A mother of two girls comes into the office-cum-store of the Pune startup reCharkha: The Ecosocial Tribe on Karve Road with a large bag of packets and bubble wrap that she has collected for more than a month.
“While I am conscious of not buying plastic and refuse to use plastic bags, a lot of packaging remains plastic. Our dal, flour, cat food, bread and so on still come in plastic,” she says. For the last few years, she has been bringing plastic packaging to reCharkha, whose business model revolves around creating a community that epicycles and recycles plastic waste until the day the problem no longer exists.
Supplying packaging to reCharkha requires commitment. The plastic packets have to be cut in a certain way, cleaned and collected without damage so that these can be used — but many families in this and other cities are walking the distance.
“I don’t want to leave my daughters a world covered in plastic,” says the woman. reCharkha’s stores in Pune and Mumbai receive close to 50 kg of waste monthly from households, including through couriers.
reCharkha has earned, in the financial year just ended, Rs 2 crore from manufacturing and retailing a variety of bags, from bottle holders, totes and travel pouches to beach bags and laptop bags, diary covers, table mats, indoor vertical planters and cushion covers, among others, from “fabric” woven from strips of plastic.
In 2021-22, the earnings were around Rs one crore. Now that reCharkha’s new unit, in Bhor, is ready to operate at full steam, the company is looking at more than Rs 3 crore in the next financial year. The company uses every kind of plastic packet except milk pouches. Ribbons from old audio and video cassettes are given snazzy forms here.
A 2017-18 Central Pollution Control Board report revealed that India generates 9.4 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, or 26,000 tonnes daily. The country recycles 5.6 million tonnes annually (15.500 tonnes per day), and 3.8 million tonnes annually or 9, 400 tonnes per day, is left uncollected as litter. According to a 2019 report by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the country recycles at least 38 per cent more than the global average but notes that “there is a constant increase in plastic waste generation. One of the reasons for this is that 50 per cent of the plastic is discarded as waste after single use”.
What sets reCharkha apart is that its business model is based on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas of self-reliance. A model of the charkha occupies pride of place in the store. reCharkha employs women at its rural centres in Silvassa and Bhor and uses charkha and handloom to weave the waste into fabric. The Pune office is also dominated by women, which includes Amita Deshpande, an IT engineer who founded the enterprise and is the Director, and Abiramie, a NIFT graduate who heads the design element.
Abhishek Paranjape, co-founder and COO, and Naresh Khawale, operations manager, are among the few men here.
“Many rural people migrate towards cities in search of employment and livelihood. If employment can be generated for them in their own areas, they will not need to come here. Making women in rural areas independent is very important. It gives them a huge boost of self-confidence if they can earn a living in their own villages. This reflects how they raise their children, especially girls,” says Paranjape.
As reCharkha looks to create more impact, it will need solutions to several challenges. For instance, present attitudes towards upcycled products in India mean that a branded bag carries more social cachet than one made of plastic waste. reCharkha has also restricted its e-commerce to its own website and other sustainability sites. Platforms such as Amazon, where most people shop, are out of its context. The company is balancing out by presenting its products at exhibitions and social media but has yet to become a prominent brand. reCharkha plans to go to different cities so that people come to know about the organisation and become a part of the tribe, and this will mean more sales.
“For us, it is not just one sale. Whenever we have a buyer, we communicate to them how they are supposed to reduce the use of plastic. It is surprising how many environment-conscious people of all ages and categories are out there. They are aware of the hazards we are currently facing from climate change and like to flaunt things made from sustainable methods,” says Paranjape.
First published on: 09-05-2023 at 10:38 IST
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