They called her a risk-taker. You’d have to be one to quit a corporate job and start an optimistic non-profit dry waste-aggregating organisation during the initial months of the pandemic. But a successful outcome can only be achieved by someone as well-researched and dedicated as Dr Smita Birkar, founder-director of 5RCycle Foundation. This month marks their second anniversary, and they’re celebrating it by hitting a milestone: a total of 105 metric tonnes of dry waste collected.

(Left to right) Dr Smita Birkar with a few members of her team — Latabai, Hirabai, Savitri, Nirmala, and co-director Sachchidanand Chaturvedi. Pics/Satej Shinde