The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : They generate wealth from waste paper at work

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Sunday, Jun 28, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

They generate wealth from waste paper at work

K. Lakshmi

— Photo: S.Thanthoni

Nothing is waste: Waste paper dealers are an important link in the recycling of many items.

CHENNAI: What is junk for others is something from which they earn their livelihood. It may appear as yet another business for the common man, but the waste paper dealers have a role in keeping our homes and city clean.

A small space with limited ventilation is what many waste paper dealers operate from in the city. They spend all day amid old items – purchasing and sorting out papers, magazines, plastics and metals and packing them to be sent for recycling to different places, including Coimbatore and Udumalpet.

M. Jayakrishnan, who runs a waste paper mart in K.K. Nagar for the past decade, said, “I learnt this trade from my uncle. Nothing is waste according to me as most things can be recycled. Besides old newspapers, milk covers, plastics, I buy metals and even broken bottles.”

Like most of the waste paper dealers, Mr. Jayakrishnan took to the business with just a cycle, gunny sack and a weighing scale. “Initially it was difficult to convince customers. Most residents in apartments will not even let me into their compound. After I started a shop, customers come in regularly to sell their unwanted things.”

The business peaks between April and June as students sell their text and notebooks. Mobile phones have come in handy for several dealers who call their regular customers periodically and go to their homes.

The price at which they purchase the waste varies depending on localities as waste paper merchants also build in the charges involved in transporting the goods to the wholesale market in Parrys Corner. The cost of the old goods collected is determined by the recycling industry according to the demand.

A. Michael, a dealer at Perambur, said that the old English newspapers are taken for Rs.5 a kg. He also purchases scraps from rag pickers, but only from those who regularly visit his shop to avoid the possibility of dealing in stolen goods. “I don’t buy any metal scrap from rag pickers as such items are not usually found on roads. It is hard during rainy season as I have to store all the goods in my small shop and transportation of things is also difficult,” he said.

Eighty two-year-old S. Shanmugam of Anna Nagar East has been in the trade for several decades. “I now face stiff competition as several dealers have come up in the area. I make a profit of 10 to 20 per cent, just enough to run my family. I mostly manage to give cash with the previous day’s sales. Sometimes, I take loans from the wholesale dealers and repay later.”

P. Pandarapazham, managing secretary of Chennai City Waste Papers Dealers’ Association, said there are about 3,000 waste paper shops in the city. In places such as Moolakadai, Villivakkam, persons who travel on cycles still take old things in exchange of seasonal fruits and dates.

There are more chances to tamper with hand held weighing scales. Vendors who take the goods from home and in turn sell them to dealers indulge in tampering weights to make profit, he said.

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