Page 12 - CIJ Sept 2025- Digital Edition

WASTE BITES

Gurugram Citizens
Tomato Waste Turned to Take Charge of Waste
Vegan Leather Woes

With tannery pollution and Gurugram’s rapid growth has
food waste both posing huge
environmental challenges, a young also brought mounds of garbage,
innovator has turned tomatoes into a clogged drains and dumping in
solution. vacant plots, making monsoons
worse with flooding and disease
ritesh Mistry, founder of The Bio Company, risks.
has developed Bioleather — a plant-based,
biodegradable alternative to animal leather, made rustrated with inaction, residents and
Pfrom tomato processing waste sourced from expatriates joined hands under the banners of
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The product, Let’s Clean Gurugram and Garbage Free India
which won PETA’s Best Innovation in Textile Award, Fto launch a Sunday morning cleaning drive.
is used in footwear, jackets, bags and even automotive Volunteers from Serbia and France joined locals
applications. in sweeping streets, unclogging drains and picking
“Bioleather proves that waste can become fashion,” litter around Guru Dronacharya metro station.
Mistry says, crediting his early visits to Kanpur’s “Without citizen support, no system will work.
polluting tanneries as the inspiration. Global brands like This is not symbolic, it is a statement that we are
Satuhati have begun adopting the material, signalling ready to act,” said resident Aman Verma. French
its potential to shift both fashion and sustainability volunteer Matilde R added, “When you don’t
narratives. throw garbage in your living room, the city is no
different.”
Community efforts extended to dialogues with
Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, where
Making Model Gurugram presented a roadmap
for waste segregation and on-site composting.
RWAs stressed better garbage disposal in high-
rises and functioning sewage treatment plants.
A single social media post also triggered quick
clean-up action, underlining the power of citizen
engagement. Gurugram is now testing whether
collective responsibility can transform one of
India’s busiest corporate hubs.

12 SEPTEMBER 2025 • Clean India Journal • www.cleanindiajournal.com