On a chilly morning in Kulgam South Kashmir, Mohammad Aamir Khan stood beside a heap of rotting garbage. Plastic, food scraps and polythene bags piled up in the open a sight all too common in the region. For Aamir, it was more than just an eyesore; it became the spark that pushed him to tackle waste head-on.
At just 30, this Kashmiri engineer has built a decentralised waste management model that now serves over 4,000 households across Kulgam and Anantnag districts. His venture has not only cut down on waste but also generated employment, created eco-friendly products, and earned revenue of Rs 80 lakh in the past year.
From UPSC Aspirant to Sustainability Champion
Aamir, who hails from Agroo Devsar in Kulgam, graduated in engineering from Bangalore in 2017 and prepared for the UPSC Civil Services Exam. Although he narrowly missed clearing it, the preparation deepened his awareness about environmental issues.
Instead of giving up, he decided to focus on building solutions back home. In 2022, he was selected for the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) fellowship, which gave him nine months of training in leadership and innovation. Equipped with new skills, Aamir returned to Kashmir determined to bring his waste management idea to life.
In 2023, he set up his first composting unit in Zahipora. The model impressed the J&K Rural Development Department, which soon signed an MoU to expand it across four blocks in Kulgam. Over time, the project scaled up to Anantnag and Bijbehara, covering more than 4,000 households. Farmers embraced his organic compost, branded as “Green Wave”, as a cheaper and healthier alternative to chemical fertilisers.
Plastic to Profits, Polythene to Handlooms
In 2024, Aamir widened his work to include plastic recycling. Through his platform Waste to Health (www.wastetohealth.co
), households upload photos of plastic or aluminium waste, which his team collects and recycles into flakes. These are then sold to industries making pipes, furniture and other products.
Polythene waste posed a tougher challenge. But by 2025, Aamir’s team devised a method to turn it into thread which local artisans now weave into eco-friendly bags and chadars. The products debuted during the Amarnath Yatra and have slowly gained traction in local markets.
Today, his model has created jobs for more than 25 people from compost specialists to machine operators and artisans. Revenue has risen from Rs 50 lakh in 2023 to Rs 80 lakh in 2024, reflecting growing demand for his eco-solutions.
For Aamir however, the mission is about more than numbers. “We’ve shown that zero-waste living is possible,” he says. “The next step is to reach more households, create more livelihoods, and build a sustainable future for Kashmir.”
Even former US President Bill Clinton recognised his work, sending him a letter in 2024 appreciating his role as a mentor under CGI U. For Aamir, it was a reminder that persistence pays off and that change can start with something as small as a compost pit in a village.