“THE

SAAHAS OF ABSTRACT

HANDLING SAAHAS is a non-profit organization working

in the field of waste management. At SAAHAS,
the belief is that when waste is managed at
WASTE” source, it becomes a resource. Since 2001,
SAAHAS has been helping build communities
across rural and urban India that manage
their waste at source by reducing, reusing
and recycling their waste and achieving 90%
A STUDY resource recovery.1 The study of SAAHAS was
undertaken with three main objectives:
ON • The evolution of Organization
Structure as it was contingent on
SAAHAS WASTE environment and strategy
• Organization Culture and a study of
MANAGEMENT how strategy is informed by culture
• Future Readiness
The team studied the organization in the
context of the bigger industry scenario, its
structure vis-à-vis this environment, the
changes in strategy and corresponding
changes in organization structure in its
journey over the years, and an in depth
analysis of organizations culture at all levels.
The team visited and spoke to SAAHAS
GROUP 12 representatives at all levels of function: the
1811135: Ishan Sinha head office, the processing centre, and client
1811123: Pratiksha Patil site (IIMB). Most of our data related to the
functioning of the organization is primary
1811111: Mohit Mahi
data sourced from representatives of
1811099: Ameer Iqubal SAAHAS; additional data mostly including
1811087: Chitrang S.Chauhan facts, figures and work processes have been
sourced from credible online sources.

1
www.SAAHAS.org
 INDEX

SECTION TOPIC PAGE

NO.
1 THE BIG PICTURE 2
1.1 The Waste Scenario in India 2
1.2 Journey So Far 4
1.3 Market and Major Players 5
1.4 Current Scenario 6
1.5 Present Objectives 6
2. WORK PROCESSES 7
2.1 Supply Side 8
2.2 Revenue Side 8
2.3 Cycle of Waste Segregation 9
2.4 Dependencies 9
3 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE 9
3.1 External Environment 9
3.2 Initial Days 11
3.3 Inflexion Point 11
3.4 Reorientation 11
3.5 Structure at SAAHAS today 12
4 ORGANIZATION CULTURE AND VALUE 14
SYSTEMS
4.1 Hiring and Training 14
4.2 Team Building 15
4.3 Rewards and Recognitions 15
4.4 Culture reflecting environment and core 15
strategies
4.5 Client Side Culture 16
4.6 Mega Community 17
4.7 Effeciency and Effectiveness 17
4.8 Organizational Goals Today 17
5 ORGANIZATION STRATEGY 18
6 FUTURE READINESS 20
1. THE BIG PICTURE
1.1 THE WASTE SCENARIO IN INDIA

Anees Jung, author of the short story “Lost Spring”2, poignantly captured the scenario of urban waste
in India through a heartfelt story of Saheb-e-Alam, a child rag-picker in a big city. Saheb’s family is
displaced from their village plagued by floods and storms, and have come to the big city to make ends
meet. He does not own shoes – it is a state of perpetual poverty. And sometimes, he finds a rupee in
the garbage; for children, even garbage is wrapped in wonder.

Stories like Saheb’s are not uncommon in India, particularly Urban India. In a country developing
rapidly both in terms of urbanization, industrialization and standard of living, waste has long taken a
back-seat in the eyes of policy makers and citizens alike. It is the absolute end product of every cycle
of production and consumption and has hardly ever been considered to bring value; except by rag-
pickers and scavengers, for whom it is a livelihood. Complimentary to this, social norms have tended
towards the “At-my-doorstep” attitude; the responsibility for my waste ends at my doorstep. The
neglect waste management has faced over the years has precipitated a situation in which Solid Waste
Management (SWM) has become a major challenge in cities with high population density3, and the
issue of sustainability of growing cities is in question. Over the years, the informal sector has been
primarily engaged in extracting meagre value from waste. Moreover, nearly 90% of residual waste is
currently dumped rather than properly landfilled.4 Even the functionality of landfills is in question,
with a rapidly increasing population and the resulting increasing garbage quantity makes the time
frame of usage very short and exhaustion very quick.5 Next to landfills, incineration is a technology
that has existed for quite some time in the space of waste management; however it is not free from
problems either. Not all waste is incinerable, and the toxic fumes and gases resulting from incineration
are severely hazardous to health. As such, it is not a solution that can be uniformly applied for
extensive waste management in an urban environment. The third, and again not recent, solution to
waste management is Recycling. For long
Recycling has occupied the perception
space of being a value source; however, the
implementation of recycling has focused
around industries (metal scrap, plastic etc.);
it is yet to penetrate as a behavioral aspect
in the household environment.

Our report focuses on SAAHAS, revolving

around the issue of Solid Waste
Management (SWM) faced particularly by
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in India. The
current systems in place, particularly Figure 1: Trend of Urban Population Growth. Source: World Bank
landfills and incineration, are inefficient
and detrimental to public health, environment and economy.6 Figure 1 presents the trend of growth
of urban population in India from ~80 million in 1960 to ~450 million in 2017. Table 1 presents the
waste generations Tons per Day (TPD) in the top ten metros. In almost all of the metros, waste
generation has increased multifold in the 15 year span between 2000 and 2015; in some cases it has
grown as much as 21 times (case in point: Bangalore). Municipal areas in the country cumulatively
generate 1,33,760 metric tonnes per day of MSW. Notably, out of this quantum, 91,152 TPD waste
is collected (not including waste collected by kabadiwalas and rag-pickers from households and
unplanned dumps) and 25,884 TPD is treated. The unplanned (or lacking long term planning) dumped
waste is as much as 1,07,876 TPD (nearly 80%), which needs 2,12,752 cubic meter space every day
2
http://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/lefl102.pdf
3
http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/3/160764
4
http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/3/160764#ref-2
5
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X08002626?via%3Dihub
6
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344910001837?via%3Dihub
and 776 hectare of precious land per year.7 Municipal authorities have so far only set up 279 compost
plants, 172 bio-methanation plants, 29 RDF plants and eight Waste to Energy (W to E) plants in the
country.8

Table-1: Municipal Solid Waste Generation in Top-Ten metros by size (India)

Source: Central Pollution Control Board9

These figures clearly indicate a few glaring gaps in the entire waste management system. Foremost,
the rapidly increasing waste generation from urban municipal areas is unmitigated due to the lack of
a parallel ramp-up in waste collection, let alone waste processing facilities. Secondly, there is a huge
involvement of the informal sector in household waste collection, which has not been formally
recorded on national scale. Finally, the waste disposal and management system at present relies
significantly on landfills and dumping, which are often ad-hoc solutions without a holistic plan that
covers end to end management of waste disposal and value recovery. These are gaps that our
organization in focus, SAAHAS, has endeavored to address.

