05/01/2026
Our trash is someone’s treasure. Each day when we discard our waste, our waste collectors collect and sell the recyclables like plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and glass etc.to kabariwallas/recyclers, which adds to their meagre income. Generally, a waste collector servicing 100 to 150 households every day can earn up to INR 300 per day by selling the recyclables from the waste. The amount may vary based on the lifestyle and income group of the households. When we mix all our waste at household level, it takes hours of effort for waste collectors to separate the recyclables from mixed waste. Also, the recyclables get contaminated with food waste and their value goes down drastically and make them difficult or unsuitable to recycle. As a result, recyclables also go to landfills or dumping ground instead of recyclers yard. It becomes a lost resource forever and a burden on the planet, causing pollution!
By mixing wet and dry waste at source, not only we are diminishing the chance for an underprivileged (and mostly underpaid) worker to earn better livelihood for his/her family, but also pushing a useful resource towards disposal instead of recycling. Let’s be kind to our waste collectors, our planet and our future generations.
Let’s make this small effort of segregating our waste into wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste at household level.
