Waste Recyclers

Waste recyclers play a vital role in Delhi’s waste-management system by collecting, recovering and selling reusable and recyclable materials from homes, streets, bins, waste facilities and dumping sites. Their work keeps valuable materials in circulation while reducing the amount of waste that reaches landfills.

Yet, this essential work remains largely informal and insecure. The International Alliance of Waste Pickers estimates that around 2.2 million people in India were engaged in waste picking in 2018–19, and notes that this is likely an underestimate because waste pickers are difficult to capture through conventional surveys. The ILO also highlights that India’s waste value chain operates predominantly through informal workers and contractors, while waste pickers often face poor working conditions and limited social protection.

SEWA Delhi began working with women waste recyclers in January 2023, recognising the growing participation of women—particularly those with migrant backgrounds—in this trade. We use the term “waste recyclers” rather than “segregators” to recognise their role in the recycling value chain: they recover materials, sell them to smaller contractors and generate an income from resources that would otherwise be discarded.