Nayandahalli: transforming waste into resource
PINKY CHANDRAN
Scrap, a byproduct of something
Rarely counted, usually unaccounted, in the official records…
Once aggregated,
Moves up the invisible trails of trash
In tempos and trucks
To the enterprising place in the fringes of the city,
To the godowns of Nayandahalli
ONE wonders, what transpires inside the gleaming tin sheds that dot the landscape of Nayandahalli? Its alleyways are littered with plastic heaps – PET bottles, buckets, broken chairs, milk covers, old CDs, wires, disposable cutlery, takeaway boxes, discarded shoes, toothbrush, helmets and more. However, upon closer inspection, one discerns in the clutter the industriousness of agile hands and observant eyes that organize, sort and aggregate materials into multiple categories of plastic, metal, paper, and cloth. Categories such as polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, or poly vinyl chloride (PVC), categories inconceivable to ordinary consumers who perceive the items discarded mainly in ‘use and throw’ terms.
The statement ‘cities are engines of growth’ is an old cliché. In their quest for economic growth cities consume resources, often sourced from faraway lands, and release matter marked as ‘waste’. Such a process, termed ‘urban metabolism’, re-inscribes inequities between the city and the countryside, and between elite and subaltern communities. Entangled in relationships of power, this process influences how people distinguish ‘urban resources’ from ‘urban waste’, even as these distinctions are significantly blurred in concrete urban practices.
Therefore, it is imperative to frame the discourse of sustainability in cities around questions that emphasize ‘flows of matter’ over rigid binary categories (i.e. where is the material coming from and where is it going after its usage?). Otherwise, we risk ignoring that, in our cities, much of what is waste contains tremendous value and much of what is of value is often wasted.
Figure 1: Map of Nayandahalli. (Source: Beula Anthony) |
Various actors dot the landscape, transforming waste into resources and adding value to waste that is otherwise thrown out or discarded. Waste-pickers, who are placed in the lowest rung in the value addition pyramid or the recycling pyramid, have been extensively documented in terms of their economic contribution to the city. In Bangalore, it is estimated that 15,000 waste-pickers retrieve about 1,050 tons of waste. But, what happens next? Most cities in India harbour informal waste clusters that serve as aggregation and recycling hubs; we wanted to understand the working of the hub in Bangalore, who works in them and what kind of work they engage in.
‘Nayandahalli, 25 years back was a jungle. There was no electricity, water, or roads. On a vacant plot, the landlord gave us permission, and we put up a hut, as my husband found a job as a watchman. Originally from Mulbagal, Kolar, after marriage I moved to Mandya. Following a family dispute, my husband and I moved to Bangalore. Living here, my thoughts were always on my children’s future, so I worked as an incense stick maker, but the money was hardly anything. That was when I decided that I had to look for work and I joined the godown and started my career as a waste-sorter. If I worked, I would get money, if I did not I would not get any. In my work, from glass pieces, to needles everything pricks. I often get hurt. We have no social security if we fall sick; if we are healthy, we have work. I worked there for 20 years and then we decided that we needed to move up the ladder and start a godown. But now we have been asked to move out, a notice has been issued by the government. And that is the story of my life…’
1
Figure 2: Bangalores material flow value chain. (Source: the author) |
Figure 3: The Nayandahalli Railway Station. (Photos: Pinky Chandran & Marwan Abubaker) |
In popular narratives, Nayandahalli was often referred to as a jungle, given its location along the Mysore road, on State Highway no. 17. The Vrishabawathi, a tributary of the Arakavati, flows through it, a tributary with a forgotten history, which today functions as a sewage line. The location shares borders with important sections of the city – Banshankari, Rajarajeshwarinagar and the Bangalore University campus. Nayandahalli also boasts of a railway station connecting Bangalore and Maddur, and passenger trains that connect Mysore and Bangalore. Today, Nayandahalli, represented in the Bangalore municipality as Ward No. 131, is spread over 2.07 sq kms and includes Nayandahalli town, Chandra Layout Extension, Metro Layout, and Dr. Ambedkar Nagar. Once a border village, it found itself firmly within the city limits after the city was agglomerated in the 1970s.
D
igging deeper, one sees a place that has for decades harboured the city’s dirty little secrets, silently transforming its discarded, unwanted items into maal (roughly translated as ‘raw material’) which is sent to factories for processing. Recycling enterprises blossomed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the area, when plastic waste from both industrial and municipal sources proliferated on city streets. Today, such recycling and reprocessing enterprises have spilled beyond Nayandahalli into the surrounding areas of JJR Nagar, Gowripalya, Deepanjalinagar, and Gangondanahalli. There are currently over 250 godowns scattered across Nayandahalli and its neighbouring wards, concentrated around Metro Layout, Telecom Layout, and Revanna Badavane. And unlike the waste trade in Jolly Mohalla near K.R. Market, they operate with little or no formal structure.Across Nayandahalli’s railway tracks, one comes across another area where the washing, drying, and de-inking of the materials takes place. The plastic reprocessing areas are scattered primarily around Muthuchari Industrial Estate and Azeez Seth Industrial Estate, Metro Layout and Pipe Line Road. However, other areas like Kamashipalya, Kumbalgod, Sunkadakatte, Magadi Road, Peenya Industrial Estate, Bommasandra Industrial Estate, Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) industrial area, Deepanjalinagar, are among the other areas where these factories are located. Both formal and informal reprocessing plants coexist, with the formal receiving material from the informal.
