Decision Makers:
Guardian Minister, Pune
Municipal Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation
Deputy Commissioner, Zone 1, Pune Municipal Corporation
Deputy Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, Pune Municipal Corporation
Pune city follows a one-of-its-kind waste management model – a partnership between PMC and the SWaCH cooperative, wherein self-employed waste pickers do door-to-door waste collection, waste segregation, and form the backbone of the waste recycling system. This partnership has helped integrate formerly informal workers into the formal system and protects the livelihoods of over 4,000 waste pickers. The SWaCH-PMC collaboration has garnered many awards, like the INDO-SAN Award, ISC-FICCI Sanitation Award, and International Zero Waste Cities Recognition, among others.
But now this model is under threat.
We, the citizens of Pune, are writing this petition to express our grave concern regarding the recent changes to the city's waste collection system and their immediate, devastating impact on the livelihoods of Pune’s dedicated SWaCH waste pickers.
We have been following the proposed changes, especially the 'Vishwas 2025' campaign, through newspapers and social media. The information provided by PMC's official handles, which portrays waste pickers collecting waste from the streets, is not only false but also a blatant misrepresentation of the system they have built. For over two decades, SWaCH waste pickers have provided a reliable and convenient doorstep waste collection service for segregated dry and wet waste.
The recent pilot in Viman Nagar, which has already displaced waste pickers like Bhikaji Londhe and could leave the other 62 waste pickers’ families without their only source of income, is a direct threat to this legacy. The news of this displacement is deeply troubling and a stark reminder that a clean city without waste pickers is a dirty lie.
We urge you to consider the following demands and take immediate action to protect the work and livelihoods of our waste pickers:
Demands:
Continue Pune’s existing user-fee-based doorstep waste collection service provided by 4000+ SWaCH waste pickers across the city.
Immediately devise a plan with SWaCH waste pickers in the Viman Nagar area ,and until then, stop the vehicular collection that's displacing waste pickers' 20-year-old hard-earned livelihood overnight.
Strengthen Pune’s well-known PMC-SWaCH model by timely providing essential PPE support, slum subsidies, and on-time feeder point collection, to prevent waste pickers from being unfairly blamed for delays
Implement the mandate for Bulk Waste Generators(BWG) with 100% reinforcement by ceasing wet waste collection from all BWGs.
Allocate spaces in every Aarogya Kothi for sorting sheds to increase the level of recycling and improve security and working conditions for waste pickers and visual cleanliness.
Cease all PMC direct, free primary collection (not just in Viman Nagar)
Fix PMC’s collection systems for garden waste and construction and demolition waste.
Inconvenience to Citizens: The existing door-to-door SWaCH service is convenient and reliable for citizens. Citizens like us have a direct relationship with the waste pickers, and we trust them to collect our segregated waste regularly. The new system, which is being implemented with little to no consultation with citizens, will disrupt this established routine and create confusion and inconvenience.
Impact on the City: The SWaCH model is a decentralised and resource-efficient system that has been highly effective in promoting waste segregation at the source. It has achieved higher recycling rates as SWaCH waste pickers recycle three times more than the national average due to at-source diversion. In contrast, the new vehicle-based model could undermine this progress, leading to a decline in segregation and an increase in mixed waste. This would place a greater burden on Pune's waste management infrastructure, harm the environment, and contribute to air pollution.
Increased Traffic and Pollution: The new system would add thousands of diesel vehicles to residential areas, increasing traffic and air pollution.
Centralized and Opaque System: Moving to a centralized model makes waste management less visible, less accountable, and more costly.
Environmental Damage due to Waste-to-Energy plants for mixed waste: the proposed system may lead to more mixed waste, fueling harmful Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants. WTE plants cause severe environmental damage through toxic emissions, a fact the National Green Tribunal has also questioned. We’re concerned that this move would severely harm Pune's environment.
Loss of Livelihood: The sudden introduction of a new system without a clear integration plan is a direct threat to the financial stability of thousands of families. These waste pickers, many of whom are women from marginalized communities, earn their livelihood not just from the user fees but also through recycling of the dry segregated waste they collect, working fewer hours, earning more than the minimum wage equivalent. By disrupting this system, PMC is not only taking away their primary income but also stripping them of their dignity and the entrepreneurship they have built over two decades. So, we urge you to suspend the implementation of mechanised collection without any consultation and consensus on the integration of waste pickers, according to Just Transition principles.
We stand in solidarity with the SWaCH waste pickers and their cooperative. We ask that you honour the partnership and the legacy of the PMC-SWaCH model, which has been an identity of our city. We urge you to take these demands seriously and work with SWaCH to find a solution that protects the livelihoods of these essential workers and ensures the improved cleanliness and sustainability of our city.
Times of India: ‘Garbage overhaul affects livelihood of SWaCH workers’
Pudhari: ‘विश्वास २०२५ मुळे ६० कुटुबांसह ४००० कचरावेचकांचा रोजगार धोक्यात’
BBC Marathi: 'उपाशी राहायची वेळ येईल', इंदूर पॅटर्नमुळं पुण्यातील कचरा वेचकांना कसा फटका बसतोय?