1.2 JOURNEY SO FAR10

Wilma Rodrigues, the Founder and CEO

of SAAHAS Waste Management, started
her career as a tour guide for India Tourism
in 1983. While introducing heritage spots
to foreign tourists was an exciting prospect
for Ms. Rodrigues – and they were
fascinated by it – there was a glaring
contrast evident to the visitors. Next to
beautiful monuments, the roads were
defiled with garbage and litter. This was
severely contrarian to the India idea of
promoting the beauty of India’s heritage.
Ms. Rodrigues moved on to edit a trade magazine for the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, and
worked as a journalist for Metropolis. She later joined the Energy and Resources Institute, Bangalore
, but carried with herself her memories from the first job in tourism 18 years back. This was how
SAAHAS was born.11

SAAHAS began its journey in 2001, a not-for-profit focusing on solid waste management,
segregation of wet and dry waste, composting and recycling among other things in Bangalore. It was

7
http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_wte1205.pdf
8
CPCB Report, 2012
9
http://cpcb.nic.in/trend-of-solid-waste-generation-in-46-cities/
10
https://SAAHAS.org/about-us#our-journey
11
http://www.forbesindia.com/article/2018-wpower-trailblazers/2018-wpower-trailblazers-for-wilma-rodrigues-
trash-is-treasure/49639/1
registered as a Society under the Societies Act and headquartered in Bangalore. The Municipal Solid
Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules Act, 2000 precipitated the founding of this organization,
and the initial mandate the organization handed to itself was to promote “Waste Management
Practices”. The organization embarked on its mission of generating awareness through several
campaigns and programmes. In 2002, it launched the “Less Plastic for Me” campaign run in Nilgiris,
Food World, and other supermarkets in Bangalore. In 2004, it shifted gears slightly, and set up its
first waste management unit SBI, Bangalore. In 2008, SAAHAS Tied-up with Tetra Pak to support
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) program. IN 2010, the First Community Waste Processing
Centre, Kasa Rasa, set up under PPP model, went operational, followed by a second Kasa Rasa centre
in Koramangala, Bangalore in 2011. In 2013, SAAHAS launched its SAAHAS Zero Waste
Management Private Limited, an independent sub-entity focused on operating waste management
units for clients with the end-goal of becoming zero waste entities. Drawing from their mission
statement, each individual creates around 11 tons of waste in a lifespan, of which 90% can be
transformed into resources. This addresses not only the problem of waste disposal, but also value
extraction, at the same time. Waste is not a problem, it is identified rather as a neglected opportunity.
SAAHAS Zero Waste is built on the three pillars of Nature, People and Technology, which we shall
cover in greater detail in the body of this report. In 2015, SAAHAS launched its first rural waste
management programme in Ballari. In 2016, the third Kasa Rasa centre was set up in Whitefield,
Bangalore. The following year turned out to be a milestone, and in 2017, SAAHAS expanded and
launched outstation programmes in Gurugram, Hubbali, and Surat. Today, SAAHAS functions in
seven cities: Bangalore, Chennai, Hubbali, Ballari, Hyderabad, Surat and Gurugram.

1.3 MARKET AND MAJOR PLAYERS

The Waste Management System in India, particularly waste collection and disposal, has traditionally
been a primarily government-driven initiative. Responsibility in Urban Areas has been focused on
City Municipalities. There is hardly any segregation of waste at source; and the few such waste
segregation options available (segregated waste bins) are not correctly utilised due to lack of public
awareness. Waste is usually dumped to city outskirts (majorly) and in landfills. There is also very
limited focus on gradation of waste at source, ie, bio-degradable, glasses, polybags, paper shreds
etc.12 Other than government entities, there is a huge presence of informal sector scavenging through
waste dumps to reclaim plastics, glasses, paper etc. including rag-pickers, kabadiwalas, raddiwalas
etc. Domestic solid waste is usually thrown on the streets directly or in plastic bags from where road
sweepers collect it into heaps.

Other than this, some other actors present in this sector include:

• Private Formal Sector: Registered organizations like SAAHAS involved in collection,

segregation, logistics, processing, disposal and recycling. This includes organizations like
Eco-Wise, Vermigold, Synergy Waste Management, Shivalik, Greenobin etc. These
organizations being in their growth phases are focused on particular cities, and some of them
are highly specific (such as only e-wastes).
• Private Informal Sector: Unregistered small private players like waste pickers, dump pickers,
waste buyers, traders etc.
• Community representatives like NGOs
These entities come together in various models for providing holistic services in waste management,
which are increasingly oriented towards end-to-end services. This includes Public-Private, Public-
Community, Private-Private, and Public-Private-Community.13

1.4 CURRENT SCENARIO

Business research organisation NOVONOUS claims the waste management industry is expected to
be worth $13.62 billion by 2025. Indian municipal solid waste (MSW) management market is
expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.14 percent by 2025, while e-waste management market is expected
to grow at a CAGR of 10.03 percent during the same period. The market space is rapidly being
populated by new players, mostly startups, such as Scrapos, The Kabadiwala, SAAHAS, We-
Convert, Kachrapatti, Kachre Ka Dabba and Pom Pom. With this rapid influx of waste management
startups, the domestic industry is estimated to grow over $1 billion by 2020. Investor outlook towards
this industry is also on a high. Many of these startups have raised funds from Angel Investors. Most
of these enterprises are presently concentrated around cities in Southern India. Interestingly, to quote
a member of the SAAHAS team, this is not incidental. The waste management scenario is apparatly
a much bigger challenge in Northern India, and organizations find it easier to start their businesses
from scratch in Southern Cities. This highlights both a problem – in Northern Cities – and an
opportunity for new enterprises looking to establish a similar foothold in Northern India.14

Today, SAAHAS maintains the parent umbrella body for its not-for-profit works, while its sub entity
SAAHAS Zero Waste Management floated in 2013 is focused on for-profit work. The company
manages 30 tons of solid waste per day, compared to 20 tons in 2017 and 8 tons in 2013, for
institutions including Microsoft, Accenture, IIM Bangalore and 47 others. Investors are optimistic on
the future of the million dollar company.
“SAAHAS is one of the few enterprises in the Indian waste management space to have a
scalable business model. The company is on track to achieve profitability.”
-Vikram Gandhi, Founder, Asha Impact

Today Bengaluru generates 4,000 tonnes of solid waste per day, 40 percent of which is from bulk
generators. And Rodrigues wants to make the most of this opportunity. “We can do complete waste
management for a city or town. We are even willing to do door-to-door garbage collection,” she
says.15

1.5 SAAHAS: PRESENT OBJECTIVES

The team at SAAHAS has elucidated the following broad objectives in its waste management
mission.

