Unplugged: The e-waste crisis of Bangalore
TRIANGLE CREATIVES × SRISHTI MANIPAL INSTITUTE · 2025 · BENGALURU
Teaser + Business Model
A documentary and business strategy for bridging CSR funding and e-waste awareness in Southern India -- built from field research, empathy mapping, and systems analysis.
01. Project roadmap
This case study documents the completed Research & Development phase, with Prototyping & Testing underway.
Research & Development
Surveys · Secondary research · Ideation
Prototyping & Testing
Script · User feedback · Budget
Next Steps
Business model · Go-to-market · Pitch deck
01. Project roadmap
This case study documents the completed Research & Development phase, with Prototyping & Testing underway.
How might we help residents of an IT hub who have access to smartphones to better understand the problems around e-waste, from hoarding devices at home to knowing whom to approach, where to dispose, and how to segregate, by focusing on the end-of-life journey of technology and the conditions of sanitation workers who handle it?
03. research
Primary and secondary research
Secondary research findings
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Existing literature lacks Southern Indian, regional-language content on sanitation worker conditions
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Producers' EPR-mandated awareness campaigns focus on "how" to dispose and not "why," and not the human cost
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Government awareness initiatives consistently de-prioritised against other policy focus areas
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Junk-E (Magalat) identified as closest comparable — regional language, worker-centric, but pre-dates EPR 2022
Field visit findings
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Semi-formal warehouses operating in central Bengaluru - segregating wires, circuit boards, metals by hand
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Low-value recovery: workers extract scrap but miss precious metals due to lack of equipment
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The informal sector has no pathway to formalisation — complex regulatory environment, and no training provided
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Manufacturers missing EPR collection targets, paying fines rather than improving infrastructure
Root cause analysis: 4, 7 & 9 Whys across three domains
EPR / COLLECTION
4 Whys
The root problem is the large volume of e-waste reaching the informal sector. The chain traces through a lack of awareness about door-to-door collection, to people not understanding the consequences of improper disposal, to a generational gap in understanding e-waste, caused by the rapid evolution of electronics and forced adoption. The root cause identified is the lack of end-of-life alternatives for e-waste.​
Communication
7 Why's
Starting from the absence of documentaries on the e-waste sector, the chain moves through it being largely unorganised, a lack of entrepreneurial understanding of systemic improvement, delayed systems thinking in electronics, weak individual-level waste segregation education in India, the invisibility of waste impact to economically stronger sections of society, and a lack of transparency about what happens to trash after it leaves homes. Contributing causes include no social initiatives amplifying sanitation workers' voices, no strict waste segregation policies, and, the final root, lack of technological advancement in e-waste tracking, which blockchain now offers a solution to.
Production
9 Why's
Beginning with the prevalence of wires in waste dumps, the chain goes through lack of producer responsibility and repair knowledge, complications around repairability, the ease of buying over repairing, lack of knowledge about hoarding and overconsumption consequences, absence of accessible knowledge-sharing formats, lack of social education initiatives, insufficient government or producer funding, and too few formal private players in the e-waste industry. The final root causes identified are:
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Lack of Consumer Awareness and Collection Infrastructure
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High Capital Investment and Low Profitability
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Complex Regulatory Environment and Bureaucracy
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Limited Government Incentives and Support
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Low-Value Recovery from E-Waste.
04. stakeholders
Four quadrants, nine groups, one communication gap
ACTIVELY ENGAGED — CO-DEVELOP POLICY:
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Kabuliwala
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General public
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Producers / manufacturers
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SHGs
KEEP SATISFIED — OFFER INCENTIVES
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Corporate buyers
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Certified recyclers
MONITOR — RAISE AWARENESS OVER TIME:
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Government departments
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Policy makers
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Media and academia
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Consumers
KEEP INFORMED — RIGHTS AND REGULATIONS:
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NGOs and advocacy groups
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Informal sector workers
05. systems analysis
POEMS framework: mapping the current system
CSR funding for awareness is often not directed toward programmes that build end-to-end understanding of the problem, it funds surface-level content that neither motivates behaviour change nor illuminates the human cost.
P
PEOPLE
Consumers
Producers
Sanitation workers
Kabuliwala
Informal sector migrants
o
objects
Devices · Wires · Circuit boards · Collection points · Recycling equipment
e
environment
Physical · Regulatory · Social environment of disposal and handling
m
messages
EPR campaigns · Editorial content · Policy communications · NGO outreach
s
systems
Take-back programmes · Collection services · Processing and recycling systems
06. ideation
Four methods, one resolved contradiction
1. SCAMPER:
Documentary format challenged, substituted producer narrator with the worker's story; combined CSR brief with community proof
​
2. WORST POSSIBLE IDEA:
Revealed real constraints: passive audiences, no behavioural hook, no formal sector connection after viewing
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3. CRAZY 8'S:
8 content formats rated by viability through murals, DIY kits, syllabi, workshops, screenings, social campaigns
​
4. TRIZ
Resolved mass reach vs deep engagement, segment by generation; short-form to reach, long-form to convert
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Wire / musician → overconsumption pattern → hoard or Kabuliwala → no formal pathway
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Pre-millennial → attachment to device → door-to-door or repair at home → sporadically formal
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Post-millennial → upgrade cycle → Kabuliwala default → policy / workshop intervention needed
07. market sizing
TAM · SAM · Som: Karnataka first, then national
TAM: 150M
All smartphone users in India consuming documentary-format content
SAM: 7.5M
Karnataka smartphone users, approximately 20% with documentary consumption habits
SOM: 600K–900K
Environmentally conscious Bengaluru viewer 10–15% of population, IT-hub concentration
07. BUSINESS MODEL
Three interlocking canvases:
Overarching, policy, and education
OVERARCHING
Partners: Schools, NGOs, EPR recyclers, streaming platforms
Revenue: Licensing, CSR funding, sponsorships, ticket sales
Channels: YouTube, OTT, regional TV, social media
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POLICY / BBMP
Partners: Govt bodies, NGOs, waste platforms
Value prop: Supports EPR compliance, reduces informal dumping, community collection events
Revenue: Government grants, CSR funding
EDUCATION
Segments: Students grades 7–12, UG, teachers
Value prop: Structured curriculum tool, credit-based gamification
Revenue: School subscriptions, private institutional funding
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08. IMPACT FRAMEWORK
Measured before and after documentary release
Long-term signals: film festival nominations · policy panel integration · government scheme adoption
Customer engagement
+30% for CSR-active brands
Corporate reputation
+20% via positive CSR framing
Facebook engagement
+40% for linked CSR initiatives
Click-through rate
+15% higher CTR on CSR content
09. FUTURE SCOPE
From documentary to system
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Educational documentary targeted at students in grades 7–12 and undergraduate programmes, in Kannada and Tamil
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Interactive syllabus with credit-based gamification, building infrastructure for community e-waste collection drives in schools
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Municipal and NGO partnerships for door-to-door collection integration and formal EPR connection for informal workers
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Go-to-market strategy and pitch deck for CSR and private funding, currently in prototyping phase
This case study demonstrates end-to-end design research practice, from field visits and stakeholder mapping through structured ideation, root cause analysis, systems framing, market sizing, and multi-stakeholder business modelling. The research phase was completed in full; the documentary storyline and funding pitch are currently in prototyping and validation.