The Legal World by Economic Times: ‘National Green Tribunal seeks details of waste to energy plants not complying with norms’
Decision Makers:
Guardian Minister, Pune
Municipal Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation
Deputy Commissioner, Zone 1, Pune Municipal Corporation
Deputy Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, Pune Municipal Corporation
Pune city follows a one-of-its-kind waste management model – a partnership between PMC and the SWaCH cooperative, wherein self-employed waste pickers do door-to-door waste collection, waste segregation, and form the backbone of the waste recycling system. This partnership has helped integrate formerly informal workers into the formal system and protects the livelihoods of over 4,000 waste pickers. The SWaCH-PMC collaboration has garnered many awards, like the INDO-SAN Award, ISC-FICCI Sanitation Award, and International Zero Waste Cities Recognition, among others.
But now this model is under threat.
We, the citizens of Pune, are writing this petition to express our grave concern regarding the recent changes to the city's waste collection system and their immediate, devastating impact on the livelihoods of Pune’s dedicated SWaCH waste pickers.
We have been following the proposed changes, especially the 'Vishwas 2025' campaign, through newspapers and social media. The information provided by PMC's official handles, which portrays waste pickers collecting waste from the streets, is not only false but also a blatant misrepresentation of the system they have built. For over two decades, SWaCH waste pickers have provided a reliable and convenient doorstep waste collection service for segregated dry and wet waste.
The recent pilot in Viman Nagar, which has already displaced waste pickers like Bhikaji Londhe and could leave the other 62 waste pickers’ families without their only source of income, is a direct threat to this legacy. The news of this displacement is deeply troubling and a stark reminder that a clean city without waste pickers is a dirty lie.
We urge you to consider the following demands and take immediate action to protect the work and livelihoods of our waste pickers:
Demands:
Continue Pune’s existing user-fee-based doorstep waste collection service provided by 4000+ SWaCH waste pickers across the city.
Immediately devise a plan with SWaCH waste pickers in the Viman Nagar area ,and until then, stop the vehicular collection that's displacing waste pickers' 20-year-old hard-earned livelihood overnight.
Strengthen Pune’s well-known PMC-SWaCH model by timely providing essential PPE support, slum subsidies, and on-time feeder point collection, to prevent waste pickers from being unfairly blamed for delays
Implement the mandate for Bulk Waste Generators(BWG) with 100% reinforcement by ceasing wet waste collection from all BWGs.
Allocate spaces in every Aarogya Kothi for sorting sheds to increase the level of recycling and improve security and working conditions for waste pickers and visual cleanliness.
Cease all PMC direct, free primary collection (not just in Viman Nagar)
Fix PMC’s collection systems for garden waste and construction and demolition waste.
Inconvenience to Citizens: The existing door-to-door SWaCH service is convenient and reliable for citizens. Citizens like us have a direct relationship with the waste pickers, and we trust them to collect our segregated waste regularly. The new system, which is being implemented with little to no consultation with citizens, will disrupt this established routine and create confusion and inconvenience.
Impact on the City: The SWaCH model is a decentralised and resource-efficient system that has been highly effective in promoting waste segregation at the source. It has achieved higher recycling rates as SWaCH waste pickers recycle three times more than the national average due to at-source diversion. In contrast, the new vehicle-based model could undermine this progress, leading to a decline in segregation and an increase in mixed waste. This would place a greater burden on Pune's waste management infrastructure, harm the environment, and contribute to air pollution.
Increased Traffic and Pollution: The new system would add thousands of diesel vehicles to residential areas, increasing traffic and air pollution.
Centralized and Opaque System: Moving to a centralized model makes waste management less visible, less accountable, and more costly.
Environmental Damage due to Waste-to-Energy plants for mixed waste: the proposed system may lead to more mixed waste, fueling harmful Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants. WTE plants cause severe environmental damage through toxic emissions, a fact the National Green Tribunal has also questioned. We’re concerned that this move would severely harm Pune's environment.
Loss of Livelihood: The sudden introduction of a new system without a clear integration plan is a direct threat to the financial stability of thousands of families. These waste pickers, many of whom are women from marginalized communities, earn their livelihood not just from the user fees but also through recycling of the dry segregated waste they collect, working fewer hours, earning more than the minimum wage equivalent. By disrupting this system, PMC is not only taking away their primary income but also stripping them of their dignity and the entrepreneurship they have built over two decades. So, we urge you to suspend the implementation of mechanised collection without any consultation and consensus on the integration of waste pickers, according to Just Transition principles.
We stand in solidarity with the SWaCH waste pickers and their cooperative. We ask that you honour the partnership and the legacy of the PMC-SWaCH model, which has been an identity of our city. We urge you to take these demands seriously and work with SWaCH to find a solution that protects the livelihoods of these essential workers and ensures the improved cleanliness and sustainability of our city.
Times of India: ‘Garbage overhaul affects livelihood of SWaCH workers’
Pudhari: ‘विश्वास २०२५ मुळे ६० कुटुबांसह ४००० कचरावेचकांचा रोजगार धोक्यात’
BBC Marathi: 'उपाशी राहायची वेळ येईल', इंदूर पॅटर्नमुळं पुण्यातील कचरा वेचकांना कसा फटका बसतोय?
The Legal World by Economic Times: ‘National Green Tribunal seeks details of waste to energy plants not complying with norms’