As the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) prepares to implement revised solid waste management by-laws, which introduce user fees and stricter enforcement, the conversation around urban waste is shifting from infrastructure to accountability. For the hospitality sector, this marks a crucial moment to reassess operations and lead by example in sustainable waste practices.
Mana Shah is founder of Green Practices. This Mumbai-based waste management company collaborates closely with hotels and large-scale hospitality venues like Hilton, Lalit, and The Beatle to design and implement transparent, decentralised waste management systems. Green Practices helps institutions establish efficient source segregation and recycling programmes, with an emphasis on transparency, compliance, and long-term cost-effectiveness.
Excerpts from the interview…
What inspired you to start Green Practices? Was there a specific incident or realisation that sparked your journey into waste management?
For me, it wasn’t one dramatic incident, but a series of small awakenings. Watching the documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ by the former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore was definitely a turning point. It jolted me out of my comfort zone. Around the same time, I visited Auroville and saw firsthand how waste wasn’t just tolerated or pushed aside, it was transformed. Waste as a resource. Waste as life. As a mother of two, I couldn’t un-see it. I couldn’t allow my children to grow up in a world where we normalise not treating our waste properly. I knew I had to act and build something that could protect the environment in which my children were growing up. That’s how Green Practices was born.
What were some of the early challenges you faced while building awareness and credibility?
In the world of waste, trust is currency. And we started with none. Nobody knew who we were or what we stood for. We weren’t offering easy compliance or checkboxes; we were asking organisations to fundamentally reimagine their relationship with waste. That made people uncomfortable. There was polite skepticism at best, outright dismissal at worst. But we kept showing up. We let our honesty speak, and slowly, people saw that we weren’t just another vendor; we were partners with a purpose. Credibility was earned, one bin, one training, one audit at a time. It wasn’t easy, but it was honest.
Green Practices has now worked across sectors — from residential societies to corporate campuses. What drew you to working with the hospitality industry specifically?
Hospitality is where beauty and waste co-exist in the most paradoxical way. These spaces are designed to delight, to make guests feel pampered and cared for. And yet, behind the scenes, they generate mountains of waste. What drew me in was the sheer potential. If even a fraction of India’s hotels took sustainability seriously, the ripple effect would be profound. Especially in a country that, paradoxically, is one of the largest food wasters globally, generating around 68.7 million tonnes of food waste annually, nearly equivalent to the entire food consumption of the UK. Plus, this sector runs on systems. Once a hotel commits, it truly commits. I realised early on that if we wanted to shift the narrative on urban waste, hospitality had to be part of the conversation.
Hotels generate a unique kind of waste — both in volume and variety. How do you tailor waste management systems for hospitality versus other sectors?
Hotels are dynamic ecosystems. You’re dealing with food waste, packaging waste, room service waste, event waste, all flowing through different departments. What we bring in is a framework that works regardless of a hotel’s size or brand. We don’t redesign their operations, but we do align our waste collection and processing systems to their existing workflows. We coordinate closely with their teams in the kitchen, housekeeping, and admin and provide necessary training for segregation of waste at source. The idea is to integrate waste management seamlessly, so that it doesn’t feel like an added burden but becomes part of how the hotel functions and thinks about waste.
You’ve collaborated with properties like Hilton, The Lalit, and The Beatle. What common challenges do hotels face when trying to implement decentralised or ethical waste systems?
The biggest challenge is the attitude towards waste. In a hotel, you have multiple departments with different priorities. Sustainability often gets delegated to one team, but unless the GM, the chef, the housekeeping head, and the security guard are all invested, the system breaks down. Another issue is legacy systems which rely on outdated practices or vendors that are hard to move away from. And sometimes, there’s fear: “Will this compromise our guest experience?” But when we show them that guests increasingly care, with seven in ten global travellers now saying sustainability shapes their choices, the mindset begins to shift. Once hotels see that ethical waste management can actually elevate their brand, the resistance begins to melt.
Can you walk us through what an ideal waste system looks like in a hotel? What are the non-negotiables in terms of design, segregation, and visibility?
An ideal system is one that’s invisible to the guest but powerful in its impact. First, segregation at source is non-negotiable, whether it’s in the kitchen, guest rooms, or event halls. Second, bins need to be clearly marked and placed strategically. Third, staff needs regular training and not just once at onboarding. There should be daily pickups, internal monitoring, and a processing system that ensures the maximum amount is composted or recycled. And finally, hotels should communicate their efforts. When guests see a small placard that says “Our food waste helps grow our gardens” or “We are a ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ hotel”, it builds trust and adds meaning to their stay.
The revised BMC solid waste management by-laws are now coming into effect. What do these changes mean practically for hotels and large venues?
The new by-laws are a much-needed wake-up call. For the longest time, hotels could operate on legacy systems without much accountability. Now, non-compliance comes with penalties. But beyond enforcement, it’s an opportunity. The by-laws encourage decentralised waste processing, which aligns with our model. Hotels that get ahead of the curve will position themselves as sustainability leaders by future-proofing operations.
You give compost back to clients at no cost — an elegant loop. How do such circular models help build both economic and environmental value for hotels?
It completes a story. When hotels see that their food waste is coming back as compost that nourishes their lawns or kitchen gardens, it closes the loop in the most tangible way. There’s emotional and environmental value in that. Economically too, it reduces the need for external waste disposal services and chemical fertilisers. We’ve had clients use that compost for community gardens, CSR initiatives, and even gifting. But more importantly, it creates a story that guests appreciate. It’s incredibly powerful because it’s real.
How important is internal alignment—from the GM to the housekeeping staff—for a sustainable waste system to actually work?
It’s everything. Waste management is a mindset, something you cannot outsource entirely, because the system only works when the entire internal ecosystem is involved. If the GM doesn’t champion it, it stays invisible. If the kitchen staff doesn’t believe in it, it becomes an extra chore. We spend a lot of time on training and dialogue, breaking the notion that “sustainability is someone else’s job.” A well-aligned team can turn Rs 50,000 crore of food waste losses in the food-service industry into savings, impact, and brand strength. When everyone takes ownership, even in the smallest possible ways, the system runs smoothly, and you start seeing real impact.
Looking ahead, what innovations in tech or process do you believe will redefine hotel waste systems in the next five years?
I see a lot of promise in real-time tracking systems, something which we have adopted at our operations in Green Practices. Technology that helps hotels monitor waste generation by department or event and AI-driven sorting tools are also emerging, though they’ll take time to become mainstream. But I think the real innovation will be in creating waste systems that are intuitive, decentralised, and guest-friendly. Like smart bins that give instant feedback on the waste that is deposited in it, or composters that double as green walls. Ultimately, innovation in this space should aim to make sustainability effortless and desirable. The real breakthrough will come when sustainability feels natural, when guests expect it, when staff enjoys being part of it, and when waste stops being a problem and becomes a possibility. That’s the future I want to build.
