A few years ago, entrepreneur Anish Malpani stood beside a reeking landfill—and was inspired to dream. Waste became his muse. Last month, Yale University named Malpani one of the world’s Emerging Climate Leaders Fellows for 2026. His journey—from that landfill to creating the world’s first pair of sunglasses made from discarded packets of chips in 2023—has led him to work with multi-layered plastic (MLP) and mixed textile scraps, which are among the most challenging waste materials to recycle. “Most textile recycling technologies focus on good-quality waste, not the worst of the worst. We decided to build technology that could handle the latter as well,” he says. Malpani will now join selected young climate leaders from across the world to exchange notes, learn, and build networks. Admitting to feeling “a little bit intimidated”, Malpani says he is also hopeful as he will get a chance to grow his network. “Because, when you are trying to solve some big problems, you have to work together,” he says. October has been eventful for another reason. Malpani’s company, Without, which has secured $1.90 million in funding, opened a first-of-its-kind demonstration plant on October 11. After years of toiling in the lab to “recycle all unrecyclable post-consumer plastics and textiles, the company is now taking its homegrown tech out into the world with the plant located in MIDC Pune. “This is not a new formulation or a new process. It is a new system, an innovative infrastructure,” he explains. The 10,000 sq ft facility, a precursor to a commercial plant, demonstrates that the technology can scale and recycle unrecyclable plastic that previously ended up in landfills or was burned into high-quality material. The plant also sends a message to FMCG brands to be more circular by using recycled materials. “We could process 5 to 10 kg of waste a day in our micro pilot lab stage. With the demonstration plant, we can handle 200 kg of plastic waste per day. Next year, we will be building our first commercial plant, if everything goes to plan. That will process between 3 to 10 tonnes a day, depending on what we learn from this plant,” says Malpani. A conversation with Malpani inevitably circles back to his famous sunglasses made from chip packets, which sold out within days of their launch. He says that the sunglasses were only a proof of concept. “We want to be a B2B enabler. We want to empower brands to be more sustainable using our material as their intel inside. We are focusing on four verticals—eyewear, bottles for home care or the beauty industry, signages, and buttons. We have developed the world’s first shampoo bottle made from shampoo sachets. Our goal is to use consumer waste, convert it into high-quality materials and components and directly supply to brands,” he says. Grappling with a complex reality Malpani estimates that the demand for sustainable raw materials, which do not compromise on quality or price, will exceed supply by 2030. He is motivated because “waste is so much more complex” than calculating that India generates 62 million tonnes of waste per year. Not only is there a lot of waste that goes untreated, but there are 4-5 million informal workers who rely on waste to survive in India. “We think the poor collect waste, but waste also collects the poor. As migrants move from villages to cities, they know that if they do not find a job, they end up doing what is the last resort, which is informal waste work. Plastic makes up 50 per cent of the income of a waste worker, in general. So, then, how do you reconcile this complexity? Because plastic is also really bad for the environment,” he says. It is one of the riddles that he will carry to Yale.
