Before getting into the deep layers of physics, biology and chemistry, middle school exhibitions used to be all about “Making The Best Out Of Waste”. From photo frames to wall hangings, as kids we all have put our hands in scrap to make something noteworthy.
Little did we know that solid waste is a huge evident environmental issue, standing on the heap of plastics.
India, which is said to be the world’s largest plastic polluter, is creating around 9.3 Mn tonnes of plastic waste every year—that’s nearly 20% of the global total. In fact, traces of plastic have been found in the deepest and most inaccessible parts of the world.
Even though most states and countries have some laws against excessive plastic usage, there’s just no end to the plastic dominion. Recycling is often said to be the answer, but this does not cover metalised multilayered plastic or MLP.
As per India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, plastics that have a code number 7 are multilayered plastic.
This type of plastic waste includes packets of chips and other packaged food, wrappers, shampoo sachets and other items that are routinely found on Indian streets. If this waste is even collected, less than 1% of it is recycled, says Anish Malpani.
What makes matters worse is that India is also home to more than 4 Mn informal waste pickers, who are exposed to critical health conditions caused by handling sharp, mixed, and contaminated waste Without
proper procedure. They are not trained to distinguish between the different types of plastics and why it’s essential to keep MLP separate from the rest.
Malpani’s startup WITHOUT is working to solve these two problems — making products out of the notoriously unrecyclable MLP and providing formal jobs to waste pickers.
While recycling plastic is not a new cause, making something out of “unrecyclable plastic waste” is yet to gain momentum.
Founded in 2020, WITHOUT begins at the waste collection. The startup collects MLP, and its patented technology separates the layers before using the material for manufacturing products including eyewear, buttons, bottles and signage.
WITHOUT, started as a bootstrapped company, received a grant of $150,000 from Unilever for its research and development phase.
The company recently closed a $1.9 Mn seed funding round in multiple tranches. The funding round is led by UK-based Rewilding Wealth and participation from Spectrum Impact, actress Dia Mirza, Acko cofounder Vishwanathan Ramarao, among others.
The Journey That Led To WITHOUT
Born in India, Malpani spent most of his formative years abroad. After studying finance and sports management in the US, he began his career as a financial analyst and eventually became a director of finance for iHeartMedia, a US-based media company. But something felt missing.
“There’s a lot of man-made injustice or man-made unfairness in this world. I kept on thinking if there is anything I can do with my privilege to level the playing field,” Malpani added.
Just to fuel this desire, Malpani left his job in New York and moved around different places including Guatemala and Kenya to study impact entrepreneurship and work closely with social entrepreneurs. Coming back to India in December 2019, Malpani wanted to work on two of India’s biggest problems – poverty due to informal employment and solid waste management.
“I basically researched the waste problem for six months, volunteered to work with a non-profit in Aurangabad, and in September 2020, decided to start WITHOUT, with the idea of how do you fundamentally increase the value of unrecyclable waste while being socially inclusive,” the founder told Inc42.
He then infused $200,000 into the company from his own pocket.
WITHOUT set up an R&D lab in Pune and started working with local scrap shops run by former waste workers. Over the past five years, the startup developed its patented MLP separation technology, with trial launches of its products.
While the end products it manufactures are currently being directly sold to consumers, Malpani admits the startup is yet to crack its long-term B2B business vision. At the moment, WITHOUT looks like a D2C brand, but the technology has potential to be extended into other large scale manufacturing.
The first step could be WITHOUT’s demonstration plant in Pune, which was announced this month. This “pre-commercial” plant is capable of processing up to 5 tonnes per month of complex post-consumer waste including multi-layered plastics and soiled textiles.
“When I say pre-commercial plant, It’s the size of the plant because the commercial scale will be bigger. With this, we’ll have the quantity to be able to cater to small and medium brands,” Malpani said.
The company aims to set up its first fully commercial plant next year.
The Tech That Makes WITHOUT
Addressing the elephant in the room, what exactly has WITHOUT figured out about MLP that others have not. At the heart of it is Verdicycle, the trademark for WITHOUT’s proprietary technology.
The company collects multi-layered plastic packaging waste from the scrap workers and puts it in a chemical reactor. This type of plastic includes 3–5 layers made up of polyolefins, PET, cellulose and aluminium.
Essentially, “Verdicycle” delaminates, demetallises, decolorises, and dissolves the PET, and also gives it a hot caustic wash. The layers from the MLP get separated in a chemical process, allowing the startup to use the relevant byproduct for manufacturing.
Apart from its technology process, WITHOUT has also filed for two more patents.
The primary byproduct of the separation — Polyolefins — are put into an extruder to get enhanced polyolefins. The company is seeking a patent on the formulation of this process.
The second patent involves triacetylic acid, one of the monomers in PET, another byproduct from the separation “The powder generally comes from fossil fuels, but we’re able to extract it from unrecyclable waste. We have also filed a patent for the process of purification of this acid, which does not involve solvents,” Malpani said.
Byproducts are converted into high-quality tiles at 120 degrees Celsius and under atmospheric pressure. WITHOUT claims that its process is water-based and does not use any organic solvents. This process is said to be more cost-effective than other chemo, mechanical, or chemical technologies.
There’s a social impact aspect to WITHOUT as well.
The startup works closely with a Pune-based solid waste management organisation SWaCH to source informal workers for its plants. Currently, WITHOUT is a team of 40 employees including the founder.
“We have about 16 informal workers who have been formalised to work with us. They are no longer waste workers, they are machine operators, quality control specialists, support staff, their incomes increase 2 to 3X and they get stock options in the company,” Malpani said, and emphasised that his mission also includes allowing individuals to get the right opportunities to grow.
The Commercialisation Vision
With the tech in place for one core part of the operation, and with a round of funding to fuel the next phase, what comes next for WITHOUT?
The inauguration of the demonstration factory, Malpani said, was key as it bridges its R&D and commercialisation phase.
The company launched its first product in 2023 – a recycled eyewear range made from packets of chips. WITHOUT claims that it sold its first batch within a week. An appearance on Shark Tank India’s season 3 also brought in more eyeballs.
So far, as a brand, WITHOUT is not hitting any of the benchmarks that are typically associated with D2C. It has earned a modest INR 50 Lakh in revenue by selling eyewear, signages, guitar picks, planter pots, coasters, keychains among small items.
And in some ways it’s not about the D2C brand, but what goes into the making of these products that could have the biggest impact.
“We want to build a world without waste, without poverty, so that you can live a life without worries, without compromise,” the founder claimed.
