Ajinkya, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student, had a lot of time left for his weekend getaway with his college friends near Pune city. They were enjoying the deep, lush greenery and fairly bustling forest, when suddenly and unexpectedly, they saw a bad image. A bunch of used sanitary napkins are hung on a hill by a jamun tree, a picturesque view of nature as if symbolizing the widespread and harmful effects of modern lifestyle. Ajinkya was relieved at this incident. When he returned to college, he embarked on an entirely new journey - a journey to bring about a positive and significant change in the menstrual waste disposal system with a larger vision of protecting our women, waste pickers and Mother Earth.
Early life and education
Hailing from a small village in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, Ajinkya completed his HSC from DG Ruparel College of Arts, Science and Commerce in 2013. His thirst for knowledge led him to pursue mechanical engineering at Sri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology, where he graduated with flying colours in 2017.
Ajinkya's dedication to self-improvement didn't stop there. He also holds certifications in various courses from UP-Grade, Wharton Executive Education, and the University of Virginia. His pursuit of education and desire to keep up with industry trends allowed him to develop a variety of skills that he brought to his role as founder of PadCare Labs.
How serious is the problem?
And the numbers say it all. "There are 121 million menstruating women in India, generating 1,200 crore sanitary napkin waste every year," claims Dharia. 98% of this waste goes to landfill? "The source is no disposal and there is no supply chain. There was no technology available to create some kind of value for this waste - so landfill was the only option, "he adds. Innovation for PadCare Labs is targeted at solving not just one stakeholder's problem, but the entire value chain - from collection to processing. For starters, says Dharia, "I realised that the user only cared about disposing of the sanitary napkin. So we started by providing padcare bins - where sanitary napkins can be kept for up to 30 days without any odour or bacterial growth. These pads are then collected from all these locations and brought to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
It is then processed by Padcare's patented technology, which recovers almost 99 percent of the material in 20 minutes, separating it into pulp and plastic, at a low cost. "This pulp can be used in various industries like paper, packaging, etc. We convert the plastic into granules and then use it to make pedicure bins, "he explains. Why innovation is needed to fight waste This whole process, which Dharia calls' Menstrual Hygiene Management ', is what PadCare provides as a service to its customers. Although the pedicure bins are free, customers are charged for each pick-up and per bin. 80 percent of the revenue comes from this and the rest comes from the sale of waste, pulp and plastic and products made from this. With around 250 clients, including Mahindra, P & G, Goldman Sachs and Hero Group, the company has a turnover of ₹2.2 crore. PadCare Labs has over $0.5 billion in funding, including grants from BIRAC, NITI Aayog, Infosys Foundation, Tata Trusts, and more. The company has big plans for the future. In addition to geographical expansion in India and internationally, they also hope to work closely with residential communities. "Also, we are currently experimenting to see if this technology can also be used for other materials, including diapers, tetra packs and cloth waste," he says
What's the problem?
In India, 12 billion sanitary napkins are produced every year of which 98% goes to water bodies and landfills. It takes 800 years to decompose and 60% of Indian women face UTI due to the unhygienic environment in the washroom.
Challenges faced by the organisation
1.Ugums does not have a specific sanitary waste collection system.
2. Not able to align with the goals of environmental sustainability, zero waste, and circular economy.
Challenges for women
Smell due to smoke due to improper disposal or burning 2. 82% of women are concerned about privacy and find it disgusting when disposing of it. Current practices lead to harmful environmental impacts and also result in long-term economic burdens. At present, the only scientific method of disposing of dirty sanitary waste is incineration, which is expensive to manufacture, operate and maintain. The high costs associated with this method of waste disposal can encourage waste generators to look for other alternatives.
The beginning of the PadCare Lab
Solving the problem of disposal of sanitary napkins, one at a time with an unpaid patented technology, Padcare Labs has created a process called 'Menstrual Hygiene Management' that takes care of the recycling of used sanitary napkins, from collection to processing.
