Turning Trash into Treasure

In the crowded lanes of India’s cities and the quiet corners of its towns, waste tells a story. A story of consumption, carelessness, and chaos. But it also tells another story — one of change, innovation, and determination. Let’s Do It India (LDII), the country’s leading volunteer-driven environmental movement, is rewriting this narrative. With every campaign and partnership, it is showing that even waste can hold the seeds of transformation.

One of the most groundbreaking chapters in this journey is LDII’s recent collaboration with Mint Innovation, a pioneering biotechnology company based in New Zealand. Mint Innovation has developed a revolutionary method to recover gold from electronic waste (e-waste) using clean, green chemistry. And now, this futuristic idea is finding a home in India — where mountains of e-waste are both a problem and an opportunity.

For years, India has struggled with managing its growing heap of e-waste — old phones, broken laptops, discarded gadgets. Most of it ends up in landfills or is processed by informal workers in unsafe conditions. But LDII believes this doesn’t have to be the story. Waste, if managed wisely, can become a valuable resource. That’s where Mint Innovation’s solution comes in.

In a typical electronics recycling unit, precious metals like gold, silver, and copper are extracted using acid-heavy processes that harm the environment and human health. Mint Innovation’s process changes that completely — using natural microbes and enzymes to safely extract these metals. It’s like alchemy, but rooted in science and sustainability. The first time LDII’s leadership saw this in action in Auckland, they knew they had to bring this model to India.

Backed by this vision, LDII and Mint Innovation are now working together to build India’s first bio-refinery for e-waste, where urban mining will become a cleaner alternative to traditional resource extraction. Imagine — instead of digging into the earth for gold, we’re recovering it from old mobile phones and motherboards, all while creating green jobs and reducing carbon footprints.

But the innovation doesn’t stop at e-waste. In another remarkable step, LDII has partnered with ISVE, an Italy-based company with deep expertise in bio-waste management and composting technology. ISVE has been at the forefront of developing machines that transform agricultural and organic waste into compost, biomass fuel, and reusable raw materials.

This partnership brings cutting-edge European technology to India’s villages and cities, where organic waste often piles up without proper treatment. With ISVE, LDII is now setting up model composting units and bio-waste conversion systems, turning food scraps, farm residue, and biodegradable garbage into energy and soil nutrition.