On November 16, I toured Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. Though there is great poverty in the 0.7 square miles of land that Dharavi occupies, there is also a large industrial sector. In fact, it is estimated that over 665 million dollars worth of industry is created every year.

A major part of this economy is recycling. A tour through the narrow alleys revealed the recycling of plastic, cardboard, soap, paint cans… basically any material that can bring revenue through re-use. It is estimated that 85-87% of the materials in Dharavi are recycled.

**Vista from rooftop in Dharavi, notice all the plastic for recycling**

Due to the ever-growing presence of plastic waste in the environment, my research in India will focus upon plastic recycling. Plastic is one of the major components of Dharavi’s recycling industry. Throughout the urbanscape, there are piles of plastic everywhere, at every stage of the recycling process.

During the first stage, plastic is sorted into types. The piles are kept anywhere they will fit, along the side of narrow alleyways, on rooftops, on stairways, under ladders…

Next, the plastic is is shredded by a machine that is designed and manufactured in Dharavi. This machine is also exported to other parts of the world

After shredding, the bits of plastic are washed in bins. The plastic is washed at this stage and not earlier because it would be more costly in the amount of water, space and time required to keep and wash hollow objects.

**Shreds of plastic waiting to be washed**

**Plastic bits being washed in a bin of water**

After the plastic bits have been washed, they must be dried. This is done by hauling the plastic bits up to the rooftops and drying them on a tarp. The process of drawing takes about a day in the sun.

When climbing up to the roof to see, I had to ascend a ladder that was completely covered with bags of plastic bits. My guide helped me by lending me his hand, but careful footing was necessary.

In the foreground of the picture below, you can see the orange plastic bits I was standing on when I took the picture.

**Two men spreading a tarp full of wet plastic bits to be dried in the sun**

After the plastic is dried, it is dyed and then extruded into a new recycled plastic.

These extrusions are then cut up into little beads which are now ready to be manufactured into new plastic products.

**Blue bits of recycled plastic ready for manufacturing**

Dharavi’s recycling industry does a formidable job of recycling large amounts of plastic. However, plastic recycling should not be considered a perfect environmental solution nor a close-looped system by any means.

The molecular nature of plastic means that every time you recycle it, the usefulness of the plastic declines until ultimately it is no longer useful at all. This process is called downcycling and merely slows the process of toxic plastics from finding there way to the wrong places.

Although recycling plastic is of course preferred to just throwing it out, it is not a solution to the silent oil spill of plastic that is plaguing our natural environment.

The goal of this research is to discover ways in which we can contain plastic permanently and keep it from finding its way to our natural environment.

Dharavi's Recycling Industry, a guided tour