About vRecycle
vRecycle is a tiny firm that helps over 10,000 homes manage their waste in Goa. While it is mandatory that all clients separate their waste into wet & dry (Organic & Recyclable), we do the rest in a cost-effective as well as environment friendly manner. We offer custom-made solutions to fit every budget and space. In the last 8 years, we’ve setup over 2000 composters and over 150 community recycling points.
When a client calls us, we give them a price quote. After the initial composting and recycling bins are installed, we usually service the client or train their staff to do so.
Composters produce compost that is used by the clients in their gardens. If compost is not needed, we pick it up and process it at our warehouse backyard. When the recycling bins are full, our van picks up the sorted recyclables and delivers them to one of our sorting warehouses. (We have one in Corlim, north Goa, and one in Nessai, South Goa). Here our staff further separate the recyclables into as much as 40 separate categories before it is sent to recyclers. About 18% of the total received waste is non-recyclable. With the assistance of the state government, we bale this and send this out of the state for co-processing in cement kilns for energy recovery. About 2% of the waste consisting of ceramics, tube lights and sanitary waste (diapers and san pads) is what we are finally left with. We store this until the Government has disposal systems for it.
How it began
My childhood was spent mostly outdoors in the village of Cuncolim in Goa, India. With no television or video games, we were in touch with nature almost all day. When my family moved to the town of Margao, it was my responsibility to get rid of the day’s generated garbage into the nearby bin. So when we moved to the village of Benaulim, I looked for the spot around my home where I should be disposing my garbage. Benaulim like most villages in Goa had no bins. This meant that most people burnt their waste or simply threw it into a nearby river or field. I could not do that, so I began to look for alternatives.
Learning from the experts
While in school, I talked to waste pickers and street recyclers and learnt about what they accepted. It was quite an easy task once I knew what they took. I also earned some pocket-money from the recyclables I sold them. Then later, in 1999, I attended a composting workshop organized by the Goa Foundation. I immediately started composting and within three months was convinced that I was onto something. Even more encouraging was that the daily bag of waste that had to be thrown away now took a week to fill up. Over the years, I learnt of even more disposal systems for the hard to recycle waste. 18 years later, I can proudly say that I no longer generate any waste that I must throw away.
The Swedish connection
In 2000, I met some young Swedish students working on environmental awareness in Benaulim. It did not take too long for us to become friends and in 2003, I was invited to Sweden to learn how waste was managed there. I had a fantastic time there. Besides taking in the beauty and friendliness of the country, I also visited several waste management sites. When I returned, little did I know that I would be making another seven more visits over the next six years! In all my visits, I took back a little more information on Swedish waste practices. When I got back to Goa, I used this info to create a hybrid model that looks more like the Swedish system but runs with Goan systems.
Learnings, Collaboration & Sharing
The most important aspect of waste management is separating waste at source. This is the main problem of the Goan waste: It’s always mixed. There is very little that you can do with mixed waste. To encourage people to separate, I collaborated with a friend Patricia Pinto who taught me an easy and low-cost way to compost food waste. I designed signage that was easy to read and made recycling bins look attractive enough to put them right next to your home entrance. Through the entire journey, I shared my findings as well as my designs. All my creations continue to be copylefted (as in free for sharing in non-commercial situations).
The second most important learning was that people need to be educated on proper waste disposal techniques. I spend a lot of time in the year talking to people about their waste. I find that students and villages are most receptive compared to others.
The third learning was that not everybody has the time or interest to manage their own waste, and so in 2009, I started a service company called vRecycle to meet this need.
What makes us different
We often get mistake for waste disposal contractors, which of course we are not. vRecycle started out as an experiment to test if it was possible to run a successful waste management business even if:
- We share all our learnings with everybody. We believe we need to improve together.
- We focused on waste reduction by recycling rather than recycling only high value recyclables.
- Diverted all waste from burning or landfill even if storage of hard to dispose waste is expensive.
- We complied with government regulations, paid the required fees and taxes on sale of recyclables.
- We often have little or no support from the Government in what we do.
- Provide our staff facilities, safety equipment, health checks, bank accounts and more.
- Paid our unskilled staff (both men and women) equal and fair wages.
Our experiment was a success! However rather than keep growing, we would prefer to clone our operations in a decentralized hub and spoke model by partnering with young entrepreneurs using franchising as a tool. If you think you would like to venture into the exciting and fulfilling waste management business, please give us a call.
to get a PDF version of this please click here the-vrecycle-story (Ver. Jan 17)
v Recycle WMS 
Awesome work being done by vrecycle …
The whole of india needs to wake up to this problem… Rather u should say urgent need
Of waste management
awesome job…..
