ACORN Foundation India

ACORN Foundation is a registered charitable Trust currently working in Mumbai, Delhi and
Bengaluru. ACORN (India) is affiliated with ACORN International, working in 12 countries around
the world. Operations in India were set up in 2005, at the time the campaign focused on
protecting livelihoods of hawkers and small traders. We are hoping to start work in Chennai and
Kolkata soon.
ACORN Foundation India stands strong and proud on four R's. Reduce, Recycle, Reuse and
Respect. The ACORN Foundation India Trust organises ragpickers and train them in scientific
methods of waste handling, segregation and recycling. "We want to highlight their work in
protection of the environment," says Vinod Shetty of the Acorn Foundation. "We want the
government to set up a board whereby polluters pay a cess of about one per cent which can go
towards giving these ragpickers a proper income with safe equipment like gloves and other
amenities. We want them to be trained in how to handle toxic waste and expertise in recycling
goods in a non-hazardous way."
The Dharavi Project
The Dharavi Project in Mumbai is an initiative of the ACORN Foundation (India), and is a
registered charitable trust. The Dharavi Project is a multimedia project that utilizes artists and
social-impact programs to change the living conditions of over 100,000, 'rag-pickers' who are
segregating waste in and around the landfills of Mumbai. Its mission is to increase the welfare of
rag-pickers, and give their profession a legitimate and sustainable voice in the recycling and
waste-management value chain at Dharavi.
The 8000 tons of waste generated daily by the city cannot be entirely picked up by the
municipal corporation, and the gap is filled by Mumbai's rag-pickers who pick up the tons of
garbage littering the streets. For this work they are not paid by the city and the city does not
recognize them as a workforce. These thousands of children women and youth earn a living by
selling the dry waste to scrap dealers, and most of the rag-pickers make barely 75-100 rupees a
day.
The Dharavi Project has been working with the community of rag-pickers in the slums of
Dharavi, and hopes to give them the credit they deserve as green collar workers who are cleaning
our vibrant but messy city. The hard labour of Mumbai's rag-pickers has ensured a place for
Dharavi as one of the largest recycling hubs in Asia.
For a start, all members of the Dharavi Project are being given identity cards. They have
formed their own committee which is involved in waste awareness programmes. In one
programme, young ragpickers are partnering with schools in waste management. Currently there
are some 350 members of the Dharavi Project.
The foundation has also undertaken another initiative - to organise health clinics,
programmes and workshops from which young children engaged in ragpicking can get some kind
of informal education in music, photography and other arts. A number of artistes have participated
in such programmes, among them singers Shankar Mahadevan, Sunita Rao and Apache Indian and
Katrina Kaif. "Nearly 40 per cent of those in the waste business are children and women," says
Shetty. "We do not want to support child labour but realise that this sector needs alternatives. We
hope such cultural events will help them think differently."
Vinod Shetty is the Director of the ACORN Foundation India, and he is an advocate
practicing at the Mumbai High Court. He has been working on communal harmony, environmental
protection and human rights for a number of years. And he has also been the delegation leader for
the Indo-Pakistan Seeds of Peace program.
For the past three decades, there has been a transformation of the recycling psyches
that has been experienced across the globe. New consumerism heaped atop rapid
urbanisation and population growth has left municipalities with overarching concerns
regarding waste management. For this reason, recycling has become a worldwide multi-
billion dollar industry and is set to increase as our consumer culture continues to
accelerate.
In the West, we recycle because of our understanding that in doing so, it is essential for
conserving the planets resources. However, for some of the poorest people in the
developing world, recycling often isnt a choice, but a necessity of life.
Sprawling over 550 acres of land in the heart of Indias third largest city, Dharavis maze
of dilapidated shacks and narrow, odorous alleyways is home to more than one million
people. In this small area of Mumbais sprawling slum, hidden amid the warren of
ramshackle huts and squalid open sewers are an estimated 15,000 single room
factories, employing around a quarter of a million people and turning over a staggering
700 million ($US 1 billion) each year. Despite the poverty, Dharavi has been described
by the UKs Observer as one of the most inspiring economic models in Asia. And all
from one process: Recycling. Its difficult to find something here that is not recyclable.
