Photo: Swach Cooperative, Pune
A union of waste pickers in Pune, India, has been making waste collection decent work since 2005 through a pro-poor private public partnership, Swach. The trade union, Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat, realized that by diverting waste from the landfill, the waste pickers saved the city money while addressing the impacts of climate change. Swach sorts and recycles about 227 tons a day (82,891 tons a year), saving the city £10m and 100,000 tons of CO2 every year. Today, Swach has more than 3,850 self-reliant waste picker members, who provide daily doorstep waste collection services to citizens of Pune who pay a small monthly fee. Each member is a shareholder and earns about 16,000 rupees (£140) a month. They also get ID cards and benefits such as health and education funds.
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