Hyderabad: Recykal, a technology-driven waste management and circular economy platform, has onboarded cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as a strategic investor as it seeks to make responsible waste management a nationwide habit.
The association aims to accelerate behavioural change among citizens and encourage wider participation in India’s circular economy.
Tendulkar’s investment extends Recykal’s recently announced USD 23 million bridge funding round, bringing together one of India’s most recognised sporting personalities and a technology platform focused on addressing the country’s waste management challenges.
The partnership is built around the belief that India’s waste management challenge requires a significant shift in public behaviour.
Through the association, Recykal aims to encourage citizens to view waste not merely as something to be discarded, but as a resource that can be recovered, returned, recycled and given a second life.
Sachin Tendulkar, strategic investor, said, “Throughout my career, I’ve learnt that lasting success is built on discipline and consistent efforts, however big or small. The same is true for building a cleaner India. What drew me to Recykal was seeing how technology was being used to solve an everyday problem.
Recykal’s mission to use technology to drive behavioural change across 1 billion people is what really connected with me, and I hope together we can encourage more people to make responsible choices every day.”
As a strategic investor, Tendulkar will support Recykal’s efforts to champion responsible waste management practices across the country.
The association is intended to carry forward the spirit of the Swachh Bharat mission by encouraging individuals to adopt sustainable waste-related practices in their everyday lives.
Recykal wants returning waste, recycling responsibly and participating in the circular economy to become routine practices for Indian households and communities.
The company believes that Tendulkar’s association can help amplify this message and encourage a wider national movement towards responsible waste behaviour.
Abhay Deshpande, CEO and Co-Founder of Recykal, said, “Recykal was built on a simple conviction that the circular economy is fundamentally a technology problem.
Deposit Return Systems are perhaps the clearest expression of this thesis, bringing together technology, logistics and behavioural change to transform how packaging waste is recovered. To have Sachin join us as a strategic investor is incredibly meaningful.
For decades, he has inspired millions of Indians through his discipline, integrity and ability to unite people around a common purpose. Together, we hope to inspire a movement where doing the right thing for the environment becomes an everyday habit.”
The investment comes after Recykal closed a USD 23 million bridge funding round in June 2026. The round comprised a combination of primary and secondary capital raised from existing investors and select new family offices.
Recykal is deploying the funds to strengthen its technology platform and Open Marketplace, expand its Deposit Return System (DRS), and support its international expansion plans.
The company is also focusing on scaling its DRS to encourage behavioural change in waste management and improve the recovery of packaging waste.
Deposit Return Systems are central to Recykal’s approach to connecting technology, logistics and consumer participation in waste recovery.
The system is intended to encourage the return of packaging waste and improve its collection for recycling and reuse.
With Sachin Tendulkar joining as a strategic investor, Recykal is extending its funding round while reinforcing its long-term ambition of driving responsible waste management practices at a national scale.
The company aims to use technology and public participation to bring about a behavioural shift among one billion people, making responsible waste disposal and recycling an everyday practice rather than an occasional initiative.
Founded in 2015, Recykal is a globally recognised, Hyderabad-headquartered technology company driving behavioural change in waste management through digital platforms, Deposit Return Systems (DRS), and circular commerce of recyclable materials.
The company also develops AI-enabled hardware solutions, including reverse vending machines, indigenously designed and manufactured in India, helping businesses, and governments across the globe by making material recovery measurable, scalable and economically viable. It has channelised over 30,00,000+ MT of waste by empowering 650 brands like Hindustan Unilever, Samsung, BMW etc, and more than 5000 aggregators and recyclers.
