One key to sustainability is a practical approach to decentralised waste management. The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 advocates decentralisation of waste processing, reducing waste generation, a plastic ban, and authorised electronic-waste management.
In addition, it recommends leveraging the skills and knowledge of waste pickers and other informal waste workers. The framework of the 2016 legislation was to bring an end to business-as-usual pick up and dump practices, which are challenging to implement for local government bodies because they now need to work with various stakeholders from citizens to policy makers to bring changes in the system and uphold their fiscal and administrative responsibilities.
While composting and biogas has been an easy learning curve for government officials and stakeholders to learn to manage organic waste; managing inorganic waste is a challenge to them. The composition of packaging material is so complex that it has become a nuisance to manage it on a day-to-day level. Legislators need to change their perception and understand the importance of people’s engagement to bring required changes in their neighbourhood.
Hasiru Dala perceives social security as the state assurance and supports livelihood in absence of living wages.
Challenges
Waste pickers and informal waste workers have often filled in the gaps where local governments have not been able to manage efficient waste management services.
With new legislation like the Swachh Bharat Campaign and increased resources availability, local governments have focussed on efficient door-to-door collection to increase the quality of service delivery.
This has changed the way that waste pickers can access recyclables, and now they need to change their work patterns too.
They have to evolve from being free roaming waste entrepreneurs to service providers that need discipline, engagement with waste generators and enter into employee and employer relationships.
This transition can be hard for waste pickers, but they have to change otherwise have no choice of livelihood.
The major challenge is that every stakeholder in the waste sector needs to change their behaviour – easier said than done. This is a long-term process, but we need to act fast.
Training becomes a strong tool to bring in awareness and scientific knowledge that establishes the need for change coupled with a strong regularity arm for compliance.
Our Approach
Hasiru Dala provides training for all of our stakeholders: waste workers, citizens, government officials, students, and others.
We hope to bring creativity, enthusiasm, and innovation in the waste sector. This creates an ecosystem to practice sustainable waste management with inclusion of waste pickers.
For waste workers and other waste workers in the informal economy, we introduce them to new methods of managing in-organic waste (like composite plastic) and improve their business to include traceability of waste, data management, access to financial institutions and establishing a formal entity if they chose to.
For citizens, we build awareness on how to segregate their waste at home and train them on sustainable, home composting methods. We also talk to them about reducing their waste generation, and how important waste pickers are in waste management. We train them to move from managing waste at home to be part of the solution for the neighbourhood.
For government officials, we bring in experts who have worked at the grassroots to the classroom, engaging with them to understand the possibilities within their set up and resources. We also expose them to sustainable best practices and guide them as they implement the changes in their area.
We offer formal internships to students from various disciplines, both local and international. We leverage their interest and knowledge to bring in new solutions to different streams of waste, waste collection methodology, data management etc. This will prepare them to be aware of the challenges and solutions for waste management and hopefully they become professionals in waste management service.
Every training that Hasiru Dala provides always has waste pickers as one of the resource persons, and we make the whole training a zero-waste event. Hasiru Dala’s training emphasis is on sustainable management with inclusion of waste pickers and other informal waste workers
Hasiru Dala in collaboration with Waste Wise Trust and Jain University has developed a certificate program: Enhancing skills of small entrepreneurs in the recycling industry. Hasiru Dala has also developed a manual for organic waste management and terrace gardening [link] In collaboration with Alliance of Waste pickers with support of National Safai Karmachari Finance Development Corporation ( NSKFDC) Hasiru Dala has developed 4 training manuals –
