Plastic Recycling in Dharavi

About Dharavi

Dharavi was first founded in 1882 by the british colonial era, and grew in part because of the numerous single-room factories and residents settling from other parts of India. The 13th Compound, located next to the 60th street, is the area where little workshops work together on separating, shredding, washing and then drying plastics that was collected by rag pickers from the dumping sites in Mumbai and greater India region. The idea of incorporating the plastic recycling industry into Dharavi came from the resident of greater Mumbai area, who has gained his experience in plastic recycling outside of Mumbai. Later on it became the start of one of the prominent organizations which is All Indian Plastic Recycling Association. Since 2013, this organization has managed to formally organize plastic recyclers and bring up the concerns and demands to the appropriate government authorities, where the main goal so far was to shift the location of the recycling compound outside of Dharavi.