On a school trip to Delhi’s Sundar Nursery in 2023, Mahi Malhani was trying to take in the heritage park’s history and restoration. But her attention kept returning to something else: wrappers, bottles and food waste lying on the ground, even when dustbins were close by.

“I noticed litter everywhere, even near dustbins. People often take the easy route and throw waste wherever they can. I wanted to bridge that gap with technology that helps, rather than just tells people to clean up,” she recalls.

India’s waste problem is vast. According to a 2024 Press Information Bureau release, citing the Central Pollution Control Board’s 2021-22 annual report, India generates an average of 1,70,338 tonnes of solid waste every day, of which 91,512 tonnes is treated.

For Mahi (17), now a Class 12 student at Amity International School, Mayur Vihar, Delhi, that problem became the starting point of an idea.

“It was our annual school trip, where we usually visit heritage parks to learn their history,” she explains. “Even when bins were there, waste did not reach them. That made me realise the problem had two parts: littering, and convenience versus responsibility. There had to be a way to bring the two together, and maybe even eliminate the problem.”

From a young age, she had been fascinated with technology. She would tinker with small gadgets, dismantle old electronics, and experiment with coding. “I started learning Python, then explored C and JavaScript,” she tells The Better India. 

“I wanted to understand how machines think and move. If I can teach them to act intelligently, like humans, but more precisely, they can help solve everyday problems, like managing waste efficiently.”

How I went from sketches to a prototype

Motivated by this thought, Mahi began exploring possible solutions. She started sketching ideas and researching prototypes that could automate waste collection and sorting, combining convenience with responsibility. 

In August and September 2023, she dived deep into the challenges, noting that any effective solution would need to be intelligent, autonomous, and user-friendly.

Her ideas soon needed guidance to move from concept to reality. That is when she connected with Rancho Labs, a robotics and IoT initiative at IIT Delhi. During a summer programme in August 2024, she visited the IIT campus for a workshop and spotted a Rancho Labs poster. Curious, she approached the team and, with her parents’ support, conducted a survey and met the professionals. “They helped and guided us, explaining practical aspects of robotics and IoT,” she says.

Her mentors, including teachers from Rancho Labs, and her school computer teacher, Mrs Deepshikha........

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