Mahila SEWA Trust is established to empower the women workers of the informal sector. One such trade group empowered by Mahila SEWA Trust is the Waste Recyclers.
According to the world bank, one percent of the urban population in the urban cities of the developing countries are engaged in the activities related to waste collection, segregation and disposal and are known as waste recyclers. Most of the waste recyclers are women belong to the lower strata of the society. Waste recyclers pick all kinds of waste from the dump sites and from the road side which includes waste papers, torn shoes, broken glass, wood pieces, thin polythene plastic bags, electronic waste, plastic to bones and even human hair. Then they segregate this waste and sell it to scrap shop owners. Thus, waste picker women play a vital role in the society, by keeping our surroundings clean and healthy, to the extent of supporting the idea of recycling of various items found in garbage. Thereby, a waste recycler woman earns some income for her family and herself. Waste Recycler women, through their efforts to recycle, reuse and reduce, contribute substantially to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.
The cooperatives of the Waste recyclers are formed with a aim to link them to decent working conditions and for better livelihood and income. The cooperatives are engaged in the Material Recovery Facilitation Centres ( established by AMC) and has established aggregation centre to collect, segregate, process dry waste and sell it to the end recycler/registered recycler there by earning income for its waste recyclers members.
