AMR Safe Disposal Innovation Challenge 2026
“Dispose Right. Defeat AMR.”
AMR Safe Disposal Innovation Challenge 2026
This initiative aims to identify scalable, field-ready solutions that enable safe disposal of unused/expired antibiotics and strengthen AMR containment efforts.
Objectives
- Enable safe and convenient models for disposal of unused and expired antibiotics at the community level through scalable, accessible digital solutions.
- Increase community awareness of the health and environmental risks of improper antibiotic disposal, and its direct contribution to antimicrobial resistance.
- Encourage repeated and sustained safe disposal behavior by the community.
- Strengthen coordination and real-time data flow between communities, pharmacies, and healthcare facilities to improve monitoring, reporting, and decision-making for AMR containment.
- Identification and pilot deployment of potential innovations and prototypes for disposing antimicrobial waste (neutralizing/deactivating unused antibiotics
Challenge Categories
Participants may apply under two categories:
Category 1: Digital solutions (Mobile/Web-Based applications)
Develop scalable platforms that:
- Promote safe antibiotic disposal
- Build AMR awareness
- Facilitate drop-off / take-back systems
- Encourage sustained safe disposal behaviour
Category 2: Any other solutions (Models, Prototype, Tools, etc.) for antibiotic disposal
Technology prototypes may include:
- Low-cost antibiotic deactivation or neutralization kits
- Safe chemical inactivation pouches
- Encapsulation or solidification mechanisms
- Secure home-use disposal containers
Any other solutions (like Models, Tools, etc.) may include
Social innovations that have potential for community impact with respect to safe disposal of antibiotics.
Who Can Participate?
Student teams, young technologists, startups, NGOs, Software Developers and Health-tech innovators are encouraged to apply
Awards & Recognition
High-impact, real-world ready solutions will be financially rewarded under two prize categories:
Digital solutions (Mobile/Web-Based Applications)
1. First Prize – INR 30,000
2. Second Prize – INR 20,000
Any other solutions(Models, Prototypes, Tools, etc.) for Antibiotic Disposal
1.First Prize – INR 30,000
2. Second Prize – INR 20,000
In addition to financial rewards, potential innovation(s) will be:
- Shortlisted for district-level pilots
- Given technical mentorship from domain experts
- Given field validation and real-world testing experience
- Offered visibility and scale-up opportunities through public health channels
Participants are requested to carefully review the Request for Proposals (RFP) document before submitting their application.
RFP Document may be accessed at following link:
Submission Deadline: 2nd April 2026