Segregate to Regenerate-Roka

Segregate to Regenerate-ROKA is a community-led waste management initiative in Adyar, Chennai, working to solve one of India's hardest sustainability challenges: source segregation of household waste. Founded in 2019 by a group of environment-focused residents, the association began with door-to-door campaigns across 2,500 households in 2018 and reached 80% segregation compliance within a year — a rate well above the national average. The initiative has since evolved into a broader programme, with community composting introduced in 2023 under the We Segregate banner, and ongoing partnerships with neighbourhood schools and adjacent communities. Supported by Okapi Research & Advisory, the Urban Ocean consortium, the Resilient Cities Network, and the University of Georgia's New Materials Institute, ROKA has scaled grassroots behaviour change into a model now drawing attention from Chennai's municipal corporation. The project shows how local resident-led action can shift the foundations of city-scale waste systems.