ITU
As India’s cities keep expanding, so does the waste they generate.
The more than 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste produced across the country each year could reach 165 million tonnes in 2030, according to government estimates.
Most of the waste collected by municipalities ends up in landfills, posing environmental and health risks.
A social enterprise in the southern city of Chennai has set out to tackle the problem locally – employing one of urban India’s vital, if often overlooked, resources – informal waste pickers.
By gathering and selling litter from neighbourhoods all over the city, the waste-pickers form a critical part of the informal, unstructured waste management supply chain.