Circularity Innovation Hub partners with Green Worms to Launch India’s First CBDC for Sanitation Workers
Climate tech startup, Circularity Innovation Hub India and Sustainability startup Green Worms has successfully executed a global and India’s first-of-its-kind mass-scale circular economy initiative by integrating Circularity Credits, a novel environmental asset with RBI’s Programmable Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). This pioneering project sets a global benchmark for merging sustainability with financial inclusion by providing end-to-end traceability and transparency in the generation of revenues from Circularity Credits and its traceable disbursement through CBDC.
Green Worms, a Kerala-based sustainability startup, is tackling the waste crisis while creating dignified employment opportunities in India’s rural and coastal regions, including Kerala, Lakshadweep, Andaman Islands, and Tamil Nadu. The company has formalised waste collection, built essential infrastructure, and generated over 1,000 micro-entrepreneurs and 4,000 indirect jobs, recovering more than 100,000 tons of plastic waste. Partnering with Kudumbashree (women’s self-help groups) in Kerala, Green Worms ensures minimum guaranteed income for waste collectors while enabling brands and manufacturers to transition from a linear to a circular economy.
Circularity Global is a climate-tech company dedicated to accelerating the global transition to a circular economy. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Circularity operates at the intersection of blockchain, sustainability, and finance, developing innovative solutions to transform waste into value.
Circularity Global through its Circularity Registry issues Circularity Credits, a unique asset class that quantifies and monetizes circular economy activities such as waste recovery, recycling, and material reuse. These credits, recorded transparently on blockchain, enable businesses, governments, and individuals to participate in a verified circular economy marketplace.
Circularity’s impact extends beyond credit issuance. The company’s Innovation Hubs establish advanced recycling and resource recovery ecosystems, while Circularity Fintech leverages programmable Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to facilitate microfinance solutions for marginalized communities, including waste pickers and farmers.
Circularity Credits and Reserve Bank of India’s programmable Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is a digital version of the Indian Rupee issued and regulated by the RBI. It is designed to function as legal tender, similar to physical cash, but in a digital form.
The Circularity Innovation Hub-India and Green Worms partnership aims to drive systemic change, enabling the ecosystem to transition from a Linear Economy to a Circular Economy, build material-specific value chains that incentivise waste collection and drive financial inclusion through recycling programs developed jointly with brands and manufacturers.
Through this initiative, over 100 Kudumbashree women engaged in plastic and textile waste management received additional income via Programmable CBDCs, issued in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a leading private sector bank. These digital assets enabled direct, secure, and transparent payments, allowing recipients to purchase essential goods and improving financial resilience for the women workers.
This marks Circularity’s second major CBDC deployment, following its 2024 pilot for farmers in partnership with RBI, IndusInd Bank, and Hindustan Agro Farmer Cooperative, where programmable financial aid was distributed to ensure funds were used for agricultural inputs. As a part of this pilot, IndusInd Bank initiated the programmable CBDC disbursement to 50 farmers in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra and will cover around 1,000 farmers going ahead, marking a milestone in the adoption of innovative financial solutions for the agriculture sector.
Impact and Vision for Scale
Joel Michael, Founder & CEO, Circularity Global, stated, “By fostering a true Circular Economy, we have successfully merged environmental impact with social good through the world’s first large-scale deployment of Programmable CBDCs. Circularity Credits, trading between $40-$80 USD, have generated additional incomes of ₹500-1,000 per month for marginalized communities, including farmers and sanitation workers. We aim to scale this to ₹5,000 per month and positively impact 1 million lives within the next three years.”
Green Worms Founder & CEO added, “The integration of Circularity Credits and CBDCs is a game-changer for the waste management sector. By directly rewarding the efforts of sanitation workers, we are not only improving livelihoods but also strengthening the circular economy in India. This initiative is a model for how sustainability and financial inclusion can go hand in hand.”
With this groundbreaking model, Circularity Innovation Hub India is redefining climate finance, proving that economic empowerment, blockchain transparency, and environmental sustainability can thrive together. The organization now plans to expand Circularity Credits and Programmable CBDC deployments across India, unlocking new pathways for waste valorisation, financial inclusion, and circular economy-driven growth.