In 2018, Dharia was visiting a landfill near Pune when he saw ragpickers lifting used sanitary napkins and diapers with their bare hands. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Imagine the kind of health hazard," he says, "this was the trigger point for me, I knew I had to do something about this problem. "That's why he started PadCare Lab.
Mission
To make modern sanitation choices more safe and recyclable for women around the world, and to promote inclusivity, equity and hygienic practices in public sanitation globally.
Padcare Lab
Seeing sanitary napkins and diapers being separated from other waste with their bare hands prompted Ajinkya Dharia to set up Padcare Lab, an eco-system that provides end-to-end solutions for sanitary waste disposal. About 3.37 lakh tonnes of waste is generated from sanitary napkins and baby diapers in India, where even 50% of women do not use sanitary napkins. Sanitary pads can take 500-800 years to decompose. In many cities, garbage is still not segregated, which means municipal workers have to pick up all kinds of garbage and remove sanitary pads, often without gloves, in unhygienic conditions. In some states, male workers refuse to pick up sanitary waste. Also, more than 113,000 tonnes of used sanitary napkins reach landfills in India every year.
Padcare Labs has developed the world's first smokeless sanitary napkin disposal and recycling solution. The solution includes a patent-pending innovation called PadCare that works on the principle of a chemo-mechanical method. Padcare is a centralized processing unit that can handle up to 1500 pads in a day, and 5D's - 5D provides disinfection, deodorization, decolorization, dissolution and deactivation of super absorbent polymers. The standard. From the padcare, separated, sterilized cellulose-plastic comes as an output. Interestingly, it can be recycled for various applications including packaging materials, plastic bricks and RDF pallets. Padcare Bin is a secure sensor-based collection unit for source collection, which provides 100% bacterial lock and deodorization. The PadCare bin includes our patent-pending Sanivap that provides a bacterial lock and deodorization. The collection bin can hold up to 30 pads for 3-4 weeks without any odor and bacterial growth. We are tracking the data by giving a unique bar code system.
PadCare is an unprecedented menstrual hygiene management solution that completes the loop of menstrual hygiene economy by creating a harmless, recyclable output from dirty pads. With our revolutionary 3-S model, we are doing segregation, collection, processing and recycling. PadCare is an automated hygiene management system that generates harmless, recyclable output from used sanitary napkins, diapers, and absorbent hygiene products. Once the waste is processed in the central processing unit, where it undergoes a fully mechanical 5D process and is finally divided into two by-products - cellulose and plastic, that is table, utensils etc. It can be used to make other products.
Management
Final solution for sanitary waste disposal. Four years ago, Ajinkya's initial idea was to develop a machine to be installed in washrooms where women could dispose of pads at source. "We implemented it in 2019 to test its feasibility and we observed that women just wanted to get rid of the pads - not worry about recycling or burning. My first dream was to have a small unit that could be installed in the washroom where the process could take place in a decentralized manner. Indian washrooms are very compact and often do not have water. And this solution will come at a high recurring cost, "says Dharia. With sanitary napkin vending machines, the company developed Padcare bins to be installed in washrooms, where used sanitary waste can be collected and stored for up to 30 days and still remain free of odour and bacterial growth.
These are then assembled and sent to a centralised unit, Padcare X, which claims to be the world's first 5D technology-based sanitary napkin disposal and recycling system. "After four years, and more than five thousand failed tests in terms of process development, we launched this technology 18 months ago and with a capacity of 100 kg, and right now we are launching a 1.5 MT processing capacity in Pune very soon," says Dharia. Currently, 6,000 pads are installed free of cost in 250 client offices across India and 1.5 tonnes of pads are processed daily at two central processing units in Pune. These clients include Meta, Capgemini, TCS, Goldman Sachs and other large corporate houses.
