[00:00:00] Sandeep: I, I think, you know, you have to keep on struggling to really get the right people who are motivated by what you are saying, speaking in their language, changing the communication so that they get convinced and what works and what doesn't work. So when you get the first five to say, "yes," by then, you will know what works and what doesn't work.

And figuring that out is the most important part.

Clement: We have the chance today to speak to Sandeep Patel, founder of Nepra and Let's Recycle. Sandeep is a successful serial entrepreneur who has always been fascinated by the waste issue our society has created and too really challenged. He's the pioneer when it comes to waste management in India.

Today, Sandeep solves more problems than he could have imagined when he started. He works with people experiencing some of the most intense poverty on the planet and inspires their family's life with [00:01:00] determination, trust, and care. In solving the waste problem, he tackles gender inequality, unemployment, and poverty.

Giving us a strong lesson of humility, perseverance, and accessibility, here's Sandeep Patel.

Laura: So, Sandeep, I'd love to hear from you in your own words. What is Nepra? What is Nepra all about?

Sandeep: We started thinking all about sustainability. For us, Nepra is about sustainability. It was coined from two words, "Neha" and "Pranali." Those are Indian words where neha means love and pranali meanssystem. So love thy system was the logic behind Nepra and all the business we do is surrounded to sustainability.

And for us, any action we take has to be people-centric as well as environmental-centric. [00:02:00] So that's what Nepra stands for us.

Laura: So when you say it's about sustainability, it makes me think of a couple of things right away. Either you're saving something or you are fixing something...it's like there's two, almost like two strands of sustainable businesses out there, ones that are producing goods that are sustainable and others that are cleaning up the mess of other people's goods.

And it's, it's, it's really interesting that... actually, this is our first podcast with a entrepreneur who's in the waste management space. So can you speak to a little bit as to why you even fell into this sustainability space in the first place? What made you turn to this?

Sandeep:  Right. So, no, I, I did my masters from Leeds business school in the UK.

And since that time I was very keen on waste management and retail. When I came back to in India in 2002, it was too early for waste management and I had no idea how to go about doing it. So I did a lot of [00:03:00] businesses in the past, which came my way and I, I could see businesses as an opportunity coming my way rather than going away from me.

So I did a lot of businesses, which initial days allowed me to learn a lot of things. But in 2006, Nepra was born. Well, you know, for me, it was calling from day one, that waste is something which I want to do. And I don't know, you know, it was always something like a magnet, which was pulling me towards it.

And it's a problem of magnitude, which people always complained about. I could see everybody complaining about it, but nobody really looking at a solution. And I think that really gave me a big challenge and I wanted to solve that challenge.

Laura: Interesting. Was there, was there a moment in time that you can pinpoint that you feel really launched you in that direction?

Was it...was it a day where there was just too many complaints and you realized, okay, something needs to be [00:04:00] done. Yeah. What was the catapult to even, it's one thing to make you want to study, you know, sustainability, but it's another thing to...