• Working with Communities to motivate and implement decentralised waste management

systems
• Providing dignified livelihood opportunities and strengthening the informal sector involved
in collection and recycling of waste; people at the bottom of the pyramid.
• Conducting campaigns and awareness programmes focused on the concepts of reduce,
reuse, recycle
• Advocacy and policy intervention in the area of green waste management.
• Programme support for EPRP (extensive producer responsibility).
• Study and research related to management of different MSW streams

13
European Scientific Journal June 2015 /SPECIAL/ edition ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431

14
https://yourstory.com/2016/11/gem-enviro-management/
15
http://www.forbesindia.com/article/2018-wpower-trailblazers/2018-wpower-trailblazers-for-wilma-rodrigues-
trash-is-treasure/49639/1
 • Implementation of the municipal solid waste (management and handling) rules, 2016
• Implementation of BBMPs Waste segregation rules
• Implementation of plastic waste management rules, 2016, government of India.
• Maximize resource recovery through environmentally and economically sustainable
programmes
• Sensitive communities in bringing about behavorial changes
• Implement a strong monitoring and supervision process for accurate impact measurement

Some overall goals:

• Waste is to be managed, not disposed

• Zero landfills
• Waste Management to be recognized as a pan-India movement
• The three pillars: Nature, People, Technology
• Community approach to waste management
• Inclusive training and nurturing of workforce involved in waste management; help in their
transition from informal employment to formal sector.

2. WORK PROCESSES
Zero waste is an approach which aims to eliminate the waste rather than managing it. It also aims to
diverse the waste from landfills and incineration. SAAHAS zero waste organization follows a
circular economy model (Figure-2)16.

The zero waste program initiative depends on the type of the

clients. If the client is a bulk generator (10Kg waste/day or 50
units/dwelling), SAHAS provides on-site solutions. It creates
a decentralized unit at the client location which will manage Closing the Zero Waste
loop Program
their waste at the source. Bulk waste generators include tech
parks, residential complexes and institutes like IIM
Bangalore. In case of smaller generators, they provide a
holistic waste management solution. They collect the waste
Extended
from them and process at their units called Kasa Rasa. Producer
SAAHAS has 6 such units in Bangalore. Responsibility

Extended producer responsibility initiative: Under this initiative , FIGURE 2

SAAHAS has partnered with organizations such as Tetra Pak, Hindustan Unilever ,Britannia etc. and
electronic waste generators to help them in bringing back the generated waste into recycling chain.
Tetra pak cans which are collected under dry waste are recycled to extract the paper pulp and the
aluminium which can be reprocessed and reused. SAAHAS has established an extensive network of
collection to excel in the reverse logistics field. They reduce the gap between destination of the
recycled product and the source of the waste.

Closing of the loop initiative: The segregated waste is used to produce compost and other recycled
products such as roofing sheets, chipboards, customised books and they can again provide us with
value and hence considered as the closing of the loop.17

16
https://SAAHAS.org/images/rules/technical-papers-links/closing-the-loop-from-waste-to-resource.pdf

17
www.SAAHAS.org
 2.1 SUPPLY SIDE

SAAHAS works on segregating the waste

and on the supply side we have waste
collected from different sources which are
either bulk generators(10 Kg/day) or small
level generators. The collected waste is
segregated at the unit into dry waste, wet
waste and sanitary waste. They have
vendors assigned to collect the waste and
bring it to the centres. In the decentralized
unit the waste is collected by their
employees.
The stages in the functioning of the units
are presented in Figure-3.
FIGURE 3

Solution for residencies: On site programs which require coordination with resident welfare
association, property managers, resident volunteers, maintenance staff .They carry out tasks such as
training for house-keeping staff and engaging resident volunteers. Monthly reporting and constant
monitoring of performance of the units.

Solution for offices: IT parks and companies with goals of sustainability and zero waste premises.
Clients are HCL, Microsoft, Bosch, Thoughtworks etc.

Solution for communities: The communities with the constraints for on-site infrastructure are
provided with the collection facilities. The waste collected from these societies is taken to the Kasa
rasa units and is then processed.

Solution at institutes: Dealing with the authorities, creating awareness among the students and faculty
are the main tasks at the institutes. They establish a unit at the institutes for waste segregation and
cost of the infrastructure is taken care by the institutes.

2.2 REVENUE SIDE

1. Collection and transportation: Collection and transportation services are a source of revenue for
the organization in case of communities.
2. Selling and transporting: The segregated waste is then sold to the vendors for recycling purpose.
Vendors directly purchase paper and plastic for recycling. Tetra-paks on the other hand are
transferred to the recycling centres. The revenue is also earned from selling the recycled products
from tetra paks.
3. Service fee: A contractual service fee is collected from clients for the manpower and management
services provided by SAAHAS, along with the use of their waste processing facilities
4. Composting: Wet waste is composted post segregation, and sold to buyers.
5. Dry waste sorted after primary and secondary sorting into upto 17 categories of items are sold to
various specific recyclers, following which items like recycled fibres, PET bottles, corrugated
boards etc. are sold for revenue. Some specific categories of dry waste are used by industries as
combustible fuel (as mixers).
 2.3 CYCLE OF WASTE SEGREGATION

1. Storage and sorting: Storage of the
collected waste is big challenge due to
the fear of rodents. There are 14
different types of materials which has
to be sorted. This creates confusion
among the employees.
2. Packing and storing: The sorted waste
is then weighed and stored in sacks
which are sold directly to the vendors.
2.4 DEPENDENCIES

SAAHAS have contracts with external agencies that collect waste, and are dependent on such
agencies for the right sourcing and status of waste. This includes segregation of wet and dry waste,
logistics, storage conditions (open dumps, dumpsters, or individual households) etc. Several
environmental factors that affect the storage of the waste, and unhygienic conditions pose a potential
health hazards to employees. Authorities at the client side, customer behaviour at the bottom of the
pyramid, awareness of the methodology being implemented also affect the working of the
organization. The rules and regulations imposed by the government, covered elsewhere in this
report, are an external dependency that is somewhat unmitigable but only influenceable through
focus groups and presence in policy making fora. Investors are a major dependency on the
commercial side, and play a critical role now even more so than earlier, with SAAHAS zero waste
aiming to establish itself as a sustainable and viable business.

3. ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
One of the primary reasons for our selection of SAAHAS for this report was its unique organization
structure within a niche sector. Our team visited both the head office of SAAHAS and their waste
processing unit at IIM Bangalore. In both these places we found strong connotations of an organic
structure in a continuously learning and growing environment. This shall be explored within this
section.

