DHARAVI’S RECYCLING
INDUSTRY
By
Vasantha Kumar (215110032)
Gopinath K (215110062)
Ganesh A (215110063)
Prabhu Sundar S (215110073)
Introduction
Asia's largest and the world's second largest slum
Sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, Dharavi has
spread over an area of 175 hectares, population of over 1 million people
Dharavi is made up of people of various regional background
Migrants from Gujarat – Potters colony,
Maharashtrians - Leather tanning industry,
Uttar Pradesh - Ready-made garments trade,
Tamil – Tanning Industry
Exporting goods across the world, Showed turn over of $ 700mn in
2007
It lacks residential infrastructure and proper sanitation conditions
Source: [Link]/dharavi & [Link]
Economy
Dharavi has achieved a unique informal "self-help"
urban development
Economic activity is decentralized, human scale, low
tech, and labor intensive
Close work place relationship
Provides employment for a large share of Dharavi’s
population
Source: [Link] & [Link]
Flourishing Trades
Industry in Dharavi is
• Estimated Rs 5 crore a day or Rs 2000 crore p.a.
• Estimated Rs 11 crore per hectare p.a.
The legal industries in Dharavi consist of the following:
• 500 small scale Garments units and about 100 doing embroidery and
zardozi work.
• 25-30 big and 5000 small job work leather goods manufacturing units
• 150 leather shops
• Printing presses – about 100
• Foundries
Contd.
Other than these traditional industries, the industries that is
bringing revenue to Dharavi are
Foundries
722 Scrap and Recycling (plastics, chemicals etc.) of which
only 359 are licensed
Slum Tourism – Favorite among Foreign tourists
Source: From the report “ Something to think about” submitted by Gaurang
Damani in PMO during 2003-2004
13th compound
One of the busiest neighborhoods of Dharavi
Specializes in recycling about anything that can be
resold
80% of mumbai’s plastic wastes is given a new life
here
About 4000 tons of wastes are recycled here
These statistics have earned the industry the label
of Dharavi’s recycling miracle
Important process in recycling
Involves four basic steps
Step 1- Collectors sent to collect waste
materials from suppliers (offices, malls,
homes and industrial sites)
Some suppliers organise tendering process
Step 2- Transporting the collected waste
materials to 13th compound
Lesser travel time and expenses due to its
central location
Contd…
Step 3- Sorting out the waste materials,
Involves pure human intervention
Costs may be high but manageable
Step 4- Recycling
1. Plastic
2. Paper
3. Aluminum
Source: [Link]
Plastic recycling
Usage of plastic is more on volume basis more than steel or
aluminum in India
A plastic recycling firm can employ 7 times more people than
plastic manufacturing industry
Source: [Link]/Plastic-Recyling-in-India & [Link]
Paper recycling
Thousands of marginalized individuals, scavengers, scour through the
tones of rubbish everyday, collecting recyclables and transporting
them to segregators.
The segregators pay Rs. 8 (50 cents approximately) per kilo of
recyclable rubbish collected by the scavengers.
Aluminium recycling
Recycling 1 kg of aluminium saves 6 kg of bauxite,
4 kg of chemical products and 14 kWh of power
Source: [Link]
What it would take to put this industry
in international footing?
Capital investment
Army of informal waste pickers – Better
handling and reaching out
Training, Better process and Equipment
Quality of life for workers
An urban redevelopment plan is proposed for
the Dharavi area, managed by American-
trained architect Mukesh Mehta
Dharavi – An Environmental and Economic Model
Manufacturing recycled paper uses 60 percent of
the energy needed to make paper from new
materials.
When you throw away an aluminum can you
waste as much energy as if you’d filled the can
half full of gasoline and poured it into the ground.
Dharavi contributes more in terms of GDP than
many towns in India
Area’s per capita GDP would be about Rs. 43,000,
which is 30% higher than the national average
Sources: [Link] & [Link]
Analysis of Dharavi’s economy
Itis evident that the subprime mortgage crisis
in US was a result of poor property
documentation and inadequate property laws
Ina similar manner in Dharavi there is a huge
shadow economy
No one really knows who owns what and that
is the problem in Dharavi
Future of Dharavi
Government should take concrete steps to
organize the unorganized informal economy
Dharavi should developed proper
infrastructure and sanitation
Dharavi model can be developed in different
parts of the country which will not only result
in development of economy but also help to
fight environmental pollution and proper
usage of resources.
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