An IT engineer Anurag Asati brought the Kabadiwala online

0 0

Kabadiwala founder, Anurag Asati. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Whenever we switch geographical locations due to job change, there are an endless number of the problem that we face. Disposing of the garbage is one of them. This Bhopal IT Engineer, Anurag Asati, who faced a similar problem while disposing of the newspaper thought to of changing the process and brought kabadiwala online.

“One day I was looking for a kabadiwala to come to the house, and I couldn’t find one because I did not know anyone nearby,” Anurag was quoted as saying on YourStory. He suddenly had the idea that taking the whole process online would help not just him, but other environment-conscious people as well.

And that’s how he started The Kabadiwala, a recycling pickup service to help people sell old newspapers, metal, plastic, books, and even get paid for it. His Co-founder is Kavindra Raghuvanshi, who was his professor in college.

The traditional kabadiwala process which we all are familiar with is: At one particular time, the kabadiwala comes to pick the waste material from the locality. And as we know that in India, reuse has made a place but not recycle, as it is still not a very popular concept.

Method used:

The Kabadiwala follows the traditional model and pays for scrap by weight. The scrap is then segregated and given to recycling plants for a fee.

The aim is to organize the waste collection vendor network. The growth is through WhatsApp as it is easier for the customers to use it. Anurag said about 60 per cent of their pickup requests come through WhatsApp. He added that they have seen a 40 per cent increase in their sales after using WhatsApp.

The process is simple that you ask for a request for kabadiwala online through WhatsApp/main app to sell off the waste product which can be recycled, commonly known as ‘Raddi’. The area where they are still working on a solution is tracking the productive use of waste from the household.

The Kabadiwala works with both B2B and B2C clients. The startup claims to collect over 100 tonnes of waste every month. Anurag and his team also educate people on how the waste is recycled and the positive impact on the environment. They are in the process of expanding their services to more cities.