Waste is a resource, not a liability: Wilma Rodrigues of Saahas Zero Waste

Sustainability is no longer a corporate social responsibility exercise.

Wilma Rodrigues, Chief Transformation Officer at Saahas Zero Waste, believes it’s a business opportunity.

At MSME Sparks 2026, a five-day YourStory event spotlighting India’s MSME ecosystem in Bengaluru, Rodrigues delivered the keynote on day three.

Speaking on ‘Waste to Value: Making Circularity Work for Small Businesses’, Rodrigues drew on 12 years of running Saahas Zero Waste to argue that circularity is not a fringe pursuit anymore but a mainstream necessity for India's five crore MSMEs.

India generates 62 million tonnes of waste every year, Rodrigues said, and as much as 80% is dumped or burned rather than recovered.