"The third-party team travels to the customer's individual locations to pick up the waste and bring them to the nearest material recovery centre where it is recycled, as pulp and plastic output. Plastic is converted into granules, which can be used to make pedicure bins. The pulp is sold to the fertilizer industry for various uses, "he explains. In fact, PadCare Lab makes decorative items and stationery from pulp, making the process circular and cost-effective. In an interview with SocialStory, Ajinkya kept a small diary and calendar-products available on his store on Shopify.
Padcare's future plans
Ajinkya now plans to set up these pedcare units in Bengaluru and New Delhi. In addition to proper disposal of sanitary waste, PedCare Labs aims to contribute to the socio-economic aspect of menstrual hygiene management. It will mean reaching out to rural communities to be a part of the solution. "We are looking at a top-to-bottom strategy where we are first focusing on commercial buildings, colleges and workplaces. We have started our pilot in residential societies in Bengaluru and Mumbai. We are also exploring smaller cities like Mahabaleshwar, Baramati and Navi Mumbai, "he explains.
The community-level approach aims to provide units on a micro-entrepreneurship model in Tier II and III cities, as a pedicure scale. "Our community-level approach will involve joint collaboration with local government bodies and self-help groups who can buy the machines and generate income from the production. In this case, instead of the 1.5 -tonne machine, Ajinkya is looking at a lower capacity, such as 200 kg which will bring down the cost to Rs 2 lakh that women self-help groups can buy by taking a bank loan.
Padcare has received government grants from NITI Aayog, Department of Biotechnology and several organisations under the Swachh Bharat programme. "We are working closely with the Ministry of Environment to come up with clear and transparent guidelines on disposal, technology for recycling and waste management of sanitary napkins. We have received considerable support from government agencies to set technical approvals, guidelines and standard operating procedures, "he said.
Shark Tank India
But the startup came into the limelight in the second season of Shark Tank India. One of the sharks, Piyush Bansal (Founder, Lenskart) made an open offer to Ajinkya, which made the pitch go viral. His demand was Rs 50 lakh for 2% equity but he got a four-shark deal of Rs 1 crore at 4% equity. "The passion for playing on Shark Tank was very clear - the platform reaches millions of people. There was also the idea of breaking the taboo surrounding the management of menstrual hygiene. It's not just limited to women; it's a community issue and we need to raise awareness about its unfortunate impact on the environment and work towards sustainability, "says Dharia. He went on the show hoping to get Namita Thapar and Piyush Bansal to invest in the business. But it's nice to have four sharks on board. Namita runs a pharmaceutical company and has previously invested in Menstrupedia. Aman Gupta, Vinita Singh and Piyush Bansal (the other sharks) bring their own expertise in different domains. I consider it a win-win situation, "he added. Last month, the start-up had raised Rs 1,000 crore led by Social Alpha with strategic investments from Lavni Ventures, 3i Partners, Rainmatter and Spectrum Impact. 5 crore seed fund. The plan for PadCare Labs includes scaling operations in Tier I cities like Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad and foraying into Tier II cities like Ahmedabad, Indore, Kochi and Nagpur and deploying material recovery facilities in more cities across India. It also plans to go global by exploring markets in Canada, Singapore and the UK.
Padcare - awards and recognition
PadCare has achieved the following in its nearly 6-year career:- FICCI-ISC Awards for the year 2020
- Forbes 30 under 30
- the toilet board 2019
- the total social enterprise challenge 2020
- National Bio-entrepreneurship Competition 2019
- Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention 2018
- Loksatta Young Tejankit Award
- The Successful Entrepreneurship Program
- NASSCOM Innovative Startup Award 2019
Who are the current shareholders of PadCare?
As per the latest post-round ownership report dated June 19, 2023, the founders hold 62.03% of the net worth of INR 12.8 Cr. The founders own the majority of the shares of PadCareLabs, which are 62.03%, while the Fund owns 25.47%, Enterprise owns 2.43%, Other People owns 0.63% and Angel owns 0.36%.
