However, the plant was a failure. Surprisingly, the principal reason was the fact that there wasn t enough urban waste in Delhi. It turns out that the waste paper, rags, plastic, etc. in Delhi produces only about half the caloric value of a Western city. This contrast tells us a lot about the treatment of waste in rich and poor countries and helps us to understand the importance of trade in waste. Poor societies can afford little waste in the traditional sense.
Poverty ensures that every bit of a resource is reused, recycled, or otherwise utilized.
In India, an enormous army of rag pickers continuously supply millions of trash merchants all over the country. They pick up virtually everything that might have a potential value. The rag-pickers, particularly in urban centers, have an unmatched capacity to extract and sort every bit of material that can be reused, recycled, or have other potential uses. This commitment to resource utilization pervades almost all strata of society. Families in India willingly wait for weeks in the hope of getting a higher price for their old newspapers.