| 2014 was an exciting year for Waste Ventures Charities as it marked critical additions to the team and the development of some tremendous initiatives.We have hired a new Executive Director for Waste Ventures Charities. Jo Hill was the Director of Ventures at UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs where she raised £10 million to support the most ambitious social ventures in the UK. She has developed a high impact strategy for Waste Ventures that brings together funders and pioneers to scale up waste picker led services. Already, under her leadership, Waste Ventures has secured investment to replicate the Waste Ventures model in Nepal.
To support our work, we have received generous funding from the Peery Foundationand were recently selected for the Grand Challenges Canada ‘Stars in Global Health’ funded by the Government of Canada.
Outlook for 2015
We are incubating a new set of waste picker initiatives that have the potential to create transformational impact in India. Our current projects include:
Waste Picker Franchise
This is a low cost, high impact model that moves waste pickers off the dump into dignified green jobs, doubling their incomes and diverting 83% of waste away from landfill. We are partnering with Hasiru Dala, a network of 5000 waste pickers and I Got Garbage, an online performance management platform that tracks data daily. We are currently raising funds to grow the franchise model. To set up one franchise costs $10K, generates 10 jobs and creates a long term livelihood for waste pickers.
Waste Impact Bond
We are developing a structured, results based financing mechanism to provide patient capital for the delivery of waste services at scale. The waste sector lends itself to an Impact Bond due to the tangible, measurable results such as:
- Number of dignified, green jobs created for waste pickers
- Volume of waste composted and recycled
- % of waste diverted from landfill
The Waste Impact Bond has the potential to be a future game changer in terms of unlocking millions in long term private finance to mainstream the implementation of waste picker led services across India.
Thank You
In addition to the gratitude I have for our funding partners, I also want to wish you – my friends, family, colleagues, and mentors – a heartfelt thank you for your support to help us tackle one of the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges. If you would like to know more about our initiatives, feel free to reach out to me at parag@wasteventures.org or Jo at jo@wasteventures.org. We are also humbled and grateful for your continued support and contributions.
Happy Holidays and Warmest Greetings,
Parag Gupta
Founder and Board Chair
Waste Ventures Charities |