Hands in the heap: Those who sort Delhi’s waste

2026-03-07 - 21:53

Delhi’s informal recycling network, including waste collectors, waste pickers, aggregators, and kabadiwallas, remains largely invisible to the city that depends on their labour. With only 59% of waste segregated at source, thousands of these workers continue to shoulder the task of sorting mixed solid waste, without formal recognition or incentives, reports Suruchi Kumari