Bhojpur’s Informal Recycling Cluster: Challenges and Opportunities
By fmadmin
Bhojpur’s Informal Recycling Cluster: Challenges and Opportunities
Author: Aliya Khan
Bhojpur is a small town in the western part of Uttar Pradesh. As a part of the EU ‘Green Threads’ Project, I visited this semi-urban cluster, a town producing new bedsheets, mats, mattress covers, etc. from textile waste and leftover materials. These include discarded fabric, threads, and industrial scraps that are sorted, cleaned, and repurposed into usable products.
The visit was done during a Capacity Building workshop on E-Commerce Channels for BMO Leaders and Handloom Weavers. The session aimed to help weavers and BMO representatives understand digital platforms, online selling opportunities, and the process of onboarding onto e-commerce platforms.
The scale of informal recycling work happening in this town across small, scattered units is surprising. Inside these workspaces set inside their home, there is a highly labour-intensive process underway. The work is manual at every stage, from segregation, processing, to final assembly. There is very little mechanisation, which makes the process time-consuming and physically demanding.
Bhojpur is a well-established system of recycling. The artisans are skilled at handling different types of materials and understanding what can be reused and how. In many ways, they are already contributing to a circular economy by extending the life of materials that would otherwise be discarded.
However, despite the importance of this work, the earnings remain extremely low.
Most artisans are paid on a piece-rate basis, which means their income depends entirely on how much they can produce in a day. Given the effort involved, the returns are disproportionately small. There is also a clear gap between the value of the final product in the market and what the artisans are paid for producing it.
Another key issue is the lack of direct market access. The products typically move through multiple intermediaries before reaching buyers. As a result, the artisans have little control over pricing and almost no visibility into where their products are eventually sold or how they are positioned in the market.
At the same time, interactions with the artisans revealed something equally important—their eagerness to improve. During the capacity building session, artisans actively engaged in discussions and asked practical questions about creating accounts, uploading products, and navigating online platforms.
They also asked for support in understanding documentation and onboarding processes, showing a clear willingness to learn and adapt. Conversations around the upcoming Common Facility Centre (CFC), which will introduce new looms and support design development, were met with enthusiasm. Many artisans expressed interest in participating in research and development activities, experimenting with new designs, and improving product quality.
From these discussions, it is clear that the cluster does not lack skill or willingness. What it lacks is structured support. There is minimal intervention in areas like design development, quality standardisation, branding, and market access. This limits the potential of the products, especially in reaching higher-value markets where sustainable goods are in demand. There is also limited awareness of pricing strategies, market trends, and opportunities for diversification, which keeps artisans confined to low-margin work.
Bhojpur already has the foundation of a recycling-based production system. The challenge is not to build something new, but to strengthen what already exists.
Bhojpur challenges the way we think about sustainability, labour, and value. It asks a simple but uncomfortable question: if this work is so important, why are the people doing it not valued accordingly?
The Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) specializes in promotion of MSMEs through cluster..
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