The inspiration behind TrashCon
The stinking garbage affects the lives and makes dump yards a haven for mosquitoes. When Nivedha, then a student at Bengaluru’s R.V. College of Engineering, noticed the ever-growing menace of garbage and waste management, she decided to do something. She organized a cleaning program. Nonetheless, within a week after organizing a cleaning program at the area, wastes started getting dumped again. That is when Nivedha, came up with a permanent solution for the problem. With the help of her mentor, Saurabh Jain, Nivedha came up with the idea of TrashCon.
TrashCon, a startup creating a difference in waste management:
India generates around 68 million tons of waste a year, and much of it is unsorted. TrashCon works on the motto: ‘Stop dumping, Prevent Burning, Generate Money’.
Nivedha, the 23-year-old founder & CEO of TrashCon, has recognized the waste management sector is one among the better source of income. Nivedha’s TrashCon segregates and recycles solid waste after it is collected from households, thus helping in solving the environmental challenges associated with waste. Bengaluru-based TrashCon was chosen as a Tech30 startup this year.
TrashBot – Startup Product
TrashBot, the startup’s product, is an automated machine that segregates mixed municipal solid waste including food waste, plastics, diapers, sanitary napkins etc into biodegradable and non-biodegradable components. Once segregated, the biodegradable component can be recycled into bio-gas or manure while the non-biodegradable component can be used as bio-oil, material for shelves and tableware.
Ensuring zero land-filling
TrashBot features include high compact, efficiency up to 99.6%, works with mixed MSW, seamless operation, plug and plug system, long machine life with precautionary damage control, easy to repair and works in all weather. “I received a lot of letters and emails every day thanking for launching such a product,” said Nivedha to Channeliam.com
How the machine works
TrashBot looks similar to a grain crushing machine. When mixed waste is dumped into the mouth of TrashBot, it is subsequently loaded into a magnetic separator where batteries, contaminants, and metals are removed. What remains is carried into a shredder that tears the waste into smaller pieces. During this process, the biodegradable components tend to dislodge from the non-biodegradable components. TrashCon works in different business models. The machine that weighs around 10 ton costs Rs 38 lakh.
Expansion Plans
The TrashCon team had got a golden opportunity to discuss their product with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now TrashCon works with 5 state governments in India to eliminate the waste menace. TrashCon is planning to expand its services to other developing countries, with each one servicing about 10,000 houses within a radius of about 3 to 4 miles.
