Waste Management - Changemakers Studio May 2001 / page 2

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There is a large, informal industry for recovering and recycling solid waste. The recycling chain begins with ferrywallas, who go door-to-door to buy miscellaneous products, thus creating the economic incentive for households to separate waste. After passing through a number of intermediaries, the products eventually make their way to manufacturers for use as raw materials.

The most visible and deprived groups involved in the recycling trade are those collecting waste from dustbins, roadsides and garbage dumps. Most are children; too young to work; and with little or no education. They share the common name tokai, which means the "picker." Photos: above, two tokai girls work the Matuail landfill, while a tokai takes a break (below left) and a girl surveys the scene (below right).

The informal sector's contribution to minimizing the amount of waste should not be understated. Yet recyclables – plastic, paper, glass, aluminum, iron – constitute a very small portion of solid waste. Some 70 to 80 percent of waste that is organic is left untouched, because it is perceived to have no value. Below, tokais collect recyclables from municiple waste.

Shehzad Noorani/Developing Images

Abdus Samad (tokai), age 55:
"I collect paper to support my family. I have been in this trade for 17 years. I was previously a day laborer. While working I fell off a roof and broke my leg. Now I cannot do any heavy work so I do this (collect paper). I set out and work till evening – walking eight to ten kilometers everyday. I don't collect moila (organic wastes). There is no value in that. Instead I collect paper from the dump-bins and streets. The paper is sold for Taka 2 per kilogram and on average I earn Taka 50 per day. When it rains I cannot work. There is no value in wet paper."