The role of governments in recovering secondary materials
is small compared to the informal sectors. In Delhi,
there are more than 100,000 rag pickers and the average
quantity of solid waste materials collected by one rag
picker is 10–15 kg/day. About 17% of Delhi waste handling
is done by rag pickers, who collect, sort and transport
waste free of cost, as part of the informal trade in scrap,
saving the government Rs 600,000 (US$13,700) daily. In
Bangalore, the informal sector is attributed with preventing
15% of the MSW going to the dumpsites. The municipalities
in Pune save around Rs. 9 million/yr (US$200,000) on
account of waste pickers. In Hyderabad, the cost of
MSWM per ton is less in the areas where THE private sector
participated compared to the areas serviced by municipality.