Beyond Recognition: Integrating India’s Waste-Pickers

I.  Introduction

On the streets of India, a waste-picker, rag-picker or a kabadiwala is a common sight. The job that seems small and menial actually plays a huge role in the Indian waste management ecosystem. The large informal waste collection network, comprising approximately 4 million people, plays a crucial role in the waste management cycle, with wastepickers manually segregating dry and wet waste and facilitating the disposal and recycling processes. India’s high recycling rate for plastic waste of over 60% is significantly attributed to the informal waste-picker network.

This network, which forms the undercurrent of the entire municipal waste management infrastructure, is one that is frequently overlooked and ignored. These informal waste-pickers work in very unsafe environments, with no safety equipment or health insurance to ensure proper recovery from the frequent injuries they face. They are exposed to air-borne bacteria and toxic materials in the waste they deal with, which increases the risk of respiratory and dermatological problems, in addition to the physical dangers of their job. Figure 1 given below demonstrates the incidences of health risk in waste-pickers compared to the general population.  

Figure 1: Incidence of Health Risks and Diseases in Waste-Pickers and Municipal Workers

II.  What are the Present Laws?

The current statutory framework that governs municipal solid waste [“MSW”] handling is the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 [“the 2026 rules”], which superseded the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 [“the 2016 rules”].  The rules place an obligation upon the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to facilitate the integration of the informal sector within the waste management ecosystem, a requirement also present in the 2016 Rules. However, despite the presence of these rules, neither the rules nor any subsequent implementation frameworks provide meaningful mechanisms to ensure proper and effective implementation. The rules provide only limited guidance regarding operational implementation, monitoring, accountability mechanisms, performance incentives, and means for funding, as a result of which these provisions, along with many other such provisions, have largely remained on paper.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India observed the lack of implementation of the 2016 Rules in the NCT of Delhi and other regions in India, and noted that “As we have been noticing in other cases also, the 2016 Rules have remained on paper.”

However, despite this formal recognition, waste-pickers continue to struggle, proving that the problem lies not in the absence of the law, but rather in the institutional inaction in implementing these laws.

III. Challenges in the Existing framework

Although substantively strong statutory frameworks are present in India, the broader waste-management ecosystem as well as the waste-pickers continue to face various troubles.

First, there exists a misalignment of economic incentives in the existing system. Many municipal contractors are paid on the basis of the quantity of waste they transport to the waste-disposal sites. Waste-pickers disrupt this incentive structure by segregating the waste and reducing the volume of waste that gets transported. Thus, municipal incentives are at odds with the crucial job that waste pickers perform, as source segregation is of the utmost importance to ensure proper disposal and management of MSW. This turns a group that should be partnered with into one that is a competitor for the private contractors.

Second, oftentimes, when there are legitimate attempts made by municipal corporations to formalise the ecosystem, they end up displacing these waste-pickers through private contractors or mechanical collection systems. While such measures may appear efficient, in practice, they are unlikely to improve recycling rates as these waste-pickers possess local knowledge, operate with minimal operational costs, have efficient waste-collection networks and excel in segregation of waste and material-recovery.

Delhi’s experience provides a look into the effects of privatisation on waste-picker livelihoods as well as the overall collection network. In the mid-2000s, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi [“MCD”] began the process of privatisation of the waste-collection process, which led to the displacement of thousands of informal waste-pickers as waste-collection services were outsourced to private contractors. In addition to the widespread loss of livelihood for these informal workers, many of whom depend on this work as their primary source of livelihood, this privatisation has also had far-reaching effects on the operational costs of door-to-door collection, segregation, transportation, storage and disposal of MSW. In Delhi, under the current privatised model, the MCD’s monthly expenditure is a substantial INR 66 crore, which demonstrates the significant public expenditure such privatised models of waste collection incur, despite this a considerable portion of the waste-collection remains dependent on waste-pickers.

IV. Lessons from Successful Models

Effectively integrating waste-pickers into the formal waste-management ecosystem is not a herculean task. In fact, it has already been successfully accomplished in certain cities in India, Pune being the foremost example of effective integration.

