Waste management is the responsibility of the municipal and local governments. This includes the collection of waste from the place of generation until it has reached an appropriate destination (recycling, a scientific landfill, biomedical waste processing, etc.)
This also means collecting waste from door to door, transporting it to the processing centre, recovering possible resources and scientifically disposing of the rest. The local body may carry on its obligation directly or contract waste management to an external vendor. The citizen may be charged for this either directly or indirectly through property taxes.
Who are the players?
In India, waste management has two systems: a formal system and an informal system.
The formal system is funded, regulated and managed by the local government. It manages all kinds of waste: organic waste, inorganic waste, domestic hazardous waste, horticulture waste, construction debris etc.
The informal waste management is completely managed by waste pickers, waste sorters and waste traders (both big and small), usually for in-organic waste, where the process is managed from collection until recycling with no intervention of the government.
The players in the two groups are different. The informal sector can be considered as an extension of the formal system, especially for recycling management.
What are the economics of waste?
Sale Price Trends (August,2014 to August, 2017)
Observations:
- The price of plastic saw a 50% drop from Rs. 30 in 2014 to about Rs. 15 in 2017
- PET has been very volatile but is seeing some recovery
- Prices for White record (Rs. 11) and Cardboard (Rs. 8) have been steady
There are many types of packaging that are non recyclable. According to the 2016 Solid Waste Management Rules, Amendment 19, one way to recycle this packaging waste is as fuel in cement kilns. This process is called “co-processing”.
Not every material is appropriate for co-processing, and the method involves additional costs. For example, transport from Bengaluru to a cement plant in North Karnataka, is about 12 hours by road. It is unclear who is responsible to pay for these transport costs; with no one willing or able to take responsibility, these otherwise unrecyclable plastics often remain in the dumpsite.
There is monetary value for some plastics such as recyclable PET bottles, High Density Polyethylene (shampoo bottles, plastic jugs) and Low-density polyethylene (ziplock bags, packaging foam) in the recycling industry. The prices fluctuate based on the global crude oil price, import of waste , and seasons — monsoons affect more than just crop growth! Price fluctuations directly hit the income of daily wage earners like waste pickers. The plastic that is sorted, graded is a recyclable ore for industries.
Organic waste has a negative value for processing except on a large scale (30 tonnes a minimum) for biogas production. It is therefore better if the composting is done at the place of generation or at a ward level to be funnelled back into local gardening.
The economy of scale works in both dry and wet waste. Overall good waste management policy of the city is key making the processing feasible and scientific. The protection of these natural markets for waste and creation of new markets space by the cities, to accommodate the informal recycling industry is key for its stability. Every formal industrial estate/park should dedicate at least 5% if their land earmarked for solid waste management of the city, and access to the informal sector.
What is the environmental impact of waste?
Waste generated in our homes, offices, restaurants and everywhere else either ends up in dumping landfills or in water bodies if it is not collected, segregated and disposed properly. The waste accumulated in landfills generates harmful gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Water percolates through the waste in the landfill, becoming contaminated with toxic materials before it reaches groundwater. The soil in the area also leaches toxic materials.
Landfills are one of the primary sources of methane. When organic (wet) waste decomposes in the open air, it releases CO2. But when it decomposes in a landfill, without contact with oxygen, it forms methane. Improper disposal and treatment of organic waste creates emission of several greenhouse gases especially methane. However collecting segregated organic waste , capturing methane through anaerobic process (bio gas), or bottling it and using it for fuel is a mitigation strategy.
If the waste is collected and segregated, then gases like methane can be captured and bottled to be used as fuel. The waste collected by waste pickers helps in mitigating the impacts of climate change by preventing tonnes of waste from reaching landfill sites, water bodies, or oceans. The organic waste generated enriches the soil with nutrients and prevents soil decomposition.
What is the difference between a Waste picker and the Pourakarmikas or Safaikarmacharis?
A waste picker is a person who informally engages in collection and recovery of reusable and recyclable waste from the source of waste generation the streets, bins, and material recovery facilities. They also clean and sort waste for sale to recyclers directly or through intermediaries to earn their livelihood.
Not everyone who collects waste is a waste picker or informal waste collector. Government sanitation workers (mentioned as Pourakarmikas or Safai karamcharis in various policy papers and norms) on the payroll of municipal authorities or engaged through a contractor are not waste pickers. The terms waste pickers and informal waste collectors are restricted to those who have been engaged in waste management through informal means. Waste pickers do not receive a monthly salary and are dependent on the recycling market prices to earn their livelihoods.
Who is a Waste Picker
It is estimated that there are between 15,00,000 to 40,00,000 waste pickers in India [1]. We believe there are more than 35,000 waste pickers in Bengaluru – in Delhi that number is around 5,00,000.
Waste pickers are self employed workers in the informal economy who earn their livelihood from the collection and sale of recyclable scrap from urban solid waste for recycling. They collect discarded materials that have zero value and convert it into a tradable commodity through their labour in extracting/collection, sorting, grading and carrying/transporting [2].
According to the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, they are defined as a person or groups of persons informally engaged in collection and recovery of reusable and recyclable solid waste from the source of waste generation: the streets, bins, material recovery facilities, processing and waste disposal facilities for sale to recyclers directly or through intermediaries to earn their livelihood.
