ReCircle | Plastic EPR and Circular Economy Solutions ReCircle | Plastic EPR and Circular Economy Solutions

ReCircle | Plastic EPR and Circular Economy Solutions

Industrial Recycling

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 – Climate Action, SDG 14 – Life Below Water, SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth

Company Overview

ReCircle, operated by Swachh Sustainable Solutions Pvt. Ltd., is a Mumbai-based clean-tech company working in India’s waste recovery and circular economy sector. The venture began in 2015 as RaddiConnect, a household recyclable collection platform, before evolving into a business-to-business model and rebranding as ReCircle in 2021 to reflect its expanded focus on corporate sustainability compliance.

The company connects businesses, waste collectors, recyclers, and processors through a nationwide network, converting India’s informal waste sector into a traceable, verifiable supply chain. Its work centers on helping brand owners, manufacturers, and importers meet Extended Producer Responsibility obligations under India’s plastic waste regulations, while also enabling voluntary plastic neutrality commitments.

Central to its operations is ClimaOne, a digital platform that provides tracking, verification, and reporting for plastic credits and recovery activity. ReCircle has also expanded into textile waste recovery and rPET flake production for packaging applications. The company has grown its operational footprint to several hundred cities and towns across India, supported by a network of collection and processing partners.

ReCircle has raised institutional funding from investors including Flipkart Ventures, 3i Partners, and Acumen Fund, and has received third-party certification for its ocean-bound plastic collection practices. Its client base is concentrated among large FMCG and consumer goods companies seeking regulatory compliance and measurable sustainability outcomes.

Why These SDGs Matter

SDG 8 is directly relevant because ReCircle formalizes work for thousands of informal waste pickers, known as Safai Saathis, providing fairer pay, training, and safety measures. SDG 11 applies because the company’s collection and recovery network operates across several hundred Indian cities, supporting municipal-level waste diversion. SDG 12 is central to the business model, since Extended Producer Responsibility services and plastic credit systems directly address production and consumption of packaging materials. SDG 13 is relevant because diverting waste from landfills reduces methane and other emissions associated with unmanaged disposal. SDG 14 applies through ReCircle’s Ocean Bound Plastic Certification, which verifies that collection activities target plastic waste at risk of entering rivers and oceans, directly supporting marine pollution reduction.

Products & Services
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) registration and compliance services
  • Plastic Neutrality Program for corporate plastic footprint offsetting
  • ClimaOne digital platform for waste tracking and reporting
  • Textile waste collection and recycling under Project Extra Life
  • rPET flake production for sustainable packaging inputs
  • Plastic credit issuance and verification services
  • CPCB portal registration and annual EPR return filing support
Business Challenges Solved
  • Complex Extended Producer Responsibility compliance requirements for brand owners
  • Lack of traceability across informal waste collection networks
  • Difficulty offsetting corporate plastic packaging footprints
  • Limited recycling pathways for multi-layered and hard-to-recycle plastics
  • Growing textile and post-consumer waste volumes
  • Manual, non-standardized sustainability and compliance reporting
  • Income and safety insecurity among informal waste workers
Approach & Methodology

ReCircle’s operating model is built around formalizing India’s largely informal waste value chain into a traceable, auditable system. The company works through a network of collection partners, waste pickers, and processing facilities spread across Indian cities, coordinating material flow from source to end recycler.

Its ClimaOne platform underpins this model technologically, digitizing collection records, verifying plastic credit issuance, and generating compliance documentation for the Central Pollution Control Board’s EPR portal. This allows brand clients to track waste recovery volumes and receive audit-ready reporting rather than relying on manual paper trails common in the sector.

For plastic neutrality engagements, the company calculates a client’s plastic footprint, then coordinates equivalent collection and processing, including hard-to-recycle multi-layered plastics, before issuing traceable credits. Ocean Bound Plastic activities are independently certified against the OBP Certification Program administered by Zero Plastic Oceans in partnership with Control Union, which audits collection ethics, traceability, and treatment of non-commercially recyclable material.

Beyond plastics, ReCircle applies a similar collect-sort-process model to textile waste through Project Extra Life, redirecting post-consumer textiles away from landfill disposal. The company has also invested in its own recycling infrastructure to extend from collection into material processing, reducing dependence on third-party recyclers for parts of its supply chain.

Market Position

ReCircle operates in India’s plastic and textile waste compliance market, serving large FMCG and consumer goods companies including Hindustan Unilever, Dabur, Mondelez, and Tata Starbucks. Its positioning combines EPR compliance services with a proprietary digital traceability platform, differentiating it from purely offline waste aggregators. The company competes with other Indian recycling and EPR service providers, including platforms offering similar plastic credit and compliance mechanisms. Its primary customer base consists of regulated brand owners and packaging users required to meet CPCB EPR targets, alongside businesses pursuing voluntary plastic neutrality commitments.

Procurement Considerations
  • Verify current CPCB EPR registration status and certificate validity
  • Confirm plastic credit traceability documentation through ClimaOne
  • Assess geographic coverage against the buyer’s operational footprint
  • Review OBP Certification scope for ocean-bound plastic claims
  • Clarify reporting formats and audit-readiness of compliance documentation
  • Evaluate contract terms for multi-year EPR obligation cycles
  • Confirm handling capability for specific waste categories, including multi-layered plastics
Funding, Recognition & Ecosystem
  • Pre-Series A funding from Flipkart Ventures, 3i Partners, and Acumen Fund Inc. (2023)
  • Bridge funding round co-led by Venture Catalysts and Mumbai Angels (2024)
  • GSMA Mobile for Development grant supporting supply chain digitization (2022)
  • Operational partnership with UNDP and Hindustan Unilever for Material Recovery Facility scaling (2018)
  • Strategic partnerships referenced with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and IIT Kanpur’s Swachhata Startup Challenge
Natnavi Analysis

ReCircle occupies a functional niche in India’s environmental compliance landscape, translating Extended Producer Responsibility regulation into an operational service that large consumer goods companies can plug into directly. Its relevance stems less from novel technology and more from its ability to formalize and digitize a traditionally informal, opaque waste collection sector, which has been a persistent barrier to credible plastic recycling claims in India.

The company’s client roster of major FMCG brands indicates real commercial traction within a regulatory-driven market, and its OBP Certification provides independent third-party verification that is uncommon among domestic waste management providers. Its parallel focus on informal worker livelihoods adds a social dimension that aligns with broader ESG expectations from corporate buyers.

Limitations worth noting for procurement teams include the concentration of its business model around Indian regulatory frameworks, meaning its services are not directly transferable to non-Indian compliance regimes. Reported waste diversion and revenue growth figures also vary across company and press sources, which is common for growth-stage companies but warrants direct verification during vendor due diligence. Overall, ReCircle represents a credible, sector-specific service provider for companies with plastic and textile packaging obligations in the Indian market.

Sources & References

Website
Founded: 2016
Company Stage: Growth-Stage Company
Headquarters
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Geographic Presence
ReCircle operates across India, with collection and processing activity reported in several hundred cities and towns nationwide. Its network spans multiple states through partnerships with local waste aggregators, recyclers, and processing facilities, coordinated centrally from its Mumbai headquarters rather than through direct international operations.
Solution Type
Service Provider, Software Platform
Sustainability Outcomes
Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency, Waste Reduction
Industries Served
Manufacturing, Retail & Consumer Goods
Last Reviewed: August 20, 2026

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