'Waste collection is green work': how a pro-poor partnership created jobs and cleaned a city

A cooperative in Pune, India, is diverting waste from the landfill while also alleviating povertyThree decades ago, Rajabai Sawant used to pick and sort waste on the streets of Pune with a sack on her back. The plastic she collected from a public waste site would be sold for some money that saved her children from begging.Today, dressed in a dark green jacket monogrammed with the acronym Swach (Solid Waste Collection and Handling) over a colourful sari, the 53-year-old is one among an organised group of waste collectors and climate educators who teach residents in urban Pune how to segregate and manage waste, based on a PPPP - a pro-poor private public partnership.This is an abridged version of a piece originally published by Mongabay. Continue reading...