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 | Ragpickers hit hard by GST -Mohit M Rao

Ragpickers hit hard by GST -Mohit M Rao

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jul 27, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 27, 2017
-The Hindu

Plastic recyclers protecting margins by paying less for waste plastic

Bengaluru:
As the nation ushered in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, no one would have imagined that it might have adverse consequences for the environment. But with the tax rate on recycled plastic shooting up from 5.5% to 18% post-GST, ragpicking as a livelihood seems to be turning unviable, with attendant impact on the urban environment.

Take the case of Nagaratna and her self-help group (SHG) at Mahadevapura. Nearly a month post-GST, the Mahadevapura Mahila Okkuta, a collection of 17 SHGs that collects and segregates waste in Garudacharpalya, is staring at the prospect of their profits being wiped out.

Before GST, they had consistently made ?30,000 as surplus. “This month it is zero,” says Nagaratna from the Okkuta. “We have been collecting and recycling waste for over 12 years now. We have never faced a situation like this. We’ve even had to cut down on the lunch we give our workers.”

After the onset of the GST, the 18% tax imposed on waste plastic has sparked a downward spiral in prices in the waste recycling markets. Plastic recyclers faced with the new tax are protecting their margins by slashing the prices at which they buy from the thousands of waste managers and ragpickers.

The price of mixed plastic has come down from ?19 per kg to around ?13 now. Lucrative PET bottles fetch ?17 per kg, as against ?22 last month; empty milk covers sell at barely ?7 per kg, down from ?16; glass bottles (750ml) go for 50paisa per kg, instead of the ?1.5 per undamaged bottle. These figures were collected by The Hindufrom various waste collectors.

“We work on tiny margins, of barely ?1.5 per kg recycled. When prices drop, our business sinks. We can only hope that this is temporary, for otherwise it would become difficult to recycle. This being an informal sector, not many have TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number). Taxes paid by the recyclers are recovered from us instead,” says Mansoor Ahmed Ghouse, who manages a dry waste collection centre where 12 workers process 2.5 tonnes of waste daily.

Please click here to read more.

The Hindu, 26 July, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/ragpickers-hit-hard-by-gst/article19365618.ece


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