Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | GST effect: Why are Delhi's waste collectors refusing glass bottles? -Sowmiya Ashok

GST effect: Why are Delhi's waste collectors refusing glass bottles? -Sowmiya Ashok

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jul 31, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 31, 2017
-The Indian Express

Despite the obvious effect this will have on the environment, the GST affects livelihoods and families of the waste pickers — most of whom are migrants.

With the resale value on glass bottles becoming minuscule after the 18 per cent tax on glass products as per GST, waste collectors, who help recycle glass, paper and plastic, and have traditionally been a key link in the city’s inadequate waste management infrastructure, have been advising people to dump bottles in the trash. The result, discarded bottles, that once contained beer, whiskey, or even lemon extracts, will likely end up in a landfill — not decomposing for centuries.

Waste collectors say that while previously a 750 ml bottle of wine would fetch them Re 1 per bottle, now, a kilo of used bottles is worth the same amount of money. “Bilkul bandh ho gaya hai,” said Mohammad Hamid Ali, a waste picker, who also collects kabaad from the NDMC area. Others say they have started to smash glass bottles into smaller pieces to sell as mixed glass, for Re 1 per kilo.

“I have started telling customers to collect bottles and keep them to sell later in the hope that rates increase,” said Ali. He claims his earnings have dipped by 40 per cent since the new tax regime has hit all products he collects: glass bottles, plastic and paper.

Despite the obvious effect this will have on the environment, the GST affects livelihoods and families of the waste pickers — most of whom are migrants. “There are 3-4 lakh informal workers in the city who are related to waste management, especially in the informal sector,” said Swati Singh Sambhyal, programme officer at Centre for Science and Environment.

To put it in perspective: 60 per cent of recycling activities in India is done in the informal sector. “Of that, five-six per cent of municipal solid waste is glass products,” said Sambhyal. “This will disrupt the informal glass recycling sector,” she said, adding that the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, has also indicated an intent to formalise the informal sector.

Please click here to read more. 

The Indian Express, 25 July, 2017, http://indianexpress.com/article/delhi/gst-effect-why-are-capitals-garbage-collectors-refusing-glass-bottles-4765652/


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close