Normally we assume that all the re-saleable garbage we throw away will be picked up by rag-pickers. The much-touted ‘source segregation’ method to separate the bio-degradable from the non-biodegradable garbage (usually packaging) continues to see patchy success for various reasons. Source segregationOne way to prevent people throwing away things — and get them to ‘source-segregate’ — is to ensure that the discards have a value attached to them that is ‘redeemable’ soon. The ‘junk’ comes without an immediately assignable value attached and is not exchangeable the way a coin can be. If you throw away the bottle you lose Rs.

Source: The Hindu February 24, 2018 18:33 UTC