India is a nation of one billion plus. And day in and day out, we generate an inordinate amount of waste in our homes, from the moment we wake up. Milk tetrapacks and pouches. Vegetable scraps. Empty plastic bottles and toothpaste tubes. According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s 2020-21 Annual Report, India generates approximately 160,000 tonnes of solid waste every day. Of this, about 95.4% is collected, 50% is treated, and 18.4% is landfilled. A significant portion, 31.7%, remains unaccounted for.
About 67% of this waste is collected at doorsteps in urban areas (Municipal Solid Waste or MSW). This includes everything from Municipal solid waste (MSW) in India generally consists of compostable/biodegradable waste, recyclables and “inerts,” or non-hazardous waste. Then, there is compostable/biodegradable/organic waste like food waste from homes, retail and wholesale markets, restaurants and hotels.
Collecting, transporting, processing and disposing all this waste is a mammoth task: and there’s one small cap company that’s doing a lion’s share of this work: Antony Waste Handling Cell, a Thane-based small cap company.
How it all began
A family business started by brothers Antony, John, Poulose and Thomas Ouseph from Kerala, the beginning of the company dates back to the 1970s in Mumbai. They began operations as a garage and automobile workshop specialising in heavy vehicles. From repair work, they moved into making specialised vehicles like aircraft refuellers, fire engines, and double-decker buses for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
In 1983, the brothers established Antony Garages in Navi Mumbai’s MIDC zone. Nearly a decade later, in 1992, they expanded their footprint with Antony Motors, setting up a sprawling facility in Patalganga, Mumbai. Antony Garages then branched out into a service-oriented division, supplying buses and founding Antony Road Transport Solutions, which went on to win long-term government contracts to provide bus services in Delhi and Pune. They also ventured into the automobile retail space with an Ashok Leyland dealership, opening showrooms in Taloja and Bhiwandi on the city’s outskirts.
These long-term contracts with municipalities came in handy when they ventured into waste management, which again, was a pivot. The next generation of the family business, led by Jose Jacob Kallarakal, developed garbage compactors, with the aim to sell them to municipalities. But there was a problem: while municipalities needed these compactors, they didn’t have the infrastructure – like workshops, engineers and manpower – to manage and maintain the compactors. So they did what was feasible: instead of being a supplier, they asked the company to come on board as a service provider, and that’s how Antony Waste Handling Cell was born.
2001: Antony Waste Handling Cell
The management saw the potential in investing further in mechanised waste management, and founded Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited (AWHCL) in 2001. Today, AWHCL is India’s only publicly-listed company dedicated to municipal solid waste management. They offer a comprehensive range of services, from waste collection, to mechanised and manual street sweeping, to transport, processing, and disposal of waste, serving 24 municipalities across the country.
The relationship that they had built up, working with municipalities in other capacities, made the point of entry relatively easy, and they started operations in Mumbai, and then expanded to Noida, Greater Noida and Delhi Municipal Corporation. Their waste-management-as-a-service suited municipalities perfectly, since they didn’t have to invest in garbage compatriots or manpower management.
Waste management operates on a per-tonne basis, and AWHCL was able to get the job done at rate far less compared to what municipalities have been incurring, thanks to their hyper-specialisation.
The evolution of AWHCL
From just supplying compactors in 2001, AWHCL has rapidly expanded their suite of services to offer a wide range of solutions in the MSW and recycling space, with strategic diversifications and partnerships.
- 2001: Launch of AWHCL with garbage compactors, waste collection and transportation services.
- 2004: Formation of AG Enviro Infra Projects Private Limited formed, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AWHCL, specialising in waste collection and transportation.
- 2007: Raises $15 million from Elliott Associates, a New York-based hedge fund, with an aim to move into the waste processing space
- 2008: Wins bid for one of the largest waste processing facilities in Mumbai (Kanjurmarg Landfill project), managing 5500 tonnes per day
- 2009: Antony Lara Enviro Solutions Private Limited (ALESPL) was founded as a joint venture between Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited (AWHCL) and Lara Central De Tratamento de Residuos Limited, one of the largest waste management companies in Brazil.
- 2018: Ventures into waste processing via a technology called mass incineration or “waste to energy,” where dry waste is burnt to generate power. The project, based in Pimpri-Chinchwad, generates 14MW of power, of which 11.5 is sold in the grid.
- 2021: IPO; Antony Waste Management Cell lists on the BSE and NSE.
India’s evolving MSW sector
While AWHCL grew and expanded operations over the years, India’s MSW and recycling sector evolved in parallel, with regulatory pushes from the government and a focus on a circular economy.
Several new regulations have been put forth to drive change and tackle the problems in waste management, like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and compulsory segregation rules.
- Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016: This regulation made segregation of waste (into wet and dry) at the source point mandatory, and urged urban local bodies to improve their waste collection and processing patterns.
- Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 (Urban): Launched in 2021, Swachh Bharat 2.0 aims to make India garbage-free by 2026, targeting 100% door-to-door collection, proper waste segregation and scientific waste processing.
- Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016: To tackle rising plastic pollution, the Indian government introduced the Plastic Waste Management Rules in 2016, later strengthened through amendments in 2022. Key measures include banning single-use plastics to curb environmental damage and promoting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which holds manufacturers accountable for collecting and recycling the plastic waste they produce.
- Draft Solid Waste Management Rules, 2024: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change put forth these rules to improve waste segregation, recycling, and to reduce the dependency on landfills.
To combat the problem of mounting landfill waste, India is moving toward resource recovery, converting waste into usable products like compost, recycled plastics, construction material etc. To support this, recycling industries — especially plastics, e-waste, and construction waste — are getting regulatory support and incentives.
In addition, the government is also actively encouraging waste-to-energy (WTE) projects that convert solid waste into electricity, bio-CNG, or compost, using advanced waste management technologies. Cities like Indore, Delhi, and Pune have successfully set up WTE plants, helping cut down the landfill burden and generate renewable energy. The Indian government also provides Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for waste-to-energy projects to encourage private investment and to help more players to enter the fray.
AWHCL: Ready for the future
With the government pushing for a circular economy and incentivising waste-to-energy projects, AWHCL is in a unique position to contribute to the sector and gain from it. The company is one of the biggest and most organised in the MSW sector and their integrated approach makes them a key player.
- Solid waste handling: Solid waste collection, transportation, processing, and disposal across multiple cities.
- Integrated waste management: Design, construction, and operation of waste processing facilities like Kanjurmarg landfill in Mumbai.
- Mechanical power sweeping and manual sweeping: A fleet of mechanised sweeping machines for the removal of dirt, dust, and debris from streets, sidewalks, and parking areas across cities. Also has a team of manual sweepers that cater to hard-to-reach areas in public spaces.
- Waste to energy: Use of advanced technologies like anaerobic digestion (a process where microorganisms break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas) biomass gasification (a process that converts biomass into a combustible gas mixture) to convert waste into clean, sustainable energy. Through this process, biogas is extracted or electricity is generated, turning waste into a valuable resource.
- Biomining: The company is now also venturing into the field of biomining, which is the process of extracting metals from waste by using microorganisms to oxidise the metals to produce soluble compounds.
India’s MSW and recycling sector is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by rapid urbanisation, increasing environmental awareness, and robust policy initiatives. And Antony Waste Handling Cell, with its diversified services, technical expertise, are a prominent player and seem to have the ability to capitalise on the sector’s growth opportunities.
Sources
https://www.icicidirect.com/mailimages/IDirect_AntonyWaste_IPOReview.pdf#page=1
https://www.ceew.in/sites/default/files/india-circular-economy-potentialwebceew16dec.pdf