3.1 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

SAAHAS works within an environment that has several elements and is rapidly changing in nature.
On the Simple-Complex dimension, some of the main elements in its task environment that SAAHAS
interacts with directly include:
• Raw Materials Sector: For SAAHAS, the raw material is “waste”. While there is no shortage
of waste, and waste management is widely identified as a problem in urban areas, the critical
elements in waste handling are the sourcing of waste, how the waste is handed over
(segregated or non-segregated), clarity in waste collection responsibilities and transport
logistics. This is unique to an organization of this type, since while resource is abundant, the
status of the resource being handed over is critical to the amount of cost and effort necessary
to be spent on suitable processing.
• Market Sector: The market has woken up in the recent past and is increasingly more aware to
the necessity of waste management. This has been pushed through by government regulation
and public awareness. Metaphorically speaking, the larger numbers of waste dumps springing
up in an unplanned manner in urban areas has sensitized people to recognize a problem at
hand. However, action towards this problem has been limited. We spoke to a member at
 SAAHAS about the ease of acquiring clients and a change in the clients’ perception in recent
years on the back of growing awareness, and in both these parameters they did not find a lot
of change in spite of regulatory support. The challenge for SAAHAS is to position itself as an
organization which offers a service that clients identify as important but not necessarily worth
a separate expenditure. Waste management is in most organizations a part of administrative
expenses; the challenge is to have clients identify waste management as a separate head
soliciting both an expenditure budget and a dedicated in-house awareness drive.
• Human Resources sector: SAAHAS hires two broad categories of human resources. The first
is the gamut of field workers (currently nearly 200) who work in their 60-odd units at client
locations. The second is the more educated set of employees who carry out all the
administrative tasks from supervision of field units to various roles in the head office. While
the hiring process shall be covered in greater detail in following sections, it is important to
note here that a major challenge is to identify suitable candidates for office roles on the basis
of intrinsic personality traits rather than on-paper credibility. Similarly, for field roles, the
challenge is to transition workers from the informal sector into the organized sector, including
the training and integration it entails. For these workers, it is not only a change of job but a
major change in their mode of livelihood. The movement from waste scavenging to
uniformed, hygienic waste segregation in systematic units and offices is a major one in terms
of cultural change for the staff. For SAAHAS, this also means convincing clients that while
the financial footprint of this method is greater – on account of employee benefits, minimum
wage, etc. – it is a more efficient method than the traditional waste dumping system; and the
right thing to do. SAAHAS gives a dignified livelihood to its workers, and a sense of purpose
to its employees.
• Government sector: Government regulations have had a big impact on the strategy, structure
and functionality of SAAHAS over the years. It started in 2001 on the back of the Municipal
Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules Act, 2000; again the Solid Waste
Management Rules 2016 provided an impetus in terms of much more stringent rules. Big
corporates and tech parks generate up to 2 tons of waste per day. Industries manufacturing
plastic bottles, wrappers etc. for their products are starting to recognize (and being made to
recognize) their responsibility of taking back some of the huge volume of plastic being floated
into the market on account of their product. These companies and corporates are now looking
to implement measures to meet government regulations and their social responsibilities. The
service portfolio of SAAHAS is well positioned in this regard. The government sector also
includes the various municipal bodies, and one possible way to go forward is to tie up with
municipalities for end-to-end services. Having said that, while awareness is on the rise,
implementation is slow and convincing is a challenge.
• Socio-cultural sector: The sociocultural sector is strongly in SAAHAS’ favour. Reduce-
Reuse-Recycle has been an old motto and its awareness in the social space is widespread. The
importance of a green movement has been in school curricula since many years. However a
specific focus on waste itself and the life cycle of waste from door-to-landfill had been
lacking. Awareness programmes by the government and NGOs such as SAAHAS have served
in this direction. The first hot spots of implementation have started in institutionalised spaces
that are bulk waste generators, such as educational institutions, housing localities, tech parks,
corporate offices etc. Recent online campaigns and social media activity is sensitizing people
to the waste dumps on their own streets and localities, and it is now recognized that it is a
mitigable problem of planning and attitude.
• Technology sector: Waste processing technologies have evolved over the past years. As
discussed in the introduction, while landfills and incineration were the traditional ways to go,
the challenge was complicated by the fact that only a few items recovered from waste were
considered to be of value; such as glass, metal and plastic. Advancement in technology in
recent years has been not only in the direction of more cleaner processing, but also process
 improvement towards identify greater number of ways of recovering value from waste. Today,
SAAHAS segregates upto 17 types of value potential items from dry waste, while the rest
along with wet waste is invested into composting. It has also tied up with cement industries
who use flammable items as fuel-mixers in furnaces.
3.2 THE INITIAL DAYS

The organization was founded by Wilma Rodriguez as a not-for-profit entity, with a focus on
generating awareness. The structure in the initial days was a highly organic, loosely built, flexible
structure with a very few members. It was completely based on direct, informal communication. All
tasks and activities were shared within the team. This team grew organically over the years, gaining
in size and scope, but retained its initial work processes.

3.3 INFLEXION POINT

The Major inflexion point in terms of both strategy and structure was 2013, when SAAHAS the parent
body floated its sub-entity, SAAHAS Zero Waste Management Private Limited. This entity, as
discussed earlier, was built on a for-profit model, and aimed not only at awareness and consulting but
rather to drive the waste management philosophy championed by SAAHAS over the years in the form
of a viable business with the ability to deliver professional service solutions to clients (mainly Bulk
Waste generators). This was a major pivot in strategy; it brought about a shift in the level of
professionalism and a greater onus of financial performance along with the more philanthropic idea
of driving a change in public mindset. Being a niche sector, there were few players in the same zone
and the market was limited. It had a huge potential but low acceptability in terms of engaging a foreign
party and “paying them” to handle your waste. This philosophy proposed by organizations like
SAAHAS flew in the face of the traditional mindset of “Pay me to take away my valuable waste” that
was ingrained in the social psyche (kabadiwalas, raddiwalas et al.) This shift in strategy meant that
SAAHAS would have to reorient its organization design to push through its new organizational goals.
Now the goals were more specific, value oriented, had rupee figures attached to it, thrived on the back
of formal contracts, and incorporated new functions like client acquisition, customer satisfaction,
revenue generation, new sourcing methods, tie-ups, collaborations (with recyclers, manufacturing
firms, industry etc.) and constant evolution of potential value-capitalisation points (value to revenue
through sale).