North goa needs it desperately
Hi Roshan, we have a Drop Off point coming up in Assagao pretty soon! 🙂 -Clinton..
Hi Duncan,
The Assagao Collection Point is ready and opens TOMORROW at the Gunpowder Restaurant. See you there! 🙂
Hello sir you been doing great job really it’s really important initiatives to awake our society. I would like to know more about it and contribute towards the vrecyle.
hi clinton,
siddhesh here ..the coal guy. i appreciate your work and kinds of thing you do.
let me know if i can be of any help to you.
good luck always
We at Betalbatim where the dry waste of more than 50 households is being collected for over two years by vRecycle Waste Management Services are very happy with the services rendered for a very reasonable fee. Several more households in our village wish to join and we are collecting forms from them to be forwarded to Clinton. This is true Swach Bharat (before the term was coined!) carried on for years without fanfare, and more importantly – self-sustaining and without the poisoned oxygen of government help.
hello mr. Vaz
You are doing a yeoman service to Goa and the rest of India too. I saw your interview thanks to a colleague who posted it on our group wall.
I’m a n ex-GPP student living in Portugal. Even though I had technical qualifications, I’m into primary school teaching now and so waste management is a scenario that I’m very interested in because of professional reasons. In the last year of my teaching diploma, I was obliged to draw up a viable project for scientific and environmental education. And so together with a colleague I came up with Green Cities for the Future. On the advise of my professor I handed in the project to my local municipal council and it is now being implemented in parts. I would love to share it with you and it would be a pleasure because it would be my contribution to our beloved homeland. Just let me know. I’m sending you an e-mail with my contact details in case you’d like to look into the project.
we are a housing society in benaulim. Though the builder has made compost pits, we cannot use them as not even 10 houses are occupied on a regular basis. So there is a problem for disposal of both wet and dry waste. Any solution you can offer?
I work for a travel agency and my senior would like to speak to you directly about recycling of papaer and fabric (old uniforms)
Kindly share your number if possible.
Thankyou
HI Clinton.
any collection point in Alto Santa Cruz.
We segregate and don’t know what to do with dry waste.
Have a big barrel. Can keep in it if collecting from home is a possibility every 15 days!
Please let me know!
or else can we think of creating a collection point around here!!!
Best wishes and good energies to you and your team.
Poonam
when our bins are full I will get into contact. you had delivered a talk in our school holy cross high school bastora which inspired me but you had not started at that point of time in bardez.
Would like to know of a collection centre in or around Mapusa. Thanks
Hi Clinton…
if it is possible could i have your personal number coz need to talk about some medical waste how and where do i dispose it. because my uncle who is a priest has kidney problem and he is undergoing dialysis and for dialysis those plastic bags and those cassets which are used i don’t know where to dispose them. we have emptied all the liquid from those bags and put them in boxes and kept but don’t know where to dispose them… is there a solution to it… can you plzzz let me know as soon as possible…
My cell no: 8806670214
Rohan da costa
Hi
Clinton,
We have a restaurant in Porvorim and would like to know if you’ll take glass plastic and tin .. please call me 7030961335. I couldn’t find a contact number on the site thanx
Hi Clinton
We have recently moved in a new compound called Sapna Emrald. This is near Betalbatim. Will you be able to assist us? There are 7 houses in the compound and we can get everybody on board. Please do contact me on my email. Thanks.
A Chitnis
Great work Clinton! A bunch of us came specifically to listen to your presentation this afternoon at Peace Cottage. We were very impressed with the way in which you explained the composter in layman’s terms.
We want to introduce the idea of waste separation and composting in a certain community in Goa. We will get in touch with you soon.
Thank you very much for this afternoon. We learnt a lot!
We are Packaging Company “Goa Art Printers” located in Verna Goa ,Address , S-151 , Near Micro Labs Pharma, Verna Industrial Estate, 403722 , Contact Person – Mr. Sitaram Naik ( General Manager – 8390594750)
We want our daily waste ( Cotton Chindhi & Paper ) to be collected from our unit,
kindly share your contact details to approach you,
waiting for your reply
Regards,
Sitaram Naik ( General Manager )
Goa Art Printers – Verna Ind. Est , Verna Goa .
Everyone has so much waste?? help Clinton for the same. Rather than giving him only your waste.
This is such an amazing initiative! I recently moved to North Goa and have been searching desperately for an organized system like this! Please let us know if you decide to hold operations in the north! Brilliant stuff!