Over the last 20 years, Pune's waste pickers have created a
remarkable transformation in their city's municipal waste management
system and in their own lives. These informal sector collectors
of recyclable materials formed a union to protect their rights
and bring dignity to their work (Tangri, 2012). The union has been
so successful that it has allowed them to implement door-to-door
collection, source separation, and separate treatment for organics,
all while improving waste picker livelihoods and working conditions.
Nowadays, thewaste pickers' own cooperative is pioneering a
wider-reaching and more rigorous zero waste program. Avoided
costs to city were about $2.8 million per year Table 4.