The attitude of the Indian state towards the informal recycling system is full of contradictions. The rag pickers are capable of segregating most of the recyclable materials, which the municipalities cannot. Then why do they treat them so badly and why are they being ignored by planners and policy makers? The rag pickers are saving the municipalities for a huge amount of money and are offering a free service to society. Still, in the third master plan of Delhi, the enormous informal sectors are left out and subsequently the recycling sector.

As we see it, the recycling sector should be acknowledged by the municipalities as a formal business in the near future. In this way you would support many hardworking people doing an important job for the society and for the environment. The rag pickers deserve to work under better conditions with more occupational health security and safety.

Next time you throw your waste in the garbage bin, stop for a while and think about what happens to it after it has been collected on your doorstep. Your garbage doesn’t just disappear. In India your garbage has an important role in a large informal sector, a sector that is working for its own future, with death just around the corner.