From margins to mainstream: Waste picker-led circularity model expands to 12 Indian cities

By A Representative

In a groundbreaking development that aligns environmental action with social equity, a textile waste recycling initiative led by informal waste workers in Bengaluru has scaled from a local pilot to a national model. The project, part of the broader Saamuhika Shakti programme, is now being replicated in 12 cities across India—demonstrating that circularity can be both climate-positive and socially inclusive when rooted in community leadership.

Launched in 2021, the initiative has evolved into a robust textile recovery system centered on a network of waste pickers who manage and operate 16 neighborhood sorting centres, supported by a central textile recovery facility. This infrastructure enables the processing of post-consumer textile waste that would otherwise clog landfills, while also creating dignified livelihoods for hundreds of waste pickers.

Public engagement has surged thanks to campaigns such as “Got Old Clothes?”, led by BBC Media Action, which doubled the city’s textile collections in just one month. Over 1,100 kilograms of used clothing were diverted from landfills during the campaign, marking a pivotal shift in urban waste behavior.

The project is developed by the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) and implemented on the ground by Hasiru Dala, a Bengaluru-based waste picker collective. With support from the H&M Foundation, the textile initiative targets the diversion of 800,000 kilograms of post-consumer textile waste and the empowerment of 500 waste pickers by 2026. More than 400 waste pickers have already been integrated into the system, and 55% of the waste diversion target has been achieved—well ahead of schedule.

“What makes this model so powerful is that it’s not a top-down solution,” said Maria Bystedt, Programme Director at H&M Foundation. “It’s been co-created with waste pickers, who know the problem best. It proves that circularity isn’t just about materials or recycling tech; it’s about how we design systems that are inclusive, effective, and climate-resilient.”

The success of the Bengaluru model lies in its collaborative governance. Waste picker collectives, municipal authorities, and NGOs co-create and co-manage the initiative, ensuring long-term sustainability and shared accountability. As it expands nationally, the model positions waste pickers as essential actors in India’s climate response and circular economy transition.

Saamuhika Shakti, funded by the H&M Foundation, is a multi-stakeholder initiative running from 2020 to 2026 with a total investment of over USD 21 million across two phases. It includes partners such as Bal Raksha Bharat, BBC Media Action, CAIF, Enviu, Hasiru Dala, Sambhav Foundation, Sattva Consulting, Social Alpha, Sparsha Trust, Udhyam Learning Foundation, and WaterAid India.

By scaling community-designed solutions, the programme is redefining both sustainability and social justice—placing India’s waste pickers at the heart of its urban transformation.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

Counterview

Search This Blog