3.4 REORIENTATION: CHANGE IN STRATEGY DRIVING CHANGE IN STRUCTURE

SAAHAS retained their organic structure, and it made sense. It was still in a dynamic environment
with a lot of contingent factors, and the core structure reflected this scenario. However, changes to
the structure were made in order to help it not only survive but thrive in the more specific environment
it had chosen for itself: Profit-making, waste management solution providers. The enterprise added a
task-force method to its functioning. Each unit set up at a client location was established as a
team/task-force, given charge, and closely monitored from the HQ which retained all other roles. The
enterprise differentiated into verticals to serve its different programmes like Sustainable waste
management, consulting, reverse logistics, e-waste etc. Integrators were added at various levels, like
Project Managers and Coordinators to link up between the new task forces and the central office
functions. This helped a rapid transfer of communication and synergy between core organizational
goals and their implementation on ground-zero. New positions were added with specialised functions,
such as a dedicated legal counsel. While hierarchy remained broad, a few more rules were added;
such as the control of P&L sheets, responsibility for profitability, responsibility for client satisfaction
etc. Yet, notably, all this was closely monitored on a daily basis by the HQ. Being a small
organization, this made sense and was possible to do. It helped them transition into a slightly more
organized structure, training the team on the ground in the evolution process, and helping itself
capitalise on a parenting advantage while venturing into a new area.



3.5 STRUCTURE AT SAAHAS TODAY

Today, SAAHAS has a structure that

matches the contingent external
environment that it operates in. It has
grown in complexity since its initial
days, but retains the organic and
learning nature of the company. Our
team visited the office of SAAHAS
Zero Waste in Bangalore, and we found
several overt indicators of an
organization that is very flexible in
nature. The headquarters of the
enterprise, which operates in 7 cities
and earns over a million dollars in
revenue, was in a very understated
bungalow in a residential locality in
Bangalore. A simple banner-head
marked the Bungalow, and there were no other “corporate” indicators. To an unroving eye, it would
appear as just another business run out of a home. On the inside as well, the culture was very family-
like. The organization follows a very horizontal structure, everyone is approachable, and seniority is
not discernable in terms of either office space not in any other social indicators. In fact, the
environment in the office was almost akin to a family working out of a home.

While the organization has an IT and admin infrastructure, the communication was mostly face-to-
face. The office area had a lot of open spaces, and a common conference room used in rotation by
various members. The informal setting was extended to guests as well, and we were made extremely
comfortable, as if we had walked into a home. There was no “guest-processing”, and every member
of the team was highly approachable. In fact, the members were also very approachable online and
on telephone, and there were no barriers of hierarchy. It was as easy for us to get in touch with Ms.
Rodrigues as it was with the newest member of the team. Hierarchial rules and reporting relationships
were very loose, and the only few occasions where the hierarchy was very cut-out was in terms of
client relationships and finances.

SAAHAS maintains its

headquarters at Bangalore, while
operating zero waste units at
around 60 locations over seven
cities. Each of these units has 5-6
workers (waste pickers), led by a
supervisor. The unit supervisor is
given complete independence in
daily business management and
client handling. The unit
supervisor reports to the Project
Manager at the HQ. Each Project
Manager handles several units, and
deals mainly in client satisfaction,
monitoring project objectives,
goal-setting, and P&L
responsibility. The Project
managers for Bangalore are all
located at their HQ, and operate in sync with support departments like Legal Cousel, Finances, IT,
Human Resources and Administration. The Project Managers are clusterd in various verticals, like
Sustainable Waste Management, Sensitization, Consultancy & Networks, and Logistics Networks. In
this way, while being a horizontal, flexilbe, organization, it follows a geographical multi-unit
structure integrated within a functional structure.

Functional

Geographical
Multi-unit

The functional verticals make it easier for senior project managers to coordinate efficiently between
various geographical units. This comes in especially handy while implementing new systems, and
helps ensure standardization across units. It also helps, particularly in logistics, to capitalise on some
economies of scale. At the same time, the organization ensures that team members are rotated between
departments/roles, at all levels, so that all of them have a working idea of various arms of the
enterprise as a whole and the focus remains on shared teamwork over intensive specialisation. The
geographical unit structure, independent supervisors and dedicated project managers also makes the
units very responsible to changes in the immediate external environment, specially on the client side;
this is supported by the leeway of decentralised decision making. At a institutional level, the
organization has positioned itself to react quickly to changes in the macro environmnet by being
highly integrated, having shared responsiblities – everyone is on board in the company objectives,
and rapid implementations down the line due to few hierarchial rules, reporting relationships and a
broad span of control. Project Managers and coordinators act as integrators who ensure efficient
coordination between field units and headquarters, balance the level of autonomy of the field units
(and clearly dilineate the few items where control remains at the HQ and not the field unti), and help
maintain consistency in terms of the performance and quality standards expected from SAAHAS.
The consistency helps build SAAHAS as a brand. Field supervisors act as information funnels from
the top management to the last field worker. Interestingly, most of them are fluent in the local
language, which in the case of Bangalore, is Kannada. Understandably, this helps in better man-
management at the execution level. Roles and responsiblities of supervisors and project managers
overlap at times, and they frequently travel between field units (client locations) and head offices.
This was experience by our team first hand. Even the topmost managers in the organization regularly
travel to field units and stay in touch with their supervisors; again, communication is kept very free,
informal and approachable. The tasks at the field level are routine and repertitive, and require a
reciprocal interdependence with the client. Here again, the horizontal nature of the organization, with
a lot of cross-departmental mutual adjustments and few communication barriers, reflects efficiently
the characteristics of its external client environment.

At the Unit level, the supervisor heads a small group of 5-7 workers. The work structure is very
flexible, and no fixed roles are assigned. There are only two or three kinds of work, such as waste
picking, sorting, and packing for transport. Workers
work independently since all of these can be done as a
standalone activity. However, one challenge of a
flexible structure is the deficiency of time value among
workers; they are quiet irregular, leading to less
efficiency. At the same time, in their favour, many
workers travel from the outskirts of Bangalore or even
villages outside Bangalore, which is one of the
outcomes of a relaxed hiring philosophy where the
focus is on intent and need, rather than productivity
skillsets and astute commercial profitability.

4. ORGANIZATION CULTURE
and VALUE SYSTEM

4.1. HIRING AND TRAINING PROCESS

All-in-One Admin!
The hiring process is graded in three levels: project
managers, supervisors, and field staff.

