Sunglasses made from chips packet sell out in a week; firm plans more manufacturing units

Anish Malpani, Ashaya founder and CEO, said, “We are producing sunglasses from discarded packages, and also marketing it in a way that resonates with the buyers. Now, we are working on version 0.2 of the sunglasses… We also sell coasters, and consider lamps and premium furniture as potential products. While selling products gives us a 70 per cent gross margin, allowing us to be sustainable at the product-level, it is a proof of concept at present.”

Ashaya aims to help tackle issues related to waste management in the country with the help of factories that recycle plastic and other such waste. “The company has spent the last two years conducting experiments in a Pune lab, and has found a way to recycle and reinvigorate flexible packaging. We chemo-mechanically extract materials from the waste using our patent-pending technology and convert them into high-quality products,” added Malpani, a former finance professional.

Ashaya, at present, is possibly the only company in the world to have technology to process MLP this way. It has also built a micro-pilot plant in their R&D laboratory that allows them to process 5 kg of MLP every day. Mostly used to make packaging for chips or biscuits, almost 100 per cent of MLP end up in landfill sites. Unlike other plastics, say PET bottles or milk pouches, the chances of MLP being recycled are zero. As landfill sites pose major threats to the environment, a sustainable solution to MLP is the need of the hour.

The company — which was set up with an investment of Rs 1.5 crore, including grants from SocialAlpha and Startup India Seed Fund among others — now plans to scale up its technology from its lab to a larger facility that can process between 100 and 500 kg of MLP in Pune by 2024. “Our goal is to build large factories and set up decentralised solutions that could process waste as close to the source as possible. All of PCMC’s waste should be recycled in the area itself, so that it does not need to be transported or become infested with fungus,” Malpani said.

While selling technology to recycle waste could be a possible revenue stream for Ashaya, Malpani aspires to have a more holistic and decentralised approach towards all waste, including MLP. “Creating sunglasses from MLP is just the beginning. Our core tenet is to create an impact in the lives of stakeholders such as waste pickers, who are at the bottom of the caste, class, and social pyramid. A portion of our sales goes towards their empowerment. We formalise them into our supply chain and pay them a premium for their waste, while keeping their long-term interests at hand,” according to Malpani.
Malpani had earlier said that they aim to make a positive impact in all spheres of the society. “So, 10 per cent of the sales would be shared with SWaCH and Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP) — waste-picker collectives based in Pune — as donations towards keeping children of waste-pickers in school.”