A Mumbai based NGO working to transform Elephanta Island into a cleaner, responsible, and self sustaining heritage island.
Waste Matters Foundation is a Mumbai based non governmental organisation founded in December 2018 by Mr. Siddhant Padte, a third generation resident of Elephanta Island.
The Foundation works on Elephanta Island's waste crisis through a practical three part framework: Sensitization, Segregation, and Collection.
What began as weekly beach clean up drives has grown into a structured island wide initiative covering waste recovery, sanitation awareness, biodiversity protection, and community participation.
To transform Elephanta Island into a self sustaining and environmentally resilient model ecosystem for responsible tourism and island community development.
To stop plastic litter and marine debris at source through community led circular economy action, waste infrastructure, and stakeholder collaboration.
Elephanta Island, locally known as Gharapuri, is located around 10 km east of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea. It is home to ancient rock cut cave temples dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The island spans approximately 16 sq. km, with hilly terrain, mangrove forests, and coastal settlements. Around 700 to 800 residents live here, with tourism services as their primary livelihood.
Despite its global importance, Elephanta faces challenges such as unmanaged waste, limited sanitation, and growing pressure on its marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
"Elephanta is not just a heritage destination, it is home. Waste Matters Foundation was created to protect its people, ecology, and future."
Mr. Siddhant Padte is a third generation resident of Elephanta Island and the Founder of Waste Matters Foundation. Growing up on the island, he witnessed the impact of unmanaged waste on the community, tourism, and natural environment.
In December 2018, he started the Foundation with a clear mission to address waste at the source through sensitization, segregation, and collection.
Under his leadership, the Foundation has grown from weekly clean up drives into a structured island wide sustainability initiative.
A third generation Elephanta Island resident, Siddhant founded Waste Matters Foundation to protect his home from unmanaged waste and guide community led sustainability work.
Ashwin Malwade is a Master Mariner with over 18yrs of sea going experience who has seen firsthand the deep rooted problems caused by marine debris. Driven by his desire to eliminate plastic pollution, he navigates our ship to unexplored ideas for everyday and special day sustainability. His skills include excellent people skills which enables Waste Matters to forge collaborations in the sector to create a larger impact.
28 years in IT across Delivery Management, Project Management, ETL and BI consulting, with exposure to Insurance, Health, Government, Telco, Retail, Manufacturing, Education and Publishing. Led a 25+ member offshore team at Teradata India on an Internal Data Warehousing program, driving Agile adoption and a DevOps roadmap. Passionate about sustainability, travel across India and long road trips.
Ms. Vidhi Thakkar, Head of Compliance and HR, brings with her extensive experience in human resources and organisational compliance. At Waste Matters Foundation, she plays a key role in strengthening internal systems, ensuring regulatory compliance, and fostering a structured and people centric work environment.
Sandeep Koli is an Elephanta island local and the backbone of our on ground waste management operations on the island. Sandeep is also a fantastic artist and loves to create portrait art.
Tanay pivoted from architecture to design, earning a gold medal in communication design from IDC, IIT Bombay, and co founding Fractal Ink before its 2016 acquisition by Dentsu International. He later turned to fine art, exhibiting at the Dubai World Art Festival, London Art Biennale, and Van Gogh Art Gallery, Brussels. A 2025 Berlin Art Institute residency shaped his current abstract expressionist work, including his book Ambivalence and 2026 solo exhibition, The Skin Between the Worlds.
