ye Prayas. While it's a welcome fact that the significant chunk of the informal sector with its waste will eventually come to the formal one as and when the recycling picks pace Ye Prayas is playing the role of a catalyst here by bringing in the user friendliness factor to the entire phenomenon. Today, Corporations want to help, but they need a solution that can lift the burden of tracking their wastes constantly to meet the compliance standards. Ye Prayas helps such organizations with their infrastructure to keep track of essential parameters, becoming a preferred corporate friendly platform.

More so, the Basel Convention regulates the trans boundary movements of hazardous wastes and other wastes and obliges its Parties to ensure that such wastes are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. In India, Ye Prayas is the only waste management company that adheres to the norms and ensures that any hazardous waste cargo picked from one state is disposed of safely within the same state, avoiding movement between state boundaries.

The latest climate science is precise: Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C(2.7 degrees F)is still possible. However, to avoid the worst climate impacts, global greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions will need to drop by half by 2030 and reach netzero around midcentury. To that effect, most organizations are working their way up to becoming netzero compliant. However the road to the benchmark requires constant tracking of parameters. Ye Prayas, uniquely so keeps the businesses updated with all the relevant feats, including netzero value stream, carbon calculations etc. The firm also provides carbon credits for eWaste, thus becoming the only company to do so in India to date.

A Complete Ecosystem
Ye Prayas has created an entire ecosystem for all things waste management. The firm has eight products in its portfolio, including CONNECT for EPR compliance, LINK for bulk generators compliance, SAFE for Data destruction and KNOW & ACTION for spreading awareness about the initiatives in the form of course modules for K-12. Ye Prayas partners with primary, secondary and tertiary academic institutions to design unique curriculums for students and staff on waste management. The program aims to kindle research and active participation in the waste management processes.

Being a startup, ye Prayas has laid an impeccable growth trajectory with national awards and outstanding revenue expansion. The firm takes pride in its comprehensive ecosystem from carbon solutions to spreading awareness to offering end-to-end B2B solutions. Ye Prayas has been recognized by UNDP and Harvard in a considerably short span since inception. "We have approached every problem with a 'Community Sense'. This in fact, reflects in our business or revenue growth. Our solutions are appreciated by people and identified as one bringing value", says Sankalp Suman, Co-founder, Ye Prayas.

Brighter & Greener Future
While currently focused on eWaste, Ye Prayas intends to expand its operations to equally focus on plastic, hazardous, medical and chemical waste, etc. The firm is enthused to take charge of 2 percent of the total carbon market share and 4percent eWaste management market share in India, in the upcoming five years.

Ye Prayas has essentially identified the elixir to true environment healing by bringing together Market(incentivization), Nature, and Technology(to scale). "Climate Action is not a charity, it's about the value we create", concludes Viresh.