From Waste to Value: Conceptualizing Haritha Karma Sena as a Social Enterprise Model for ESG and Circular Economy in Kerala

Waste management systems that can create economic, social, and environmental value while tackling the escalating problems of resource depletion and waste disposal are necessary for the shift from a linear to a circular economy. In this regard, the community-based waste management organization Haritha Karma Sena (HKS), which operates through Kerala's decentralized local government system, offers a crucial model for analyzing the combination of social enterprise, circular economy concepts, and sustainable waste management. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to build a Waste-to-Value framework that connects HKS operations with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and circular economy objectives, as well as to conceptualize HKS as a viable community-based social enterprise model. With official documentation on Kerala's decentralized waste management system as support, the study employs a conceptual research design based on an integrative review and theoretical synthesis of literature on Circular Economy Theory, Social Enterprise Theory, ESG, Stakeholder Theory, and Sustainable Development Theory. The suggested framework views collection, source segregation, sorting, recovery, and recycling as essential HKS activities that can produce economic value through user fees, recyclable material value, and green enterprise opportunities; social value through women's employment, empowerment, and community involvement; and environmental value through resource recovery and waste reduction. Stakeholder coordination and governance are positioned as cross-cutting enabling variables impacting the waste-to-value process' efficacy. The connections between HKS operations, value creation, ESG, the circular economy, and sustainable development are explained by seven conceptual assertions. In order to offer HKS as a potential community-based social entrepreneurship pathway for inclusive sustainability and circular economy growth, the article integrates various viewpoints into a single Waste-to-Value paradigm. The paradigm serves as a basis for upcoming empirical studies in all local government situations in Kerala.

Haritha Karma Sena; Waste-to-Value; Social Enterprise; Circular Economy; ESG; Women’s Empowerment; Sustainable Waste Management.

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