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From Garbage to Gold: The Urgent Truth About India’s Waste Management Crisis | Ft. Avinash R. Samrit

In this eye-opening episode Sowjanya Shetty sits down with Avinash Radheshyam Samrit, President & Country Head at Clean Harbors India LLP, to unravel the reality behind India's broken waste management system — and what it will take to fix it.

We talk landfills as tall as 17-story buildings, sewage in lakes, microplastics in breast milk, and the invisible cost we’re all paying — through our health, our environment, and even our children’s future. But it’s not all doom and gloom.

Avinash, a business leader with extensive experience in environmental services and industrial waste management, offers grounded insights and practical solutions that can turn waste into a powerful economic opportunity — from compost pits in housing societies to tech-led e-waste recycling startups.

Key topics covered:

Why there’s more money in garbage than gold

Types of waste: municipal, industrial, e-waste, biomedical

The real state of garbage collection and scientific processing in India

Case studies: Indore, Surat, Nagpur, Mizoram, and why they succeeded

How citizens can drive a bottom-up revolution

The economics of waste: startup potential, circular economy, and private participation

Corruption, policy gaps, and why we need to demand accountability

Simple steps YOU can take — as a student, employee, homemaker, or entrepreneur

This is a no-filter, deeply insightful, and often hard-hitting conversation about a problem we all contribute to — and how we can all be part of the solution.

🎧 Who should watch this?
Anyone living in an Indian city. Parents. Students. Policy-makers. Entrepreneurs. Citizens who care about health, sustainability, and India’s future.

Chapters
0:00 - Intro
3:18 - The Real State of Garbage in Indian Cities
6:27 - Types of Waste & Why It Matters
12:00 - Food Waste, Health, and Personal Responsibility
20:00 - Why It Starts With Mindset
25:15 - Garbage to Gold: Waste as a Business Opportunity
34:00 - Clean Countries vs. India: What’s the Gap?
44:00 - Corruption, Accountability & Government Failure
57:00 - What You Can Do Today
1:04:00 - Entrepreneurship in Waste Management
1:18:00 - Infrastructure, Class Divide & Long-Term Vision

About the Guest
Avinash Radheshyam Samrit is the President & Country Head of Clean Harbors India LLP, part of a global environmental services company. He brings decades of leadership experience across industries and is deeply passionate about driving change in waste management and environmental sustainability.

Follow Sowjanya Shetty for more bold conversations on leadership, transformation, and systemic change.

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