For supervisors, SAAHAS does go down the quick hiring model. Once potential new hires are
filtered, they go through an induction-cum-hiring programme of three weeks. During this time,
potential recruits work on the field at client locations, under the scrutiny of existing supervisors. They
are evaluated on the basis of their performance and learning. Potential supervisors are expected to be
proactive, communicate well with client, take responsibilities, learn quickly, and maintain good
relationships with client and field staff. Supervisors send a report on the trainees to the head office,
on the basis of which final hiring is confirmed. Supervisors are expected to be well differentiated
from the field staff. At the same time, their ability to take responsibility is highlighted. Under this
model, supervisors share responsibilities with the Project Manager.

For Field Staff, hiring is generally done from the informal sector. These workers coming in from the
informal sector priorly had no social security, low living standards, and poor wages and benefits.
Initially all field staff are trained in the standard operating procedure of sorting and handling waste.
Additionally, they are trained for an hour a week on basic maths and writing skills. Field staff are
trained on the job rotationally in all roles and are assigned responsibility on daily basis in turns. As a
social enterprise, the ability of field staff to build good personal relationships is found important. The
training and formalization period is important, and systems of training are flexible and focused on
individual development. However, excessive lenience is not practiced in order to maintain
professionalism in services. Field staff are provided with health and hygiene facilities like masks and
gloves, along with medical benefits, PPF and salaried positions on their rolls.
For project managers, the hiring process is wide and there are no general prerequisites for application.
The main characteristics sought in potential hires are passion, willingness to learn and resilience.
They undergo a few hours of induction at the head office, which usually includes presentations on
the structure and roles within the organization, followed by field indication in different “entities”.
These entities include on-site entities, hub-and-spoke models (waste is collected from housing
complexes and taken to Kasa Rasa centers, where composting and segregation is done) and one
material recovery facility which has state of the art facilities such as conveyor belts. Learning is
expected to be fast and rich in experience in a short period of time.

4.2 TEAM BUILDING

Team building activities are carried out on a

yearly basis. A yearly picnic is organized all
across the company, and everyone is
expected to attended from top to down. That
said, the event is focused on field workers.
There is a bi-monthly meeting with
supervisors, which includes training modules
and latest development. The performance and
output of last 15-20 days are plotted in the
open forum, and discussed mutually.
Supervisors who performed well are
appreciated.

4.3 REWARD AND RECOGNITION

R&R system for field staff and supervisors based on performance, efficiency, punctuality,
commitment and client commendations. SAAHAS believes that rewarding well performing
employees motivates other employees as well. They have multiple awards on monthly basis such as
best location, best segregation at source, most proactive supervisor, star of the month etc.

4.4 CULTURE REFLECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND CORE STRATEGY

In the context of and in sync with the environment and organizational strategy, SAAHAS maintains
a culture of adaptability at the stakeholder level and clan culture at the functional level.

Top management is easily accessible in SAAHAS. Even though they have an official hierarchy
present in the organization, everyone is open to all, constituting an informal flat hierarchy. The
framework in Figure-3 helps understand how the organization is affected by external needs of the
environment and the strategic focus of the organization. The external environment is full of
uncertainties and there is huge amount of variance in nature of waste management. They focus on
providing customized solutions to the waste management considering the task environment and
constraints of the client. Moreover, there is job rotation in the company on daily basis with an intent
to teach the employees all the aspects of job. Hence, there is flexibility and sufficient scope for
innovation confirming the adaptability culture.
Government is one of the major stakeholders in the waste management and from time to time they
influence the external environment. SAAHAS derives its strength from the govt’s push, such as the
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which is attempting to clean up the streets of India’s cities and towns, has
also been an external environment for SAAHAS. SAAHAS has been adaptable enough to recognize
the larger problem of drastically reducing the quantum of garbage generated18. They have been
innovative enough to tap on technology to improve their efficiency. It may be noted here that it takes
9 people to handle a ton of waste while SAAHAS uses technology to reduce it to 3 so as to cut down

18
economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/49963439.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&ut
m_campaign=cppst
manual handling of waste. In view of above, it can be inferred that SAAHAS is focussed on rapidly
changing expectation forms from external environment.

At the field level, SAAHAS cares about the participation and involvement from all their members.
Emphasis has been on meeting the needs of the employees, creating ownership mindset and
responsibility among employees which can be seen in the commitment level of the employees.
SAAHAS employees enjoy a balanced lifestyle and personal wellness which helps in improving the
innovation levels to update
themselves with the latest
technique of waste management.
Field workers are taken care off
both in terms of remuneration as
well as holistic wellness,
hygiene and benefits. The
performance culture is very
open, shared, mutually peer-
reviewed and responsible at
every level. Roles are flexible
and often rotated; only the core
responsibilities are fixed,
management is open to members
picking up new initiatives. At
this level, SAAHAS maintains a
clan culture internally.

FIGURE-3
4.5 CLIENT SIDE CULTURE

According to a report of Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India produces
around 62 million tons of solid waste per year, but only about 75-80% of the waste gets collected
while only 22-28% of that waste is processed and treated19. Success of SAAHAS is dependent on the
culture of client. There have been cases where clients hire SAAHAS but do not cooperate with the
same intensity. A short anecdote:
SAAHAS was hired for handling the waste at IPL matches where six-seven tonnes of waste
was generated in each match. However, employees were not given passes, after officials saw
them somewhere sorting waste. However, after persuasion, stadium officials offered their help
but this shows the huge need of changing the community mindset to synchronize with that of
SAAHAS.20

The main problem from client side is segregation at source. Clients are habituated in mixed waste,
since it is not in our upbringing. There is no quick solution to this issue, which is further complicated
by the fact that people in organizations keep changing. This problem has escalated to one of the core
challenges in implementation. Areas like tech parks have housekeeping teams, food vendors, general
upkeep, office waste. The rules and facilities are already set, but expectations must be set right by
SAAHAS as an external party in charge. This gives SAAHAS both a first mover advantage as well
as a first mover disadvantage (since expectations are expected to be monitored by SAAHAS and not
the client themselves). SAAHAS also regularly shares its waste collection data with companies,
looking to point their sight towards facts and figures of their own creation.