Could it be that these informal, shanty room enterprises are actually leading the citys
green movement?
Dharavi: A Recycling Miracle
Dharavi, a place filled with dirt, filth and sewerage and what may be see as an eyesore
for most of the citys residents is also a recycling marvel. Labelled as the recycling centre
of India, Dharavi is one of Asias largest slums and is situated at the heart of Indias
financial capital.
The country has witnessed a substantial growth in the consumption of plastics and an
ever increased production of plastic waste which has become an overwhelming
environmental, health and aesthetic hazard for many urban areas. Mumbai alone
generates almost 7,025 tons of waste on a daily basis and for this reason Dharavi
remains a land of recycling opportunity for many rural Indians.
In India, the people who make their living by recycling waste are known as ragpickers
and Mumbai homes almost 300,000, many of whom are Indias poorest and most
marginalized groups. The ragpickers primarily wade through piles of unwanted goods to
salvage easily recyclable materials such as glass, metal and plastic, which are then sold
to scrap dealers, who then process the waste and sell it on either to be recycled or to be
used directly by the industry.
Most of these processes take place in what is known as Dhavaris 13th Compound; a
place where over 80% of Mumbais waste is given a new lease of life.
The seller and the buyer both make money thus making it a true revenue-generating idea.
In fact, wages in Dhavari are well above the monthly average at 3,000 to 15,000 rupees
per month. This fascinating world of generating revenue out of trash has earned the
industry the label Dharavis Recycling Miracle.
Extraordinarily, India has no municipal waste management policy or program of
recycling which makes the work of the ragpickers indispensable to the city.
Due to the lack of formal systems of waste collection, it falls to the citys ragpickers to
provide this basic service for fellow citizens. Without them, solid waste and domestic
garbage would not be collected or recycled, let alone sorted.
Dharavis Influence and Paperman
Inspired by the ragpickers of Mumbai, Paperman, a non-governmental organisation
situated in Indias eastern city of Chennai (formerly known as Madras) helps to promote
and create awareness about recycling and organises campaigns to combat many of the
social problems Indias urban areas are rife with.
Founded by Keralan-born and environment conscious Matthew Jose in 2010, Paperman
is a social venture aimed at creating a paper recycling revolution, inspired by the
ragpickers of Mumbai. The program has reached over 100 schools and 2 million students in
Chennai, educating them about recycling but also laying emphasis on the role
Paperman plays in Indias bigger recycling picture.
Paperman now has the support of various corporate and governmental organisations
and it appears it has already generated a ripple effect, having spread its campaign to 66
cities across India. It is these grassroots movements that, we hope, will make India a
role model for the world in dealing with environmental issues.
A lesson to be learnt
Recycling is still very much the focus of many developed countries, who continuously
strive to improve their recycling endeavours. Despite many of the social and ethical
controversies surrounding the recycling industry in India, Dharavi has carved a
reputation for itself as the ecological heart of Mumbai, recycling up to 85% of all its waste
material produced by the city.
This compares strikingly to the UK recycling figures. Over the last decade, less than
20% of the waste produced has been recycled. The UK produces 30.5 million tonnes of
waste each year. This is equivalent to a staggering 23.9 million tonnes of waste in
landfills each and every year.
If the UK could match the recycling rates of Mumbai, it would leave only a quarter of
existing waste entering landfills per year (around 6 million tonnes), but also costs in
sourcing materials would be dramatically cheaper. This reduction in sourcing costs could
potentially create higher profit margins, followed by generous reinvestment opportunities
into crucial areas responsible for re-booting the economy.
With an accelerating consumer culture and population numbers on the rise, waste
management will continue to be a pressing issue of todays environmental
climate. Resources are limited but wants are unlimited.
In India, the fact remains that recycling has helped reduce the ever-increasing volumes
of trash, fill less landfills, produce bio gas and provide cleaner societies, as well as
conserving resources and reducing costs.
The scavenger mentality, grassroots recycling and sheer necessity of Dharavis
ragpickers have led to imaginative leaps in deploying waste and a growing number of
environmental campaigners recognize Dharavi as becoming the green lung stopping
Mumbai choking to death on its own waste.



