1) Overall updates (since the last update)
Waste Warriors took a leap of faith in ecosystem building, partnerships, and recognition with a major milestone being the successful organisation of Summit’25 – The Mountain Cleaners, bringing together CSOs, community initiatives, think tanks, and individuals from the Indian Himalayan Region. The summit showcased Waste Warriors’ models in Dharamshala and Bir and catalysed knowledge exchange across domains like M&E, fundraising, and communications.
On World Environment Day 2025, over 8,492 volunteers across Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh collected 18,599 kg of waste in under one hour—our largest mobilization yet.
A strategic MoU for three years was signed with the Himachal Pradesh Rural Department, designating Waste Warriors as the state’s official partner for solid waste management for three years.
We were honoured with the CASCA 2025 Award for our decentralized waste management approach and our DT Warrior, Angshuman De, won the ILSS Digital Transformation Pitch Fest, recognizing our innovation in leveraging tech for impact. Additionally, our Paryavaran Sakhi Model was recognized by the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand on International Women’s Day for championing women’s leadership in waste management.
2) Progress on the goals listed while on-boarding
Waste Warriors advanced on all strategic fronts—technology, enabling functions, capacity building, and ecosystem engagement.
On tech adoption, we rolled out HROne for HR and Zoho Bigin for fundraising. A WhatsApp chatbot integrated with QR codes in Dharamshala allowed tourists to join cleanups and learn about waste practices. Zoho Creator is being deployed to digitize procurement workflows with 250 licenses already onboarded.
Core functions—finance, HR, MEL, communications—were strengthened with Rainmatter’s support. We conducted trainings on OKRs, exposure visits, and partnerships with CSE and others for sectoral learning.
Pilots of low-cost, climate-resilient wet waste technologies such as rapid composters were installed across our projects locations in the IHR. We prioritized training and dignified livelihoods—staff received structured inductions, safety gear, public-facing.
communication skills, and digital literacy. These efforts transformed worker identity from informal labor to public service providers.
Through flagship programs like YUWA and Eco Daan, youth and tourists are being mobilized as climate leaders. YUWA activated 1,400+ students across 51 institutions in Dehradun alone, while Eco Daan embedded climate action touchpoints via cafes and taxis in Dharamshala.
3) Any challenges
Waste Warriors faced several systemic and operational challenges. Securing alignment with local governments, especially for approvals around user fees, waste banks, and sanitation committees, remains difficult. Behavioural change among communities is slow—waste segregation is still resisted in many areas, with burning and open dumping persisting.
Finding and nurturing reliable local entrepreneurs across locations has delayed scale-up, and processing low-value waste like MLPs and textiles continues to be unviable. Community opposition to land allocation for waste projects also hampers implementation.
User fee collection proved difficult. Our digital transformation efforts are hindered by limited tech literacy, and lack of structured training. This slows down adoption and leads to disorganized documentation and data loss.
Lastly, core operations are underfunded across a few of our locations, thus pulling capacity building funds to fill the gap. Administrative fees aren’t covering the actual costs which strains the system and limits further innovation or replication.
4) Any new avenues of collaboration (with other Grantees of RCF or other NPO/NGO)
Waste Warriors is keen to explore collaboration with other RCF grantees and NGOs. Areas of interest include joint outreach, co-designed training programs, and shared models in composting, recycling, and livelihood-linked waste systems.
We are open to resource-sharing, cross-learning, and piloting collective projects across IHR regions. Peer mentorship, data sharing, and collaborative reporting tools could help enhance collective efficiency and replication.
Waste Warriors is also interested in joining virtual working groups or communities of practice facilitated by Rainmatter to strengthen mutual learning and impact.
5) Highlights from the initiatives being undertaken as part of your organization
Several ongoing projects across regions demonstrate the breadth of Waste Warriors’ community-led waste management work.
In Sahastradhara, women waste workers (Paryavaran Sakhis) manage daily collection and segregation across six panchayats. Despite initial social resistance, they now run operations with consistency and purpose. Similarly, in Corbett, the model scaled to 23 Sakhis across 8 panchayats, with growing government support.
Our Local Entrepreneur (LE) Model remains central—community members manage end-to-end operations in Kasauli, Dharamshala, and Bir. In Manali, foundational work led to the construction of the area’s first Waste Bank in Palchan, with operations set to begin in May 2025.
We continued legacy waste clean-ups under Project Nirmal, operational improvements at the MRF in Harrawala, and implemented composting systems in Dehradun, Dharamshala, and Manali through Project Blooming Earth.
The Model Ward Program promoted household segregation and responsible disposal, and work at Ramsar sites—Renukaji and Asan—aimed to integrate waste solutions at ecologically significant wetlands.
A key individual story is that of Hamida Ji, who progressed from a segregation worker to taking on a tech-enabled role after completing basic literacy and computer training.
6) Outcomes you are chasing for the next 6 months (these can remain the same if unchanged since the last update)
Over the next six months, Waste Warriors will focus on strengthening internal systems and external engagement across four priority areas:
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Knowledge Management: We aim to launch a central knowledge repository for internal teams, improving access to templates, case studies, policy documents, and tools across our locations. This will streamline coordination and documentation efforts.
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Ecosystem Building: Building on Summit ’25, we have offered support to young organisations in the IHR. Need-based support, if required, will include tools and templates, followed by mentorship, exposure visits, and strategic guidance. A revised summit is also under discussion to reach a new audience set.
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Digital Transformation: We continue to invest in digitising workflows across HR, procurement, CRM, and MEL. A cross-functional M&E dashboard is being used for near-real-time project tracking. Tools like Zoho One and HROne are being scaled to improve data flow and reduce redundancies.
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Organisational Resilience: We are investing in L&D, strategic communications, and refining operational models to enable stable scale-up. We will continue to explore storytelling through murals, digital content, and case documentation to enhance public awareness and engagement.
7) KPIs (please use this section to let us know of the impact and reach of your work since the last update)
Since the last update, measurable outcomes include:
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Waste Processing: 1,222.6 MT sent for processing in FY 2024–25
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Environmental Impact: 85+ MT CO₂ and 33.6+ MT CH₄ emissions reduced; 31.4+ hectares of landfill space avoided
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Resource Recovery: 1.02 crore in waste sales revenue; 41+ lakh in community user fees; 68+ lakh in government funds unlocked
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Community Engagement: 188,350+ people engaged; 1,200+ volunteers activated; 60,699 climate-positive actions
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Livelihoods: 26,588 days of work generated; 800+ women trained in menstrual hygiene; 21 waste banks and 5 MRFs operational
Infrastructure: 7718 households covered by segregated collection; 81 public spaces improved; 549 active citizens involved
8) Can Rainmatter be of help with anything at all
Rainmatter can support by facilitating peer learning and shared spaces for collaboration across the ecosystem. Forums—digital or physical—that bring together practitioners from different regions would help address shared challenges and surface practical solutions.
Support with travel grants, mentorship linkages, and exposure opportunities can help smaller or emerging teams scale up their capabilities. Online resource libraries and thematic discussions on tech, fundraising, or advocacy can also enhance sector-wide capacity.
9) Any additional details you would like to provide
Sharing the Interim Annual Report FY 2024-25
10) Please also share any images or videos that you have documented as part of your work
Sakhi Hai to Sahi Hai | Short Film | Sahastradhara Dehradun | Waste Warriors
Chhupa Rustam | Hindi Short Film 2024 | Suspense Thriller
Summit 25 – The Mountain Cleaners: Driving Change in Waste Management