A partnership funded by the H&M Foundation claims to have improved the lives of 20,000 waste pickers in India while recycling discarded plastic into millions of new buttons for the fashion industry. Saamuhika Shakti was launched two years ago as a first of its kind $11 mn programme to address gaps in the system that kept waste pickers in poverty and exclusion in Bengaluru, capital of the Indian State of Karnataka.
Buttons partly made from the plastic waste collected now feature on garments sold worldwide. The buttons are traceable down to the source of the waste, the names of the workers, their pay and working conditions. Saamuhika Shakti works to support the waste picker community in Bengaluru by working to improve working conditions, access to social services, education, water and sanitation, and access to alternative jobs.
The four year programme, due to run until 2023, also seeks to explore innovations in waste management streams that can provide livelihoods to the waste pickers and shift the way they are perceived by the general population. It has led to the H&M Group becoming a business partner with the Hasiru Dala Innovations social enterprise, placing orders for millions of buttons partly made from recycled PET bottles sourced by the waste pickers.
The PET waste is then flaked and washed and provided to two of H&M Group’s button suppliers in India. The buttons are traceable down to the source of the waste along with names, salaries and working conditions of the waste pickers.
This standalone business, which is not subsidised by the programme, is said to have extended the social impact of Saamuhika Shakti and will further benefit the waste picker community by creating jobs and income opportunities.
“Waste management and material recycling are fundamental components of a circular economy, but in order for it to be truly sustainable, it needs to include the very group of people that upholds this value chain in India – the informal waste picker community,” said H&M Foundation strategy lead Maria Bystedt.
“If challenges related to waste pickers’ lives and the waste sector can be addressed, waste pickers have the potential to be a key player in a global circular system – and could not only contribute to the health and state of our planet, but also uplift themselves out of poverty. We call it inclusive circularity.”
The H&M Foundation is a non-profit founded by the Swedish fashion giant. Other partners in Saamuhika Shakti are The Nudge Institute, BBC Media Action, Sambhav Foundation, CARE India, Hasiru Dala, Save the Children India, Social Alpha and Water Aid India.
