ExtraCarbon - The Green Super Heroes That Turn Your Old Items and Recyclables into Cash or Points

This article is written by Gaurav Joshi, CEO & Co-Founder, Extra Carbon 

Many ideas have been proposed to achieve a “clean country” status in India. Lots of funds have been deployed but still our recycling sector is importing waste to keep the factories running. At the same time, mountains of recyclable materials, used furniture and other items are sitting on people’s balconies and in their basements.

Now a silent revolution is gathering momentum thanks to ExtraCarbon, our new startup based in Gurgaon. We started this endeavour three years ago with one target in our mind, Swachh Bharat. Fortunately, our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now made this a mission of our country. Put simply, we are organizing the previously unorganized ragpickers, kabadiwallas, and garbage collectors, or as we call them Green Super HeroesTM.

We’ve worked with Jaarvis Accelerator and created a technology platform to connect customers with their local Green Super Hero. We provide a mobile app, and you can show them your items without calling them at home. If you like their quote then a pick-up will be arranged. They come with electronic weighing scales so you are sure to gain best value. We even have a network that will buy your old clothes and furniture. You can sell your old items and buy new ones. The Green Super Hero now has us to help them with a clear strategy, technology and operations. They are earning more and not wasting time looking for customers with items to sell. They clean up our cities and both the customers and Green Super Heroes make money from it.

To make it easier for our Green Super Heroes we have also introduced an alternative to cash for paying their customers. We provide reward points which customers can use to top-up their mobile phones or DTH, pay electricity bills, buy products and groceries, or even transfer to PayTM credits. As a customer you can choose to be paid in cash or points for your scrap materials. If you choose “Jhoomley Points” you are rewarded with even more value for your used and scrap goods, and our Green Super Hero doesn’t need to carry large amounts of hard cash, which is often borrowed from loan sharks. Green Super Heroes can also choose to be paid in Jhoomley points to increase their earnings on each kg of recycling. So our business model applies technology to bring new capabilities and solve an age-old problem.

In our future plans we are also talking with financial institutions to tap into some of the priority sector lending for our Green Super Heroes to further improve their lives.