Recycling in India

This picture probably lends credence to the theory that as with many other aspects of infrastructure garbage disposal in India is still in a very rudimentary state.

The organized institutions responsible show no inclination, vision or determination to tackle this issue.

However the unorganized sector has clearly demonstrated a highly workable and cost effective model. This post is a tribute to the heroes of recycling ignoring cultural, caste, age and gender barriers to keep our overflowing dumps from drowning us in our own waste.

The heroes can be broadly categorized into 3 groups.
1) Human
2) Avian (Feathered friends)
3) Bovinae (Four legged variety)

Human Intervention

The people of India unlike some in the developed world have figured out a use for any and everything produced. They hate to discard anything unless absolutely necessary. We are traditionally hoarders.

So in a typical household bottles of pepsi, coke, bisleri will be used to store water in fridges.
Used jars of nescafe, Dabur jam etc will be used to store pickles and masalas of various kinds.
Plastic bags will never be thrown but stored in a drawer for a rainy day. Branded carry bags (Nike, Shoppers Stop, Levi's etc) will be used to carry books as a badge of prosperity. 'I buy shoes only from Nike'!!!
Old clothes will become rags to mop the floor or given to the housekeeper or kept for the younger siblings, they will grow one day right!! Right.
Plastic buckets become pots for plants.
Leftover food is carefully kept outside the gate for the friendly neighborhood COW! the Society* Dog (Tiger)! and a flock of friendly sparrows, pigeons and crows!
To top it all the garbage can is frequently raided by a bunch of garrulous monkeys (Specially during mango season)
Newspaper and beer bottles are sold to the local rubbish dealer (Bhangarwala) for money!!Rs.1 a kilo for newspaper and magazines, Rs.1.25 for a bottle of beer (Rs.1.5 for a green bottle of beer - Why the bhangarwalas are partial to green bottles I could never fathom). And what does one do with the money, buy more beer of course!

A typical Indian kitchen with all the jars and cans. Please note the fruit display.

However there are some things we do dispose, namely -
Paper bags are routinely chucked without a thought. We cannot reuse paper right!Right.
Used batteries. This is a kindly gesture towards the rag pickers, so that they have a steady supply of intoxicants.
Sanitary napkins wrapped in newspaper.
Food Crumbs.
Hair shaved from Ummmm.. and wrapped in newspaper so that no one knows!
So on and so forth.
But you know they are all bio-degradable. Thats strange!! By default not out off any conviction or a noble cause.

The remaining rubbish is then collected by a person hired by each society or apartment block.
This unnamed individual (let us call him Chengiah) carries his wheelbarrow door to door unloading the garbage cans. He then dumps all the garbage in a site specially earmarked for the city or town refuse. How generous of the city council to do a thing like that.
Chengiah's job profile is hereditary! Imagine having employment guaranteed for generations! (Dripping with sarcasm)
At the end of every month he collects Rs.25 (50 cents) from each household contributing to the rubbish heap. His annual remuneration package also includes sundry gifts during Diwali**.

Chengiah and his wheelbarrow on his daily rounds.

What happens at the garbage dump is a story of extraordinary courage, determination and heroism arising out of desperation.

Imagine acres and acres of barren land with mountains of garbage steaming and rotting under the equatorial sun.

The city Garbage Dump and the ragtag army of Ragpickers

Its a hostile environment out there. One minute mistake and lives could be lost. In this bleak terrain operate a band of highly motivated, skilled and experienced kids - The Indian Ragpickers.

Average Age - 6-14

Religion - Where is the time?

Gender - Mixed, but mostly boys.

Caste - Who knows!

Motto - 'Redivivus Supersto' ('Recycle to Survive')

Early in the morning, when most of us are still in La La Land, emerge these extraordinary group of youth armed only with their jute sacks and wit. Their eyes alert and ears pricked for the sound of trucks, a precursor to fresh pickings. Their nose immune to the hideous smell of decomposing waste.

They are a highly organized bunch with a clear hierarchy. Every patch is jealously guarded as if it were Fort Knox. Intruders are dealt with extreme prejudice and recruitment is usually limited to candidates with references from others in the group.

The first sign of truck and the games afoot. As the rubbish starts falling down, in race the kids quickly picking items with a practiced eye. There have been cases of boys being buried alive by the falling garbage however it is considered a hazard of the job.

An experienced rag picker can pinpoint the with accuracy the source of the fresh batch. Empty bottles of imported whiskey point towards Peddar Road (An upmarket enclave in Mumbai)

In the due course of their job they have found some really strange things - Fetuses (secret abortion of unwanted children), unexploded artillery shells (There was a much publicized case of a ragpicker losing his arms and eyesight after he picked up an artillery shell), pistols, headless bodies and many more. Rarely will one find broken computers, refrigerators, televisions in the dump. I had a fridge which one fine day stopped functioning. Instead of throwing it I used it as a bookshelf for many months until I sold it off to my dry cleaner (I needed money). This man replaced the compressor and it has graced his residence since then.

A ragpicker is a phlegmatic individual. They have seen it all. The focus is on garbage they can sell. One generally cannot sell a fetus or a headless body.

Anyway after a hard day of toil the team heads of the local Bhangarwala to sell their collection of bottles, plastic bags, cans and other odds and ends. This collection is then sold off to factories manufacturing bottles, paper etc and it comes back into the system once again. This cycle continues day after day after day.

Unlike our western counterparts we do not segregate rubbish initially but the rag pickers do it for us at the end of the chain. It would save a lot of time and energy of the hardy bunch if the segregation happened at the initial point itself.

Avian and Bovinae intervention

Where the humans stop our feathered and hooved friends take over.

Herds of cows and buffaloes grazing peacefully

For our local milkman the biggest expense is feeding his herd. In one masterstroke he has solved this problem and the only investment in this endevour is his time.
Let loose the cattle in the rubbish dump and there is food in plentifull. Not just plain grass! No Sir! Its a bloody buffet, the herd is spoilt for choice. Mangoes, rice, roti, sambhar, dal, gobi mussallam, shahi paneer and did I mention desserts. Now why would you just feed your cows grass?? Its a pity that cows are vegetarians. Hey thats where the dogs and pigs come in the picture - Chicken makhni, mutton, kheema and what not.

Birds are not far behind. Sarcarhamohus Sacra (Technical term for vultures), sparrows, crows all lend to the feeding frenzy.

No wonder inspite being a country of 1.2 billion people and producing prodigious amount of garbage we are still relatively in the clear.
But as time changes so do the habits. As we adopt a more westernized lifestyle the 'use and throw' concept is gradually taking root.
This is sure to strain an already creaking system and something has to give. Maybe the cows will go on strike or the pigs might turn vegetarian (sensing the current trend of vegetarianism)or maybe, maybe the ragpickers will finally go to school!!

TII!!This is India man!!