The garbage that first appeared as a nasty polluter is actually a resource for 300 000 people involved in recycling around Delhi. There is a market for garbage and it is a part of an informal sector. The rag pickers are one of the most important participants of the waste management in India. They form the backbone of this informal sector recycling system, and they handle between 9 percent up to 15 percent of the solid waste. In this way they are saving the government for enormous amounts of money, about 12 000 $USD per day.

Then how does the recycling system operate?
Almost all kinds of garbage can get recycled in Delhi; for example plastic, paper, metal, fabrics and clothes. In this business you find a clear hierarchic structure. Rag pickers pick the garbage at the landfills or at different disposal sites. Then small middlemen, called junk dealers, buy the garbage from the rag pickers. The quality of the waste determines the payment. If it is wet, dirty or destroyed rag-pickers get less money for it. Transporters will bring the garbage to bigger junk dealers and they will also sell the different kinds of garbage to even bigger dealers. Finally, those recyclables will be sent to factories and processed there. However, factories do not have satisfactory technologies to process the recycling of garbage in a safe manner.

Rag pickers work on a everyday basis with sorting out the valuables they can find on the streets and in landfill sites. They work several hours per day with collecting, sorting, and sometimes washing the garbage, before selling it. Picking garbage is a risky business. Rag pickers often get cuts, burns, different body aches, allergies, dog-bites and respiratory problems. They also have to live with the stigmatisation and discrimination from society. The rag pickers experience harassment and violations from the police on a daily basis.

Interview: A Ragpickers Story