Report Summary
Rethinking Responsibility: Recycling and Urban Solid waste in India
Ravi Agarwal, Sanjay Gupta, Papiya Sarkar, Ayushman
Srishti, June 2002

The report is situated in a developing country context i.e. India. For the first time an attempt has been made to put into perspective the various changes and pressures being faced in the urban waste scenario. While waste is being corporatised in cities, with the international waste industry seeking a foothold, it is simultaneously displacing the existing traditional systems of recycling based on waste pickers. Hence while on the one hand Indian Governemnt polices are shifting out this sector by introducing the corporate sector, on the other, the product industry (cans, plastics, other metals) is actually glorifying the informal sector in lieu of taking ownership of products and packaging materials. The industry for example dumped 1 billion drinkingwater bottles and 2 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2001.

Simultaneously, community based projects, some of which have demonstrated outstanding success over the past decade are being mercilessly torn apart through the introduction of the waste industry which is rapidly trying to install waste to energy plants in Indian cities. These are actually being subsidized through governmental funds. In a strange play of policy, while composting from waste is not supported by any incentives, energy form waste actually can avail of subsidies upto 50% of the cost of the project.

The municipalities are doing their bit of lip speak. Seeking a better public image, after having been battered by Courts and citizens, they on the surface appear to support community based projects while in reality they have been quietly signing off these efforts to corporate interests, as they receive an incentive from the government for doing so.

This study, based on a 15 month primary research on various aspects of the informal sector as well as a detailed policy analysis, suggests that recycling needs to be supported, in place of energy recovery, but only in an overall policy framework of Extended Producer Responsibility. Analyzing in detail the current Indian policy on waste, it lays out a framework for a new waste policy in India, based on industry responsibility and suggests that recycling and the production system have to work in tandem in a cyclic manner, and not linearly with recycling being an end-of-pipe solution.
Through primary data, the study also lays bare the dynamic of the informal sector by showing its changing nature in today's context. The recycling chain, which is called the informal sector, is actually quite organised, and is not supported through any investments or efforts to enhance markets for recycled products. The study examines various issues such as price negotiations, social networks, trade practices, its changing nature as one moves up the chain, technologies used as well as the exploitation which is prevalent within this sector, which is very unfair to the lowest actors in the chain, the waste pickers, and the factory workers. It also brings out the nature of the relationship between this sector and the legalized system.

Finally the report makes recommendations for integrating the traditional sector with industry responsibility and a resultant upgraded recycling sector through industry driven investments. It also outlines specific roles for all stakeholders to enable this to happen without loss of livelihood and with improved working conditions.

Contact Toxics Link, INDIA for a full report at mdutta@vsnl.net