Innovate4India is reshaping the future of waste management in India. With an unflinching commitment to sustainability, the organization envisions a landfill-free nation—one where waste ceases to contaminate our air, water, and soil. Its approach is rooted in science and layered with practical, data-driven strategies that build environmental resilience and foster cleaner, healthier communities.
At its core, Innovate4India champions innovation. It partners closely with municipal corporations, nagarpalikas, and gram panchayats to pinpoint systemic inefficiencies and implement real-world solutions. From launching research-backed pilot projects to engaging at the grassroots and aligning with national policy frameworks, the organization catalyses transformation across both urban and rural landscapes.
Just as crucially, Innovate4India drives behavioural change. Through targeted Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) campaigns, it cultivates community awareness and long-term responsibility. Its outreach spans schools, residential communities, industries, and corporates—delivering customized, scalable strategies that embed sustainable waste practices into everyday life.
Flagship programs such as Sustainable Soch and the much-anticipated Surat Plogathon 2025 exemplify its bold, community-centric vision. These initiatives not only mobilize action but also reinforce Innovate4India’s role as a trailblazer in environmental stewardship. With every project, the organization fuses innovation with measurable impact—advancing India toward a circular, sustainable economy.
In an exclusive interview with The Interview World at Urban Adda 2025—a forum organized by Raahgiri Foundation in collaboration with the International Council on Clean Transportation and GuruJal—Divya Kalra, Founder and Director of Innovate4India, offered deep insights into the organization’s strategic initiatives. She emphasized how technology-driven policies can streamline waste management systems and yield sustainable, high-impact outcomes. Kalra also spotlighted the growing role of cleantech in converting waste into energy—while candidly acknowledging that an ideal, scalable model for this transition remains elusive.
Here are the key takeaways from her powerful and forward-looking conversation.
Q: Can you walk us through the core solutions and initiatives that Innovate4India is currently spearheading in the waste management sector?
A: Innovate4India operates with a bold and uncompromising vision—zero waste to landfills. The goal is simple yet ambitious: divert as much waste as possible away from landfills through systematic change and public participation. With this vision at its core, the organization actively partners with Nagar Palikas and Mahanagar Palikas across India to drive grassroots transformation.
The journey begins at the doorstep. Innovate4India conducts door-to-door outreach campaigns, urging households to start segregating their waste at the source. Segregation is the essential first step in any zero-landfill strategy. But awareness alone isn’t enough.
To ensure long-term impact, Innovate4India follows through with robust systems support. It delivers comprehensive training and capacity-building programs for municipal staff. By working closely with municipal commissioners and chief officers, the organization strengthens the capabilities of all key stakeholders—those responsible for waste collection, categorization, and processing.
Every role is clearly defined. Every process is monitored. Innovate4India ensures that each stakeholder—from street-level workers to city administrators—performs their responsibilities effectively. To maintain accountability and transparency, the organization implements end-to-end data tracking, ensuring every stage of waste management is measurable and optimized.
This is where Innovate4India makes its mark—on the ground, in the system, and at the core of sustainable urban development.
Q: Given the fragmented and unorganized nature of waste management today, what policy measures do you believe are essential to streamline the sector and drive more effective, sustainable outcomes?
A: Policies already exist—particularly for bulk waste generators, who are mandated to manage their own waste. This includes major entities such as large institutions and hotels. On paper, a significant portion of the waste stream is already covered.
However, the gap lies in execution. In practice, even airports in smaller cities often lack effective systems to handle their waste. Many do not manage it in-house, despite clear policy directives. Implementation, not legislation, is where the real challenge—and opportunity—lies.
Commercial waste represents a significant share—often more than 50%—of municipal solid waste (MSW). If bulk waste generators comply with existing rules, we could drastically reduce the pressure on urban waste systems.
At the household level, too, regulations are in place. Many cities have enacted bylaws mandating waste segregation at source. In some cases, these rules are stringent and well-defined. Governments are allocating funds—not to incentivize segregation directly—but to support awareness campaigns and community engagement. Still, behavioural change takes time, and widespread compliance remains a work in progress.
One critical policy area needing attention is innovation in wet waste management. Composting technologies are widely promoted, yet they often release methane—a potent greenhouse gas. Alternative solutions, such as bio-CNG, were showcased at a recent conference, but concerns around dioxin emissions and environmental safety persist.
Wet waste constitutes nearly 60–65% of the municipal solid waste stream. The absence of a clean, scalable, and environmentally safe solution remains a major policy and technological gap.
To address this, we need a stronger push for innovation—supported by targeted policies, dedicated funding, and strategic partnerships. We must also look outward: what technologies are other countries deploying successfully? How can we adapt and localize them?
Ultimately, effective waste management hinges not just on policy but on robust execution, sustained awareness, and a relentless drive toward technological innovation.
Q: What types of technologies are crucial for sustainably converting waste into energy, and how can they be scaled for broader impact?
A: Implementation alone is not enough. The technologies we adopt must also be economically and environmentally sustainable—they must stand the test of time. Just as critically, they must be clean. Sustainability cannot come at the cost of long-term environmental harm.
Too often, we hear the argument: “A little dioxin is better than uncontrolled dumping,” or “Incineration is cleaner than open burning.” But that misses the larger point. Trading one form of pollution for another is not a solution—it’s a compromise. True progress demands technologies that eliminate waste without creating new environmental threats.
Clean, self-sustaining innovation is the only acceptable path forward.
Q: In your view, what constitutes the most effective and environmentally responsible approach to converting waste into clean energy?
A: We are still navigating the path to an ideal waste-to-energy model. While several technologies have emerged, consistent challenges remain—chief among them is the inability to secure properly segregated waste at scale. Without segregation at source, even the most advanced technologies fall short.
Moreover, incineration, though widely used, is far from a clean solution. It emits harmful gases, including dioxins—potent environmental toxins. Take Singapore, for instance. While it incinerates nearly all of its waste, recent reports highlight alarming dioxin emissions, raising serious environmental concerns.
So, despite progress, we have yet to find a truly clean, scalable, and sustainable method of converting waste into energy. The search continues, and it demands both technological innovation and systemic reform.
