Market need
The current SWM paradigm in developing countries usually involves government contracts for volume of trash collected which perversely encourages more garbage in landfills and/or fee-for-service garbage collection with households. The government contract model of formal waste collection has led to endemic corruption within the sector with expected kickbacks. Uncollected garbage is often collected by wastepickers who make a pittance from recyclables and face many health issues. Solid waste social entrepreneurs assist in collectivizing waste pickers, generating livelihoods, and even formalizing their role but mostly within the old waste paradigm with little composting or recycling.
Market need
The current SWM paradigm in developing countries usually involves government contracts for volume of trash collected which perversely encourages more garbage in landfills and/or fee-for-service garbage collection with households. The government contract model of formal waste collection has led to endemic corruption within the sector with expected kickbacks. Uncollected garbage is often collected by wastepickers who make a pittance from recyclables and face many health issues. Solid waste social entrepreneurs assist in collectivizing waste pickers, generating livelihoods, and even formalizing their role but mostly within the old waste paradigm with little composting or recycling.
| Metric | Current Metric | Waste Ventures Improvement |
| Environmental |
Waste Generation
| Urban Indonesia generates as much as 40 million tons a year. (Toxic Links) Waste Bank estimates urban garbage is increasing at a 10% annual growth rate. | Compost the 50% of waste that is organic; Recycle the 30% of organic waste that is composed of recyclables; Landfill the other 20% achieving 80% reduction of waste in the Waste Ventures model. The demonstrated profitability of the Waste Ventures model incentivizes adoption by other players in favor over the existing model of volume collection. |
Waste Accumulation
| As little as 25% of waste is collected by local governments and contractors. (GTZ) Contractors are paid on volume of waste collected incentivizing them not to process the waste |
Green House Gasses
| Methane is produced by rotting organic waste. Methane is 23x as harmful as carbon as a green house gas. (UNFCCC) | Aerated composting of organic waste prevents it from rotting thereby saving 60 Kgs of CO2 per ton of organic waste (ISWA) |
Biofertilizer
| Biofertilizer production in Indonesia only meets 1.5% of the demand (Fertilizer Association of India) | Waste Ventures will create waste picker corporations that produce biofertilizer at scale from urban compost |
| Social |
| Waste Picker Health | Waste Pickers have half the life expectancy due to unsanitary exposure to garbage (GTZ) | Double waste picker life expectancy through mandated protective gear |
| Waste Picker Livelihood | Waste Pickers earn around $1 a day in recycling scraps of garbage (Primary research) | Waste Bank will 1) increase wage from $1 to $7 through improved profitability 2) provide a stock pool for waste pickers. |
| Expanding the Waste Picker Sector | Current NGOs that assist waste pickers have little capital and technical expertise to expand reach or deepen impact with waste pickers | By providing assistance, capital, and revenue outlets, NGOs can transform into organizations that can scale |
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