haravi, Asia's largest slum, is a haven of dry waste- huge mounds of plastic bags, papers,
scraps...It is also a home to several migrant workers, ragpickers and destitute, and is
probably the world's largest recycling quarters where almost 80% of the dry waste
generated in the city is segregated for recycling into reusable products.
Amidst a pile of discarded mobile phones, chargers, tangled wires, computer spare parts
and other electronic waste lives young Shafiq. Dharavi is his home and he has been
sifting through these piles since childhood. "My job is to separate every part of the
electronic gadget that is dumped here. The plastic and the metal generated from the
electronic items is further segregated and then sold to the kabadiwallas. By selling e-
waste, I earn a decent amount of money from which I can feed my family."
Like Shafiq, there is Mangala, diligently scanning each plastic waste dumped at the
Dharavi swamp. Sitting in one corner, she sieves the dust, dirt and mud from the plastic
items. "I have lost count...I have spent years in this business. This waste gives us a
livelihood. If I work from 9 to 6 every day, I can fill my stomach easily."
Laxmi and several others form the recycling clan of Dharavi, and they are all part of
Acorn Foundation (India), Mumbai, a registered charity trust affiliated to ACORN
International/ Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Hundreds of children, women and men collect dry waste from the streets, beaches and
garbage dumps every day. They bring the waste to Dharavi, where it is sorted, segregated
and then sold by the kilo to scrap dealers at various godowns. This waste can get them
anywhere between 10 rupees per kilo for e-waste, to 12 rupees per kilo for plastic bottles,
or 20 rupees per kilo per metals like copper from circuit boards.
This unorganized labour of Dharavi is an invaluable asset to the city. "If it were not for
these ragpickers who recover, recycle and ensure reuse of the waste, Mumbai would have
been reduced to a dump yard with serious issues," says Vinod Shetty, Director of
Acorn Foundation (India), Mumbai.

The dry waste like plastic, glass, cloth and paper are segregated and sent to the recycling
units in Dharavi, where they are made into reusable products. The plastic waste is
converted into pellets; these pellets are further processed and made into folders and
buckets. The paper and cardboard is turned into pulp which is used to make folders and
furniture. The metal generated from the e-waste is used for industrial purposes.

The society seems to have a "don't care" attitude towards waste. "Handling waste is
probably the dirtiest thing but we forget that we generate that waste. The problem is with
our attitude, we don't take waste as our problem but instead we put it under the carpet or
expect others to clean our mess."
With a nominal fee of 60 rupees, the organization has engaged 400 working members
from Dharavi Project. In return, the members can also learn music, art, and
photography. Acorn provides informal schooling to the ragpickers' children, organizes
health camps, arranges ration cards, conducts workshops on waste segregation and
holds cultural programmes. "At Acorn, we address them as 'green workers' and not as
ragpickers"
Acorn has also involved school children in waste segregation. It conducts programmes
for students on how to reduce and manage waste at home. It screens visuals and
documentaries at various schools. Acorn also runs this campaign with CMCA (Children's
Movement for Civic Awareness) and Lions Club of Juhu.
"We work with Dhirubhai Ambani School, the American School, the RBK School and
even schools at Navy Nagar in Colaba. We have temps who go around the city and collect
dry waste from the schools. It is a contribution by school children to the livelihood of the
ragpickers. This is an ideal model where the child learns about segregation of waste,
about the environment and, of course, the green workers, " says Vinod. "The school
children also get to tour the recycling industry of Dharavi to understand the concept of
waste management better. We would also like to involve college students in our project
in the future."
Acorn study has found that more than 50% of the ragpickers earn less than 50-60 rupees
a day. These ragpickers are vulnerable to health related issues and even exploitation.
Vinod aspires to represent the plight of ragpickers to the government. He aims to set up
a statutory board through which the government could introduce insurance schemes,
distribute equipment like gloves, masks and other scavenging materials, and provide
space in every municipal ward to segregate waste.
"Our next agenda is to clean the beaches of Mumbai. We want to involve citizens and
communities from well-to-do societies. Our members are ready to assist these groups in
managing waste," concludes Vinod.