Including the Informal

The informal waste recycling sector prevents waste from going into landfills. Their inclusion in formal Solid Waste Management (SWM) System is absolutely necessary

Urban India produces thousands of metric tonnes of wastes. The ragpickers play the key role in recycling 25% of it, thus reducing pressure on the landfills. But their efforts go unnoticed. For this ignorance from the side of the stakeholders of Solid Waste Management, the whole system of waste recycling is at a chance of collapsing. As wastes will pile up on landfills, many people will lose their livelihoods.

Municipal Corporations of big cities like Delhi and Pune joined hands with independent organizations like Chintan and Swachh to formally include waste workers

Inclusion does not only mean formal recognition, but also safeguarding their rights, and their occupational health, providing them with identity cards, keeping their identity well documented, and ensuring that they earn from the waste that they collect. The Pune Municipal Corporation set an example as early as 1995 to register waste workers and establish an integrated SWM system. On the other hand, in Delhi, though the masterplan of the city does not provide ample space for waste segregation and composting to benefit waste workers, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in association with Chintan, works with 1048 wastepickers in a decentralized system. They wilfully handed over managerial responsibilities to us for the betterment of the wastepickers. A lot more needs to be done. It is time we understand that they are silently fighting for the environment and deserve dignity and protection.