The Waste, Work, & Worth Series
The Waste, Work, and Worth: Centering Waste Pickers in India’s Circular Economy for Plastics series of policy briefs were launched on 25th September 2025, supported by SWaCH and the EU’s SWITCH-Asia Programme, in New Delhi at the India Habitat Centre. The event convened waste picker representatives, policymakers, recyclers, academics, and civil society to discuss inclusive pathways for recycling, reuse, and the formalization of waste work—debates made especially salient after the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations. The three briefs are: Just Recycling (real operating costs and compliance frictions), Just Reuse (refill/return models from a waste-picker perspective), and Just Transition (equitable formalization, recognition, and financing mechanisms)
What We Waste: Waste Characterisation Report
The Economics of the informal sector in solid waste management. GTZ.
A study of child labour in the waste picking sector. Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat. 2007.
Report of scrap collectors, scrap traders and recycling enterprises in Pune city. ILO. 2001.
Harmonsied Responsible Sourcing Framework for Recycled Plastics
What Waste pickers (have to) Waste, Lakshmi Narayan, Lubna Anantakrishnan, & Gandhar Joshi. 2025
Organising the Unorganised: A Case Study of the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (Trade Union of Waste-Pickers) – English | Marathi
UNESCAP: Innovative partnerships with informal workers to recover plastic waste, in an inclusive circular economy approach | Pune, India – Case Study | Regional Policy Guide
Green Collar Women, International Labour Organisation, Lakshmi Narayan – English | Marathi
Consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility: SWaCH members discussed Extended Producer Responsibility at a consultation held on October, 30, 2012. Highlights from the consultation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysg4rKQrLGo
First Global Strategic Workshop for Waste Pickers: A video report on the workshop for waste pickers, April 25-29, 2012, Pune, India https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNk_Smv6hpg
Mol – मोल ‘Mol’ presents an ethnographic history of the waste picker movement in Pune, told through individual stories of empowerment, transformation and resilience. The film was made through a collaborative process with leaders from the waste picker community in Pune, dedicated to informal workers worldwide.
The Story of SWaCH – This short film captures the journey of India’s largest wholly-owned waste picker cooperative, follows its struggles and successes, and presents a nuanced perspective on the integration of informal waste pickers. The film was made by Pratisaad Productions, through a collaborative process with leaders from the waste picker movement in Pune.
Just Reuse | Waste pickers | Just Transition : Dive into the perspectives of waste pickers in Pune as they share their insights on the Reuse system. While environmentalists advocate for reuse, the voices of waste pickers from Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP) and SWaCH Pune bring forth crucial considerations. In this enlightening video, discover how a thoughtfully implemented Reuse system can be inclusive, offering both environmental benefits and protection for the livelihoods of waste pickers.
https://youtu.be/YjmJ3SBUZEU?si=jAJN78L8WhkPiNym
Wasted waste: This film presented by TERI, explores the issues of waste disposal in city of Pune and the situation of waste pickers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOOG0XRxGMM
Plastic bottle reuse: A workshop film by Tanya on the work of SWaCH and recycling
Recycling in India: A Rough Assembly by David Browne, featuring the pioneering work of SWaCH