In 2011, Bengaluru city was not formally segregating its waste. Unsegregated waste was collected by the municipal corporation from households, roads, and local dumping sites, and transported to dumping sites in the neighbouring villages of Bengaluru.
By 2013, Bengaluru was generating 4,000 tonnes of waste per day (BBMP 2013) . It is estimated that by the year 2047, if business goes on as usual, the total waste generated in India will be about 260 million tonnes per year, amounting to a market value of over 3.6 billion euros (EBTC n.d.). It comes as no surprise then, that with population increase, economic growth and changing consumption patterns, solid waste generation—a by-product of increasing urbanisation—is accelerating. Simultaneously, this growth brings into light the necessity and increased potential for the reuse and recycling of urban waste materials.
With citizens and waste pickers organising in Bengaluru, the focus was to decentralise waste management and segregate waste at source, along with composting and integration of waste pickers in management of dry (inorganic) waste. The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike – Greater Bengaluru Municipal Corporation) believed in this strategy and started building Dry Waste Collection Centres, decentralised aggregators of non-organic waste. BBMP promoted that the bulk waste generator (more than 50 households or generating 10 kgs of organic waste) should manage their own waste through BBMP empanelled vendor/s. These principles later became part of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Bengaluru led the way for the nation on strong principles of waste management.
In 2017, waste pickers and informal waste collectors in Bengaluru entered into an agreement with the BBMP to facilitate door-to-door collection of segregated dry waste through Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCCs). This is the first and only local government that has signed an agreement with waste pickers for solid waste management in the city and it is considered as a model in the country.
For waste pickers, it was important to change the way they worked in order to be relevant in the changing landscape of Solid Waste Management in the city. Hasiru Dala trained them to become entrepreneurs to operate DWCCs, Biomethanisation plants, and be service providers of door-to-door collection of waste.
From August 2020, BBMP’s system (enshrined in the SWM Bye-Laws of 2020) is that every DWCC will be managed by waste pickers or SHG groups of waste pickers and women, who will also manage the door-to-door collection in their respective wards. Prior to this the source of incoming waste for the DWCC was through drop off inorganic waste by informal collectors at the DWCCs. In the new system, all types of dry waste i.e. both recyclable and non-recyclable waste is collected, processed and sent to proper destinations thus minimising the waste that gets diverted to landfills.
Of these 141 DWCCs in Bengaluru, 37 centres are run by waste pickers and Self-Help Groups supported by Hasiru Dala, and we are to support the running of another 22. Our role is that of Resource Organisation (RO) which is to oversee the collection, the data transparency, validation, value creation, grievance redressal, and social inclusion of the informal workers. The BBMP looks at Hasiru Dala as a resource organisation and lead of the other 5 resource organisations that are engaged in facilitating dry waste collection in remaining wards. In the city, for dry waste management, waste pickers have now become entrepreneurs hiring anywhere between 5-20 waste pickers depending on the quantum of waste received.
The women and men who work tirelessly to keep our cities clean often lead a very difficult life, with poor income, no social security, lack of access to quality health care and basic education for their children. Despite this, they work towards mitigating climate change by making sure that thousands of tonnes of recyclable waste every year is diverted from the landfills.
Video: Goutham G Varrier
Challenges
Hasiru Dala’s challenge during the process of integrating waste pickers into the Solid Waste Management framework of Bengaluru was threefold.
First, making sure waste pickers moved away from collecting dry waste on the roads, and became service providers and entrepreneurs. This required deep behavioural changes among waste pickers; from learning to interact with officials from the BBMP, learning new skills of driving, composting, data keeping, and even getting used to uniforms!
Second, getting the BBMP to accept that waste pickers’ skills could be leveraged for a sustainable waste management system, and embracing the ideas of decentralisation of waste management was challenging.
Lastly, segregation of source called for behavioural changes among the citizens. For this effort to be a success it also required a deeper change in their perception and attitude towards waste and waste pickers.
Despite all the good work done by municipal authorities, the DWCC infrastructure is dilapidated as set-ups were done on an ad-hoc basis. They do not function well as permanent installations. Weather-related events, including those induced by climate change, have exacerbated the toll. For example, flash floods have caused severe damage to DWCC infrastructure and to collected recyclable waste (resulting in loss of value and recyclability). This leads toward unsanitary conditions for the workers, increasing vulnerability to dengue, malaria, skin lesions, and illnesses from proximity to black mold.
Our Approach
Our approach is centered around dignity in labour for waste workers. In order for waste workers to have dignity in livelihood, we have created an approach that will increase financial stability and improve working conditions.
- Training and upgrading the skills for waste pickers to become service providers. Training provided include, organic waste management, event waste management, and a certification course: Enhancing skills of small entrepreneurs in the recycling industry, in collaboration with Waste Wise Trust and Jain University. (A deemed University)
- Working with the local, state and union governments towards policy and legislative changes for inclusion of waste pickers into the formal waste management of the city that assures dignified and predictable income.
- Training waste pickers to be hired by the government and private entities avail their services in door to door collection of waste.
- Dry Waste Collection Centres – started in Bengaluru and since, have expanded to Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hubbali/ Dharwad, Davanagere, Chamarajanagar, Ullala, Rajahmundry. DWCCs showcase the three cornerstones that define the Sustainability Model – Social Considerations, Economic Considerations and the Environmental Impact.