Himalayan Indian Women Revolutionizing Waste Management: The Paryavaran Sakhis
Garbage Collection in Kolkata, India, Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Every Tuesday morning, Khasti Devi goes door-to-door in her village, Dhikuli, collecting each household's dry waste. She is a member of Paryavaran Sakhis (Friends of the Environment), which is a women-focused eco-preneur project launched by the Waste Warriors Society, a waste and climate action nonprofit uplifting female waste-pickers. Women from the Global South, like Khasti, are often on the front lines of waste collection work, with little promise of protection or a consistent salary. They receive lower wages on average than their male counterparts and are less likely to receive higher education. Innovations such as the Paryavaran Sakhi Model demonstrate the path forward for workers’ protections in the Global South’s waste-management industries. Locally based, on-the-ground programs must work to protect waste pickers by fostering community, dispelling biases, and providing proper equipment.
As waste management has begun to formalize throughout the Global South, men have increasingly reaped the benefits of the transition while the many women involved in the industry continue to struggle. Specifically, men have dominated managerial roles, while women find it harder to advance beyond lower-level work. A study by the Ocean Conservancy based in the Indian city of Pune reported that 90 percent of those working as informal “recycling pickers” in Pune were women. The issue of gender inequality in the industry becomes increasingly relevant as the waste sectors in many countries modernize, deepening the divides in equipment access and payment. As the industry formalizes, women are often tasked with segregating waste and disposing of non-recyclables in their communities, while men take control over those already segregated materials and sell them. As a result, though women comprise a majority of informal waste pickers, meaning [... quickly define what an informal waste picker is], their efforts are less recognized and they are excluded as the industry develops and begins to offer more stable jobs.
Health concerns stemming from a lack of adequate equipment are one of the most widespread issues in the industry. A survey of waste pickers in Ahmedabad, India, stated that almost all respondents “noted that they had some kind of health issue,” including body pain and exhaustion. The lack of protective gear among most of these female workers contributes to the larger problem of improper health and safety protection measures. Employees in recycling centers, most of whom are female, are often unable to access bathrooms and meal breaks. Respondents also reported frequent stress, anxiety, and depression from trying to manage and provide for their households. Furthermore, women have reported harassment while on the job, leading them to carry sticks and small rocks to protect themselves, particularly in the early mornings and at night. Some of these concerns are exacerbated for women who live in mountain regions, partially because of terrain that is difficult to navigate with normal vehicles, especially during monsoon season Further, women bear the brunt of a booming mountain tourism industry, which produces excessive waste that these recycling systems are simply not large enough to handle.
In developing countries, female waste pickers receive wages on a day-to-day basis, which provides very little income, stability, and benefits. Women may also have greater issues staying in the industry due to the introduction of technology into waste management, including new competition for jobs with machines performing the same tasks. Tasks traditionally assigned to women, such as sorting, are among the first to be automated. Meanwhile, access to training on how to use new technologies is inequitable, leaving women less prepared to adapt to technological advancements shaping the industry.
To combat these difficulties, both international and domestic mobilization is necessary. Several organizations have already launched programs working alongside local governments and waste management companies, as well as within communities. A survey conducted by Women of Waste (WOW), an initiative for gender advocacy in the waste management sector, stated that the majority of their 626 respondents worked in local government and private waste management across the globe to diversify and help make waste management more equitable. There are also several other non-governmental organizations, such as Women in Solid Waste and Recycling and the Women in Recycling Foundation, who similarly advocate for the rights of these women. The reason why these programs are effective is that they work on a local, on-site basis, working within the existing system of informal waste management. In an informal sector such as waste picking, lobbying local governments and engaging community members can prove to be far more effective in improving the quality of life for workers than immediately trying to tackle the problem on a national level. Part of that engagement is education initiatives to dispel existing biases around waste management work, including holding community events, visiting schools, and highlighting the benefits that work in the field can bring.
The Paryavaran Sakhi Model, developed by the organization Waste Warriors, exemplifies these necessary efforts. It uses a multi-pronged strategy to mobilize women in the Himalayas, one of the areas most strongly affected by solid waste issues. These local women take responsibility for dry waste collection, transportation, and sorting along with managing community awareness events such as cleanup drives and group discussions. While balancing the unpaid labor of daily housework, these women receive income for their door-to-door work through user fee collection and the sale of recyclables. The model aims to channel income through the local administration funds available for waste management. In a nineteen-month period, 80 kg of waste per day was sorted by each woman or sakhi.
Formalization of the informal waste management system itself also helps improve working conditions, and the involvement of organizations like Waste Warriors is a key step in that process. Through their involvement with Waste Warriors, sakhis have the opportunity to attend training sessions about the details of waste management, including proper safety practices. There are also community-level challenges as a result of a continued bias towards waste collectors, sometimes resulting in difficulties with compliance in collecting user fees, and communities that are hesitant to have waste processing too close to home. Despite these challenges, the sakhis have had remarkable success in achieving financial independence and breaking gender norms. Women who faced discrimination from their community and discouragement from the men of their households persevered in their participation in the program, in part due to the financial flexibility and independence the program provided. Waste Warriors transitioned the program from a system in which every sakhi received a set monthly payment to one in which women were able to earn money through door-to-door collection user fees and the selling of recyclable waste. Due to the Waste Warriors’ community education efforts, the sakhis found the community increasingly appreciative of the value of their work. The program has also fostered community between sakhis across different age demographics, creating a strong social support network that makes for a more pleasant working environment. The model is also redistributing the responsibility to the entire community to tackle the waste crisis in their neighborhood. The program’s vision, as well as Waste Warriors’, is to transform this into a self-sustaining initiative, with the sakhis independently managing it in partnership with local governance bodies without the oversight of the Waste Warriors Society.
The global waste crisis demands innovative and inclusive solutions, which along the way cultivates greater understanding of and among waste workers. The Paryavaran Sakhi Model is a shining example of how integrating gender considerations into waste management can create resilient, empowered communities capable of tackling environmental challenges. As women across the globe often bear the brunt of waste management responsibilities, the world needs to recognize their integral role and work to make their jobs as safe and dignified as possible.
Amelia Harrington (CC ’26) is a staff writer for CPR studying political science and East Asian languages and cultures. She has a particular interest in climate policy and U.S.-China relations.
Disclaimer: The author, Amelia Harrington, worked as an intern for the Waste Warriors Society.