19
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suparnadutt/2017/06/21/this-startup-is-making-indias-garbage-its-
business/#36925da65512
20
https://www.thehindu.com/society/SAAHAS-is-trying-to-change-the-way-we-look-at-waste/article19395733.ece
4.6 MEGA COMMUNITY APPROACH

SAAHAS works on mega community approach involving following stages:21

a. Motivating a community with the need of managing waste and then try to formalize a waste
management programme among them.
b. Finding a group of volunteers having a feeling of community service and a desire to support
the initiative.
c. Assessing the waste quantum and available volunteers for collection of the segregated
waste. For conducting waste audit, Saahas also facilitates the arrangement of professionals.
d. Volunteers focussed on door to door collection also monitors the defaulters. In case of
common dustbin, Volunteers need to ensure that it is under constant supervision and the
supervisor is empowered to reject non-segregated waste.
e. Commercial bulk generators (more than 10Kg of waste per day) and Domestic Bulk
Generators (more than 50 units/dwellings) have to enlist the services of any of the
empanelled vendor of the municipal corporation.
f. Verifying that the Waste Management Service provider ensures that wet waste is
composted/ sent to a bio-gas plant. No dry waste is to be dumped or burnt in the open.
Further, all the rejects are sent to the vendors handling rejects.
g. Communicating with the residents/members through poster/leaflet clearly showing what
goes in each dustbin. The name of volunteers are made public so that people having doubts
can contact them.
h. Conducting training sessions for the residents/members as well as the housekeeping staff,
maids and cooks etc. is one of the most important step in this job.
i. Promotion of the transition toward a zero waste community. Also, community as a whole
should aim to minimize the amount of waste going out of their campus / location.
4.7 EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY

Project Managers at SAAHAS are responsible for monitoring and controlling the effectiveness and
efficiency of their units at client locations. SAAHAS follows a Goal Based approach for measuring
efficiency. SAAHAS maintains a database with a calculation of how much waste is being collected
on a daily basis, and how much out of it is processed. This gives a good indicator of efficiency.
Benchmarks have been set for quantities expected to be processed. Supervisors are judged on a
qualitative basis based on feedback from field staff and client. This is quick and easily evident.
Supervisors are enforces, when field staff does well, it indicates supervisors have done well.

4.8 ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS TODAY

SAAHAS has helped many communities, residential complexes, parks etc to become zero waste
spaces. They hope to scale up their operations with bulk generators and the government to manage
waste in a better way and ensure maximum resource recovery22. At present, SAAHAS is managing
25 tons of waste and aim to take it upto 300+ tons across various Indian cities. They are also pondering
upon overseas opportunities.

The larger picture of SAAHAS is to bring a conviction among all stakeholders that their model is
strong enough to be implemented on a large scale as complete waste management solution. In addition
to this, their aim is to create social & environmental and in process creating job opportunities for the
poor so as to make circular economy a reality in India.

21
https://SAAHAS.org/our-work/community-waste-management
22
http://www.forbesindia.com/article/2018-wpower-trailblazers/2018-wpower-trailblazers-for-wilma-rodrigues-
trash-is-treasure/49639/1
 5. ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY
- A CASE OF STRATEGY INFORMING THE CULTURE

CORE INTENT
SAAHAS was started with a single aim of managing waste holistically leveraging nature, people and
technology. The pathetic condition of waste disposal inspired the founders to back the initiative with
their honest efforts. They understood the target problem and hence were able to address it with a right
approach. Their vision has been very clear from the beginning and thus helped the organization move
objectively towards their goals. The SAAHAS Zero Waste social enterprise was registered in 2013,
and is a revenue generating, for-profit, sustainable, economically viable business model that borrowed
its fundamentals from its parent NGO. The company has since grown and is expected to touch a
revenue of Rs. 4.8 crore in this financial year as against Rs. 1.97 crore last year.23

MISSION GOALS
Their mission goal of the organization is to help their clients become zero waste entities.24 This is
ensured by their properly designed processes implemented by very hard working and diligent staff
members. A very informal connect with the staff members and the sense of empowerment provided,
inspire them to work with more zeal towards achieving these goals. Bringing a change in the general
culture of not-in-my-back-yard25 followed by most people was the foremost challenge for SAAHAS.
With their goals clear and aim set high, it wasn’t difficult for them to explain this to people at large.

CORE COMPETENCE
Core competence shows the organization’s strengths which makes it superior to their competitors.
The main strength of SAAHAS lies in the fact that they provide end-to-end services for management
of waste. Along with providing the front-end services for setting up right infrastructure for waste
segregation and processing, they help train the people involved. The clients also get other services
like composting of wet waste and second level of dry waste sorting. All the clients are also provided
with detailed reports containing the data of all the waste handled. Another very important thing about
SAAHAS is its strict zero open dumping and open burning policy. 26

The story doesn’t end here. SAAHAS partners with other players to implement a mechanism that
helps them get the waste material back into the recycling chain. A variety of products are developed
along with the compost and play an important role in the revenue generation. The products range
from notebooks, roofing sheets, t-shirts and bags.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Competitive advantage is what gives the organization a distinct advantage and can set itself apart as
compared to the competitors. As part of the holistic approach model, SAAHAS has huge advantage
over its competitors and enjoys first mover advantage. They follow a very systematic approach of
doing waste audit, providing consultancy and awareness training and eventually onsite waste
management. The very first step is waste assessment at client locations thus providing
recommendations for infrastructure and operational requirements. Professional advice is then given
for many issues ranging from recovery of resource, circular economy and handling of waste in the
right manner. This sometimes include the designs and suggestions for the construction of new waste
management units. Tips are also given to handle hazardous waste if any at the client site. The best
part of the complete cycle is that onsite waste management service is provided to the clients right in
their campus or around. Decentralized end-to-end units are setup which are easy to manage and
sustainable. This separates SAAHAS from the rest of its competitors. They don’t see waste
management as single segregated units but as a complete cycle.

23
https://sites.ndtv.com/therealdeal/contestants/wilma-rodrigues/
24
http://SAAHASzerowaste.com/index
25
https://yourstory.com/2017/07/SAAHAS-zero-waste-recycling-and-management/
26
https://yourstory.com/2017/07/SAAHAS-zero-waste-recycling-and-management/
OPERATING GOALS
SAAHAS has a very strong presence in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. They manage 25 tons of
waste per day across these three cities.27 SAAHAS is on the profitability road now, making a growth
of 150% year on year. The organization’s turnover has already crossed $900,000.28 With seed funding
from Angel investor, SAAHAS has also closed series A funding which would be used to expand its
operations to other states.

MILES AND SNOWS STRATEGY

SAAHAS has been an innovative organization since its inception. From implementation of the waste
management as an end-to-end process to setting up local sustainable units at client sites, they have
experimented a lot with their
working model. They
address the concerns of
clients ranging from
corporate giants, educational
institutes and RWA’s. They
have been looking for
growth opportunities in
other states and raising funds
for the same. The strategies
and decisions made by the
organization have been
calculative risks and so far,
proved beneficial. The
above-mentioned factors
clearly show SAAHAS as a
Prospector in Miles and
Snows division.