Pune’s Solid Waste Collection and Handling [“SWaCH”] cooperative is a prime example of how waste pickers can be effectively integrated into the waste economy to support a circular economy. Through the SWaCH pilot programme, waste-pickers who had previously dug through dumpsites were engaged by the Municipal Corporation for door-to-door waste collection. Over 4,000 waste-pickers have been engaged as registered service providers by the Pune Municipal Corporation [“PMC”] as of 2025. The SWaCH cooperative is authorised by the PMC to collect source-segregated waste from households, corporate offices and commercial establishments and deliver them to the PMC, effectively institutionalising waste-pickers into Pune’s door-to-door waste collection system.

This measure has had far-reaching effects for the PMC and the waste-pickers alike. Pune reportedly saves approximately INR 900 million annually through the waste-collection services provided by SWaCH, a model that allows the PMC to divert 220 tonnes of waste daily from ending up in landfills, which is approximately 35% of its total collection, thereby avoiding the negative effects of overreliance on landfills. Additionally, Pune recycles and composts over 280 tonnes of MSW out of the 850 tonnes of waste collected each day. This cooperative also has major environmental impacts, avoiding greenhouse gas emissions of over 1,00,000 MT of CO2 annually.

In addition to these benefits, the SWaCH model also benefits the waste-pickers, who have seen vast improvements in their working conditions, income stability, access to social protection, and access to safety gear and health insurance policies due to their integration into the formal municipal system. Their income has increased by nearly fivefold, and their working hours have significantly reduced, all while maintaining an improved recycling rate in the city of Pune.

Thus, SWaCH’s success demonstrates that the primary barrier to integrating waste-pickers is not the lack of feasibility, but rather institutional design. By recognising them as service providers, Pune has shown that municipal corporations can simultaneously improve recycling rates, waste-picker livelihood, and reduce public expenditure, all while being environmentally sustainable.

V. Proposed Solutions

Recognition of waste-pickers under the formal statutory framework is only the first step. What must follow is an effective implementation of those rules to integrate waste-

pickers into the formal waste management ecosystem and develop a circular economy.

First, waste-pickers must be identified and registered to ensure that any scheme implemented for their benefit actually reaches them. A national waste-picker registry with identity cards issued to the informal workers would allow the authorities to ensure proper and effective implementation of any administrative measures undertaken.

Second, municipal corporations across the nation should adopt the core features of the Pune SWaCH model to the local ecosystem. Engaging waste-pickers as contracted service providers would improve recycling rates as well as workers’ livelihoods while reducing public expenditure, as proven by the SWaCH cooperative’s success. The contractual framework must clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of all the service providers, and must contain mechanisms for incentivisation, grievance redressal and enforcement checks.

Third, social protection must be afforded to the workers. They must be provided with the required standards of safety equipment, proper training to mitigate the occupational risks they face, health insurance and financial incentives that reward higher recycling rates rather than the tonnage delivered, along with better source segregation and social inclusion.

Fourthly, public awareness campaigns should be conducted to raise awareness of the importance of the work these waste-pickers undertake and the risks they face to reduce the social stigma associated with this job and shift the perspective on waste work. Such a change in the understanding of waste management among the population would also help with better household source-segregation, thus further contributing to proper waste disposal.

Thus, the integration of these informal workers should become a measurable municipal obligation rather than an aspirational policy.

VI. Conclusion

India’s waste-pickers form the backbone of India’s waste management ecosystem. Although this has been recognised through the SWM Rules 2026 and 2016, mere legal recognition remains insufficient. What remains is a gap between the rules and their implementation.

Cities in India such as Pune have already demonstrated a model that integrates waste-pickers into the formal municipal structure as partners with great success, proving that such integration is not only feasible, but also beneficial to all stakeholders involved.

To move beyond symbolic recognition, municipalities must redesign governance structures to integrate waste-pickers as formal partners in achieving the goals of the Swachh Bharat Mission and move towards a circular economy.