An aggregator is a trader who buys recyclable waste in small lots from waste pickers, kabadiwalas and small scrap shops, sorts and bales it, and sells it in bulk to recyclers. Aggregators form the middle layer of India’s largely informal recycling chain.
They provide working capital, storage and transport that individual waste pickers do not have, but long chains of aggregators can also hide where material came from. Recyclers that need traceability for EPR and recycled-content claims therefore work with known aggregators or buy directly through their own collection centres, as Lucro does through its network of 45+ centres.
