Privatisation in solid waste management is impacting informal collectors’ lives and livelihood

The livelihood crisis faced by informal waste pickers stems from dispossession—a process where they are separated from the waste that sustains them. As cities privatise solid waste management, informal workers are being pushed out of the system. They are denied access to waste sites, and structural changes have worsened their situation. Women, who form the majority in this sector, are the hardest hit.

The shift to a neoliberal model has brought private companies into services that were once public, including waste management. As a result, a coercive interference of the government has been observed with the deployment of the ‘formal’, private bigshots in the name of efficient solid waste management. A parallel pool of informal waste workers who have been conventionally fetching value from waste for their living and significantly contributing towards a cleaner and greener environment at almost no cost are totally disappearing from the system as well as from the high valued, long-term agreements inked between the cities and these big companies.

These big facilities from the big companies seek high capital investment (capex) and operational cost (apex) to be invested by the cities; they borrow fancy automated energy-intensive technologies with a substantial quantity of carbon footprint, with zero or very low rate of recovery, posing a fundamental question of economic viability in the waste management value chain. Studies say that at least one per cent of a city’s population consists of an informal workforce —Delhi itself had 150,000 to 200,000 informal waste workers and mega cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru had on an average 30,000 even a decade ago. Despite their numbers and noteworthy existence, informal waste workers are under constant threat of their labour being ‘legitimised’ and finding a ‘formal’ space for themselves in the waste chain, competing with the private sector players backed by the privatisation gimmick introduced by the public authorities.

Informal waste pickers and current waste management challenges in India

Traditionally, organic waste made up 50-60 per cent of total waste and was managed at home through composting or feeding animals. But with changing lifestyles and more packaged goods, dry waste—mainly plastics—now forms a much larger share of the waste stream. With 8 million tons of plastic entering oceans globally each year, cities are now grappling to find solutions. Informal waste pickers play a vital role in tackling this problem—they recover and recycle plastics daily, reducing pollution and easing the burden on landfills and oceans.

India, like other developing countries, relies on an informal waste sector that scavenges and recycles, supporting livelihoods and contributing significantly—recycling approximately 20 per cent of generated waste. Integrating these two million waste pickers into formal waste management could enhance source segregation, resource recovery, and recycling rates, reducing collection costs and landfill dependency.

Despite their higher recycling efficiency compared to private entities, only a few cities have integrated waste pickers into formal systems. These workers excel in source segregation, maintain resilient networks (demonstrated during the pandemic), and operate with minimal environmental impact—low emissions, no carbon footprint, and negligible operational costs.

Unlike large, centralised Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), waste pickers prioritise material recovery over profit. Private entities focus on profitability, often with city-funded facilities and restricted access for waste pickers. Even when employed, waste pickers may have limited roles and inadequate wages.

Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) invest in capital expenditures and tipping fees but often recover minimal revenue due to waste contamination, owing to the low level of waste segregation at source and high transportation burdens.

It is crucial now to implement guidelines, such as those in SBM 2.0, to integrate waste pickers into the waste management value chain. Steps include enumeration, registration, organising through cooperatives or SHGs, providing job security, access to waste, training in segregation and advanced processing, safe working conditions, health benefits, and the freedom to sell recyclables.

Cities and policymakers should reconsider agreements with private entities to accommodate waste pickers’ roles in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and recycling. Their expertise in source segregation ensures cleaner recyclables, vital for efficient waste management and environmental protection.

Privatisation’s impact on Delhi’s waste pickers

The privatisation of municipal solid waste (MSW) management has had far-reaching consequences across India, but its most severe impact is starkly visible in Delhi.

In the national capital, MSW is handled through both formal and informal systems, with waste pickers playing a crucial role in the latter. Until the mid-2000s, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) primarily managed the city’s waste. Despite numerous challenges, waste pickers significantly contributed to waste collection, segregation, and its integration into the recycling chain, ensuring both environmental benefits and their own livelihoods. However, over the past 15 years, private sector involvement in waste management has steadily increased, profoundly affecting the role and livelihood of waste pickers.

Private firms now handle waste transportation and operate Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants, replacing traditional methods. This privatisation has marginalised waste pickers, reducing their access to recyclables and livelihood opportunities. Despite provisions in the MSW Rules 2016 and Draft MSW Rules 2024 mandating their integration into the formal waste management system, the MCD has largely overlooked this, systematically dispossessing waste pickers of their traditional roles and spaces for waste segregation.

The city incurs substantial costs annually for waste management, including tipping fees paid to private entities and WTE plants.

Case study 1: New Seemapuri

Thirty-year-old Nazma migrated from Medinipur, West Bengal, to New Seemapuri, Delhi, 15 years ago. She, like many others, collects mixed waste from households in Brij Vihar. Earlier, waste pickers had dhalaos (community bins) where they could sort and store recyclables. But since waste management was handed over to private companies, their livelihoods have been threatened. Nazma, Rojina, Taslima, Zarina, and nearly 500 waste pickers in the area now struggle to access waste.

To survive, many are forced to bribe private company employees or MCD workers—paying Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 per month—for a place to segregate waste or for MCD vehicles to pause briefly so they can retrieve recyclables. Those who manage to segregate near their homes face another challenge: wet waste disposal. MCD prohibits open dumping, and sanitary staff often fine them Rs 1,000-Rs3,000. They also endure harassment from police, who sometimes seize their collected waste, further pushing them into financial distress.

Case study 2: Ghazipur Dairy Farm Basti No 7

32-year-old Tanzila has been living with her husband and three children in a six feet-by-six feet room in Ghazipur Dairy Farm Basti number 7 for the past 10 years.  She is a waste picker in the Ghazipur Landfill near her place, works 14 long hours in the night, evening 4 pm to morning 6 am to collect plastic bottles, tin, iron, etc from the landfill, store into a nearby space provided by the local scrap dealer. After a substantial amount of aggregation, she sells it to the same scrap dealer. She earns Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000 per month. Her husband is an e-rickshaw driver and her children go to a local school. 

Tamanna is a widow, raising two kids and has lived in the same slum for 18 years. She and almost 1,000 other waste pickers go to the Ghazipur landfull for waste picking in the night.

The slum has no individual toilet, no drinking water sources, and no sewerage system. The residents get access to a few common toilets built for around 3,000 people living in 550 households in that slum. They fetch water from a mobile water supply van that comes to their slum infrequently.

“Ever since the ‘power plant’ (The WTE plant established in Ghazipur Landfill) has become operational, less fresh waste is arriving. We are unable to recover as much waste as we used to get earlier. Even if the fresh waste comes, the monstrous machine tends to burn everything. Our livelihood is at stake. We are deprived of basic amenities like sanitation, drinking water or hygiene. Now, we are afraid of losing our only means of earning if this situation continues,” said Tanzila.

Bare minimum requirements

Informal waste pickers, long deprived of basic amenities like water, sanitation, healthcare, and fair wages, now face a greater survival crisis in Delhi and other cities. Their demands are clear:

     1. Unrestricted access to waste

      2. Space for segregation and further sorting

      3. Freedom from harassment by police, waste management supervisors, and local extortion

      4. Job identity cards signed by ULB commissioners for legitimacy

      5. Dignified working conditions with basic amenities

      6. Right to sell recyclables in the open market

      7. Secure housing without eviction threats

      8. Health and safety protections