As the rains lash Mumbai, the city readies for familiar scenes of flooded streets and clogged gutters,where the ocean spews back what we’ve thrown into it. Dr Smita Birkar tells us that recycling is a way to prevent drains from getting blocked, and waste from resurfacing on our shores. The Borivali West resident says, “When dry waste mixes with sewage or wet waste, it becomes useless. But if people start recycling, less garbage will be dumped in landfills and littered trash won’t clog anything. Recycling will route it to the right channel, and prevent good recyclable material from getting wasted.” After getting a PhD in Plastic Engineering and four years of corporate experience in the plastics industry, Dr Birkar decided to direct her knowledge to more meaningful work. That’s how 5RCycle Foundation, a non-profit dry waste aggregator, came about.

Dr Birkar, Ishwarya Harijan, member of 5RCycle, and chef Jade Williams