FRAMEWORK FOR STRATEGY

Saahas is an innovative organization in the waste management sector. It aims at providing a unique
solution to the problem at the client location itself. Since waste is generated in large number almost
everywhere, Saahas’s target segment is broad. They want to increase the processing volume in the
next 5-10 years by tapping as much market as possible. The current business model of Saahas puts
it in the Differentiator category according to Porter’s competitive strategy.

6. FUTURE READINESS
THE WASTE ECOSYSTEM: India’s waste problem needs a systematic and sustainable solution
which would need to include integration and formalisation of unorganised channels of waste
collection and disposal. This ecosystem has a number of players which are directly or indirectly
linked, and an efficient solution to the problem would need a healthy ecosystem. The most important
player of this ecosystem are waste generators, from individuals to organizations. There is a need to
create awareness among them so that the waste can be primarily sorted at the source level. Informal
rag pickers and aggregators are integral part of the waste ecosystems as they have unmatched reach.
Next stage is the recycling, disposing and managing waste. The last thing would be bringing back the
recycled products to the system and promoting their use. A balanced waste ecosystem is very much
a possibility, when each and every player is playing their part effectively. By 2050, waste production
is expected to be 27 billion tonnes worldwide. Out of which 1/3rd waste is expected to be from Asia,
with major contribution from India and China. India is expected to generate more than 7,50,000

27
http://SAAHASzerowaste.com/about_us
28
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suparnadutt/2017/06/21/this-startup-is-making-indias-garbage-its-
business/#505689a35512
tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day by 2041.29 It is fivefold increase from current waste
production.

6.1 THE CHALLENGES: AND HOW SAAHAS IS ORIENTED TO FACE THEM

AWARENESS: SAAHAS is working one step ahead of creating awareness, that is, behavioural
change towards waste management.30 It wants people to assign value to waste as people assign to
other commodities. As quoted by Wilma Rodrigues “If a person prefers to buy a mobile phone over
building a toilet, then problem is not about capability, it is about behaviour”.

SAAHAS will continue using its NGO umbrella to generate awareness amongst corporate and
institutions. It conducts awareness sessions, interactive sessions, talks, presentations and consults
various institutes and corporate to sensitize them. It carries outs customized sessions in local
languages for different target groups. Visitors are motivated to visit their Kasa Rasa centre to learn to
segregate waste.

TECHNOLOGY: The improvement in the technological sphere has been an added advantage for
the organization. It helps in cutting down the manual handling of the waste and increases the
efficiency. For example, it takes 9 people at SAAHAS for handling a ton of waste, which they are
bringing down to 3 with the help of technology. They are working on designing conveyor belt-based
segregation systems, which will aid working employees enhance their productivity. Technology will
also help in efficient use of waste handling equipment, which will reduce cost as well as streamline
the handling of waste at various stage effectively. The target is a continuous waste management.

SCALING: SAAHAS is aiming to manage 300 tons/day and becoming a 100 Cr company by 2030.
It is also planning to expand its operations throughout India with its base operations in southern part.
Saahas is planning to expand its services for other waste like construction and demolition waste, e-
waste, multi-layered packaging waste, etc.

Collaborating with major waste producers all over the country is going to be the first step for them,
in achieving their goals. They are planning to do this by improving waste management system at
producers’ end while embracing existing facilities. Behavioural change in ‘not in my backyard’ to
‘yes in my backyard’ will create new opportunity of collaboration. Increasing willingness to pay for
responsible waste management will help SAAHAS in future growth.
Government, being the most important player is playing its part quite well. A lot of initiatives have
been taken with the flagship mission being Swachh Bharat Mission. It has struck chord with the
population at large throughout the country and has been able to bring in famous celebrities as
ambassadors for the mission. The centre’s plan is also to do away with landfill sites in 25 major cities.
As Government’s vision for the future is to get rid of the dumping sites and move towards an
organized way of disposing and recycling waste, SAAHAS seems to be best placed right now. The
organization’s vision aligns with that of the authorities which shall help them leverage the resources
in the best possible way and reach their targets before time. With the backing of investors like Indian
Angel Networks and Upaya Social Ventures, they seem to be reaching new heights.

Scalability is the next big goal for SAAHAS. They have the right kind of resources, proper
understanding of the process, well networked structure along with appropriate funding to take the
leap forward. Greater contribution by large corporates as part of their CSR in research and
development to build capacities of waste management would also be a great push for the sector. With
the bulk waste management, SAAHAS is also looking forward to door-to-door garbage collection.31
It can be implemented by working with municipal corporation in same manner as working with bulk

29
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5383819/
30
https://housing.com/news/need-behavioural-change-towards-waste-management-wilma-rodrigues-SAAHAS-zero-
waste/
31
http://www.forbesindia.com/article/2018-wpower-trailblazers/2018-wpower-trailblazers-for-wilma-rodrigues-
trash-is-treasure/49639/1
generator. It can bring more opportunity for SAAHAS in future as well as overall development of
organization as a waste management brand. While achieving all its future goals, SAAHAS wants to
preserve its goal and vision of being waste management organization which aims to create positive
environmental and social impact by creating plenty of opportunity for the poor.

A few structural and cultural changes are in motion, here are a few possible steps to help
SAAHAS scale effectively:

1. Training Modules: SAAHAS can implement a parallel training model, so that while
expanding in a new territory it will be able to provide readily available trained employees to
its client under a quick mobilisation schedule. It will help in reducing setup time at client base
and prepare for big orders.

2. Boundary spanning: Adding to their marketing force will help in expanding into multiple
cities and gaining clients in current locations. Currently, much of their expansion growth is
organic and hinges on the visibility of Ms. Rodrigues. However in an expansion phase, more
exhaustive marketing and business development efforts in the organization are imperative to
achieve stronger growth.

3. Formalization and standardization: SAAHAS plans to expand its operations to other cities,
which would entail an update in their process designs and structure. As of now, their structure
is decentralized at unit levels; this has to be standardized in a replicated model and
independent city level sub-offices handling its regional units. This is in line with the natural
progress of a geographical multiunit model. Supervisors report to Project managers, who
report to city operational heads, who in turn report to regional heads. Regional heads report
to the head office at Bangalore.
4. New verticals: Organization is looking to include more specialized verticals to include E-
waste management, Hotel food management and multi-layered packaging waste.

5. Localize strategies: To get acceptance on wider scale, SAAHAS needs to work on different
strategies suitable to those specific unexplored territories. They need to understand local
behavior towards waste management and local processes.

6. Alliances: Tie-ups with recyclers, industries where value reclaimed from waste can be used
as raw material, industries sourcing glass, plastic, metal as raw material. Explore high value
metal scrap and e-waste sector. Long term contracts. Vertical integration from waste source
to industry.