Kabadiwalas end up with too much waste,too little moolah

Rs 2,000 whereas my expenses for the month stand at Rs 2,500,” said Shivlal Kumawat,a hawker,to a question as to how his earnings had been during the month of Diwali.

Around 600 hawkers,hailing mainly from Rajashthan’s Bhilwara district and now living in the Valinath Chowk area of Naranpura and a few in Danilimda,have seen a dip of up to 15% in their monthly income thanks to general slump in waste paper and other scrap industry this year.

These hawkers collect items like newspapers,books,discarded furniture and electrical appliances and earn Rs 5,000 per month on an average.

Their profit margin on newspapers and plastic material ranges from 50 paisa to Rs 3. While they get Rs 9 per kg of paper,a kg of plastic material fetches them Rs 7.

The rates have remained same as last year but the collection of material has gone down,hawkers say,adding they collect 15 kgs to 40 kgs of material daily. This used to be around 60 kgs per day.

While a few dealers are overstocked,the rest are selling their material at thinner profit margins.

“During the month of Diwali last year,my turn over was Rs 70,000. This year,it has been Rs 60,000. Right now,I am overstocked as demand for newspapers and cardboard is 15% low as compared to the last year. My margin on paper and cardboard has slid to 15 paisa and 10 paise per kg,respectively,” said Lakshman Kumawat,a newsapaper and cardboard dealer in the area.

Interestingly,the collection of discarded electronics items has gone down as much as by 50%. “Last year,our five hawkers worked overtime. They collected tonnes of telephone cradles,remote controls,cordeless phones,computer keyboards,printers,plastic chairs,buckets and tables. We used to get two tonnes of this material per month. But this year,the collection has halved,” said Sukhlal Kumavat,a dealer of plastic material in the area.

A dealer of plastic waste in Danilimda said that the ban imposed by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation on the use of plastic bags of less than 40 microns has affected ragpickers also.

A city-based bulk buyer of paper said,“They (hawkers) are unorganised and their number has swelled. This has resulted in stiff competition among them. On the other hand,the industry market is running low. My own turnover of waste paper and cardboard has slumped by 15 %.”

The dealers in Naranpura agreed that not having an industry body was a concern. Jagdishchandra Kumawat,a scrap dealer,said that a few months ago,the community members had gathered at Sola and a proposal was made to form an association.

“However,many hawkers refused to pay Rs 500 membership fee saying they were not sure how long they would remain in the business and in Ahmedabad,” said Kumawat.

Girish Baluni,who runs WOW,a city-based organisation which collects solid waste including scrap newspapers,however,disagrees with the versions of scrap dealers.

“We are still collecting around 60 to 70 tonnes of newspapers per month. Our 10 hawkers collect the papers at the same or higher price than street hawkers from households and we send the consignment directly to recyling mills,” Baluni said.