After 10 years of work within this community, Hasiru Dala has seen a need to move away from the term waste picker or even waste worker. These titles do not encompass the skill that is required in this field or recognize the dignity of the community’s labour. In time we hope to see “waste pickers” recognised as skilled and knowledgeable Resource Recovery Entrepreneurs who contribute an essential public service.
[1] Why Ragpickers, Unrecognised And Unpaid, Are Critical For Waste Management In India
[2] Alliance of Indian Waste pickers, unpublished document
Hair Pickers
Hair pickers are the waste pickers who collect discarded or shaved human hair from households, streets, or religious places. They are specific waste pickers who deal with collection and procurement of human hair and sell it further to earn their livelihood. They sort, grade and sell human hair to a luxurious market.
Bone Pickers
They are a section among waste pickers who collect bones of animals from streets and slaughterhouses and sell the same further to make a living. They collect, sort and grade the bone for selling in the market. (Rs 0.50 paisa per kilo or Rs 15. Per tin, i.e. 16-litre oil tin in the early 1990s). Bone pickers later also picked coal from the streets, which they would sell to local hotels, who would utilize the same as fuel (A tin of coal would be sold at Rs.2.50)
Why focus on Waste Pickers?
Traditionally, waste pickers, or people who collect or work with garbage have been part of marginalized and disenfranchised communities.For centuries, waste pickers have been part of an invisible economy without recognition or rights. Many times waste pickers are women without access to basic social security like housing, education, or healthcare.
Free-Roaming
As a daily wage earner, she picks recyclables from the street and trash bins sorts grades and trades for living. She is a master of her own time.
Professional
Service Provider By Contract, For example: Event management. Sensitive to the needs of her clients and adhere to service level agreements.
Formalized
Engaged in formal employee and employer relationships. For example, Sanitation workers like PKs. Engaged as employees in government or private sector or owns a business that is formally registered, compliant with labour laws, and taxation.
What are some myths about waste pickers?
Myth: Waste pickers are thieves
Reality
Waste pickers are extremely hardworking and enterprising people. Our data shows that in order to generate a sustainable income, they are usually up at 4:30am and walk about 5 kilometers to scour the city for recyclable waste. Waste picking is also highly skilled work because it takes hours to identify and sort hundreds of types of waste to be sold upwards along the recycling chain. Waste pickers are unrecognised entrepreneurs in an urban economy.
Myth: Waste pickers carry disease
Reality
Waste pickers ensure that diseases don’t spread in our localities. It is because of their efforts that decomposed waste does not clog city drains which keeps water moving and decreases the spread of dengue and typhoid.
Myth: Waste pickers are beggars
Reality
Waste pickers don’t ask for waste but collect the solid waste from streets or garbage bins. They made their living out of the commodities discarded by the general public.
The 2012 Ministry of Social Justice used the terms beggars/waste pickers interchangeably before we intervened. Waste pickers are skilled in their undervalued profession.
What would happen to my city if waste pickers disappeared tomorrow?
Waste pickers are not seen as part of the formal waste system. However, their contributions are vast.
Economic
A study in 2011 showed that just 15,000 waste pickers in Bengaluru saves the BBMP 84 crores in collection and transportation costs per year. A two-year long study, Valuing Urban Waste, indicates that approximately 3,500 tonnes of plastic is traded in the informal economy in Bengaluru every single day. Without waste pickers, the informal recycling markets would collapse and the city’s SWM costs would sky-rocket.
Ecological
This is an ecological boon too – with more recycling, there is less virgin plastic used. Waste collected and transported for recycling is by default kept out of landfills, burning spots and water networks, preventing water, air and land pollution.
What is Hasiru Dala’s role with waste pickers?
Hasiru Dala works for waste pickers and informal waste collectors. Since its inception in 2011 the organisation has been working for the betterment of lives and livelihood of waste pickers. Hasiru Dala works to bridge the gap between waste workers and other stakeholders, like the local governments, policy makers, and citizens.
Waste Picking in Bengaluru
There are about 35,000 waste pickers and itinerant buyers in Bengaluru. These waste pickers play a significant part in ensuring that the city remains clean. They collect solid waste and sell it further to provide much needed raw material to the recycling industry in the city.
In Bengaluru, thirty years back, waste pickers were picking up bones from slaughterhouses near Banashankari and other places, bringing them near their homes, cleaning them, grading them, then selling them in Shivaji Nagar. They carried the unclean bones on their shoulders; once cleaned, the bones were taken by Tanga (horse carriage) to the market. When the nomadic tribal community Hakki Pikki settled in Bengaluru in the Hebbal area, they started moving around the city with magnets to attract iron filings, which they sold to neighbourhood scrap dealers.
In the late 1960s collection of used paper emerged as a new product for waste pickers to sell to their neighbourhood scrap traders when the demand from paper mills started. The waste pickers would sell white paper at Rs. 3 and newspaper at Rs. 0.50 per kilo. Only in the 1980s and 1990s was plastic was introduced in India, which later on dominated the waste stream in solid waste – both in the formal and the informal waste sector.
To read more about some of this fascinating history and about the women waste pickers of Bengaluru, click here.
Bengaluru City currently generates about 4,000 of solid waste per day. Some of it adds up in landfills and a portion is recovered, sorted and sent for recycling.