So, what does the material flow value chain look like?
We go about our lives,
Understanding nothing about their world…
Of
Working in and with waste…
Of
Working with wrecked, damaged, bent and beaten stuff
Of
Working with dirt, dried, smelly containers
Of
Working with tattered, shattered, crushed pieces of materials
From twisted metals, to crumpled paper and broken glasses…
W
aste, becomes material or as in common parlance maal as soon as the waste-picker picks it up for further segregation, aggregation and trading and within the plastic recycling chain, this maal continues its journey through the value chain as a feeder to the industries, recycling between 80 to 90% of Bangalore’s high value plastic waste. Unfortunately, given the lack of official data on plastic waste production and consumption, the economic and environmental contribution of clusters like Nayandahalli in salvaging Bangalore’s waste can only be roughly estimated.Meanwhile, given the strategic location of Nayandahalli, the area has seen several infrastructure projects such as the NICE Road, the Mysore Road flyover and the metro line, which have boosted its real estate value. Together, these projects have quickly transformed the location into one of the most sought after in the city’s property market. In the midst of these changes, the fate of Nayandahalli’s vibrant informal recycling and reprocessing sector is under threat.
* The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Kabir Arora, co-researcher, Marwan Abubaker, co-photographer, researcher and Nalini Shekar from Hasiru Dala for the study; Usha from Radio Active CR 90.4MHz for the radio interviews; Salma and Siddique, research assistants from Nayandahalli. Special mention to Shreyas Sreenath, graduate student, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, for inputs to the essay.
The funding for the research carried out came from the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) Bangalore, as part of their Case Development Series towards ‘Re-framing Urban Inclusion’ under the theme ‘Redrawing the Picture: Metrics of Urban Inclusion’, Wipro Limited and Global Green Grants Fund. Special acknowledgement to Karnataka State Pollution Control Board for hosting the Consultation workshop with the recyclers.
We are also grateful to the following organizations for their advice: Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat, Global Alliance for Incineration Alternatives, Solid Waste Management Round Table, Bangalore and Jain University, Bangalore.
Footnote:
1. Zarina Episode 1: Daastan-e-Nayandahalli broadcast on Radio Active CR 90.4MHz https://soundcloud.com/radioactivecr90-4mhz/daastan-e-nayandahalli-episode-1-zarinamp3
Figure 4: Wastepicker with her day’s collection. |
The city’s dirt secret Scattered on the streets, A faceless figure, in unkempt clothes Wanders around searching, rummaging, picking Empty bottles, discarded tea cups, crumpled paper, Dirty plastic bags and bare shampoo bottles
From the rubbish pile of rotting food, egg shells and sanitary napkins A passer-by frowns in disgust, and covers his nose Unconcerned, she goes about picking
With growls of the dogs for company, Amidst the blaring horns Unconcerned she meticulously goes about the business of picking
Oh, you thief, says the lady of the house, I don’t want you near by Halt who goes there, says the cop I know not who I am, for the city does not identified me, she says
Unconcerned, she continues picking, silently Keeping the city clean She is the waste picker! |
Figure 5: Waste sorters. |
Figure 6: Sorting in progress. |
Figure 7: Stacked up material |
What if your trash could talk? From the worn-out sneakers that ran marathons, To the bottles that held lavender infused body wash, The neatly sorted, categorised, graded, bundled and stacked stock Tell stories… But does one pause to ponder, The journey of the meandering trail,
It takes to reach the destination for aggregation… |
Figure 8: The material ready for loading. |
The garbage city, Piled with stocks of old, discarded rubbish, Of plastic bottles, helmets, slippers and others, People in trash filled sheds, Sorting, sorting and sorting… With music for company, made possible by connecting speakers, found in trash to their mobiles… They sort and categorise over 35 types of plastic! Reclaimers of the city’s waste, the people working ask… "What’s wrong with what we do? Why are we always nameless, faceless and without an address?" |
Figure 9: Loading material. |
Figure 10: Truck with material onwards to another destination |
Figure 11: The changing face of Nayandahalli. |
Waste, synonymous with trash, Perceived to be dirty, useless, One that once discarded, Must disappear from our view… Waste, In common parlance, Always has a negative undertone… But, waste, To the recyclers of Nayandahalli Is not devoid of value… |