268 JOHAN POST AND ISA BAUD
Employment generated in both cities throughout the commodity chain differs sharply
in quality. The street and dump pickers in both cities collect and sell waste at a survival
level, obtaining cash and goods in kind from their picking. This occupation has
emerged in large numbers in Nairobi since 1985, whereas it has existed for much
longer in India. In both cities, men are dominant among street pickers, women among
dump pickers Women earn less than men in their activities. The pickers are illegal in
both cities, and have no protection from harassment of police and populace. Their
main form of social security consists of loans from the dealers to whom they sell their
materials. Itinerant buyers are also usually informal, but tend to earn higher incomes
in both cities than waste pickers do. Their ties with shopkeepers providing goods or
capital also tend to give them a little more security. For both categories working condi-
tions are unsafe and unhealthy, as they do not take protective measures while working.
Among pickers and itinerant buyers, there is little upward mobility to employment at
the next step in the commodity chain. In fact, there is increasing competition for waste
materials being experienced in both cities.
Employment in enterprises is confined to people employed by dealers and recycling
units. Dealers in Nairobi employ mainly family labour, as do small dealers in India.
The differentiation among dealers is much greater in India than in Nairobi, although
in both cities they form the link between recycling units and the pickers and itinerant
buyers The small dealers work mainly with unpaid family labour, whereas the large
wholesalers employ casual and contract labour in India for sorting activities. This is
often work done by women and children. In the recycling units, employment also
consists of contract work in both cities. The companies in Nairobi employ more
workers than those in India, but they are the only ones in their sector. In India, on
average, the number of workers employed in the recycling units is 50, of which almost
forty percent are women. Again, even in the recycling units, safety and health
measures are absent for workers Only more permanent workers are provided with
medical insurance and other non-monetary benefits.
The legitimacy of the trade and recycling sector is low as regards the collection and
trading activities, and pickers and small dealers experience the disadvantages of such
lack of legitimacy. They are harassed by police and inspectors, and are forced to make
higher overhead costs because of bribes they have to pay. The recycling enterprises
are part of the registered formal economy, which provides greater legitimacy to their
production activities. However, neither the government nor the entrepreneurs them-
selves officially recognise their contributions to environmental sustainability.
Turning to the environmental aspects of waste recovery and recycling, the studies
show that substantial amounts of waste are recovered. The two cities are difficult to
compare by amounts of waste materials recovered, as in Nairobi waste is obtained
from all over the country and in Hyderabad it is obtained from local and regional