Waste picker
Encyclopedia
A waste picker, recycler, rag picker, salvager, binner, informal resource recoverer, poacher, or a scavenger, is a person who salvages recyclable elements from mixed waste. Waste pickers collect recyclable items from dumps, streets, and buildings to sell or for self-consumption.
People have practiced forms of waste picking since antiquity, but modern traditions of waste picking took root during industrialization in the nineteenth century. Waste picking activity has accelerated rapidly in the developing world over the past half-century due to urbanization. There is little reliable information about the number of waste pickers worldwide, but a 1988 World Bank study estimates that 1-2% of the global population subsists by waste picking. A 2010 study estimates that there are 1.5 million waste pickers in India alone.
Waste picking renders social benefits, such as providing livelihoods for very poor people with few other job opportunities, improving public sanitation, and reducing the costs of public waste management systems. It also provides ecological benefits, such as reducing the amount of virgin materials needed by industry and saving space in landfills. Though waste pickers often earn higher incomes than other informal sector laborers, they face many challenges, including public scorn, unsafe working conditions, exploitation by middlemen, and harassment by authorities. In order to combat these problems, waste pickers in many countries have begun self-organizing into cooperatives, unions, and associations.
s, the appropriate tools for disassembly, and should only focus on products they can effectively disassemble properly with these tools.
Many waste pickers find the use of the “scavenger” demeaning, due to the implied comparison with animals.
A waste picker is different from a waste collector
because the waste collected by the latter may be destined for a landfill
or incinerator, not necessarily a recycling facility. Developing nations depend on waste pickers to reduce the waste reaching landfills.
The physical characteristics of developing world cities, their rapid expansion, and the lack of resources to provide them with the necessary infrastructure and urban
services translate into an insufficient collection of the wastes generated, as well as their improper disposal on the streets, vacant lots and in municipal open dumps. Most developing world cities do not collect the totality of wastes they generate. Despite spending between 30 and 50% of their operational budgets on waste management, developing world cities collect only between 50 and 80% of the refuse generated.
Low-income neighborhoods, slums, and squatter settlements constitute the areas where municipal collection of wastes often does not exist. Residents of areas without refuse collection may resort to dumping their garbage in the nearest vacant lot, river, or simply burning it in their backyards. The improper disposal of solid wastes constitutes a source of land, air and water pollution, and poses risks to human health and the environment. Developing world cities, preoccupied with extending waste collection and with improving final disposal, generally lack recycling programs.
". Most of them live in Mokattam
, a garbage village on the outskirts of the city.
At present, organizations such as the Association for the Protection of the Environment are helping the zebaleen community to be more efficient in the collection and sale of recyclable materials.
whose livelihood depends on the collection of refundable beverage containers from dumpsters. The value redeemed from refundable bottles is an important source of income for impoverished individuals, many of whom are homeless and some of whom identify themselves as North American Aboriginals. As scavenging through garbage bins remains an illegal activity in British Columbia
, their actions are not without confrontation. Frequent encounters with police lead to fines or arrests. They also suffer from negative reactions from the community at large. The binning activity, accepted by the government and the community, provides the ability for marginalised individuals to become independent through earning an income without having to resort to begging or crime. Organising informal recyclers into cooperatives and social enterprises can significantly improve their working and living conditions, build their capacity to network and collaborate with businesses, industry, and government, and stimulate community environmental awareness of waste reduction and selective collection, among other benefits. Cooperative recycling practices can be part of an integrated strategy to reduce urban poverty and environmental contamination.
In the early 1990s, cooperatives began uniting into regional, national, and transnational coalitions to increase their political voice and economic leverage. In March 2008, delegates from 30 countries gathered in Bogotá, Colombia for the first World Conference (and Third Latin American Conference) of Waste Pickers (WEIGO 2008). One of the key issues discussed was the global trend of privatization and concentration of waste management systems. Normally, privatization is thought of as the handover of government functions to the private sector, but in this case, privatization often means the transference of services formerly provided by informal waste collectors to private firms. As waste streams have expanded due to increased consumption, the waste management industry is becoming increasingly lucrative. Governments around the world are granting private companies monopolies on waste management systems, meaning that the cooperatives’ survival hinges on building political and economic alliances needed to win contracts—often an uphill battle given authorities’ distrust of waste collectors and the cooperatives’ lack of capital for modern machinery.
and Vancouver
.
The purpose of PSWM is to help expand participatory action research
processes and to improve the organization of recyclers. This will be done through capacity building, strengthening organizational structures, increasing awareness, adding value to recyclables by increasing the effectiveness and the safety during the collection, separation, stocking and collective sale of recyclables. In the long term, PSWM aims to improve the urban environment in this area through participatory waste management.
PSWM projects help structure, organize, and strengthen cooperatives, associations, and community groups involved in recycling, by training, knowledge generation, and the exchange of experiences on cooperativism, micro-credit and the practice of solidary economy. PSWM helps to increase responsible consumption and to reduce the generation of waste.
. Almost all workers reported body pain or soreness in the back, legs, shoulders, and arms. Injuries, particularly involving the hands, are frequent. Flu and bronchitis
are common, and one recycler had contracted hepatitis B. Policymakers at all government levels need to address the pressing health issues affecting large numbers of informal recyclers in Brazil and abroad. Recyclers need to be involved in the design of waste management policies, and the public must be educated about the important environmental service these people provide.
On July 10th, 2000, several hundred people were killed by a trash slide
in Payatas
, Philippines
.
People have practiced forms of waste picking since antiquity, but modern traditions of waste picking took root during industrialization in the nineteenth century. Waste picking activity has accelerated rapidly in the developing world over the past half-century due to urbanization. There is little reliable information about the number of waste pickers worldwide, but a 1988 World Bank study estimates that 1-2% of the global population subsists by waste picking. A 2010 study estimates that there are 1.5 million waste pickers in India alone.
Waste picking renders social benefits, such as providing livelihoods for very poor people with few other job opportunities, improving public sanitation, and reducing the costs of public waste management systems. It also provides ecological benefits, such as reducing the amount of virgin materials needed by industry and saving space in landfills. Though waste pickers often earn higher incomes than other informal sector laborers, they face many challenges, including public scorn, unsafe working conditions, exploitation by middlemen, and harassment by authorities. In order to combat these problems, waste pickers in many countries have begun self-organizing into cooperatives, unions, and associations.
Work method
Waste pickers today often work alone, seeking financial value of the recyclable elements to sell or use. They are usually unequipped to disassemble the products they find on dump sites. Often, this translates into increased pollution of the environment and poisoning of the body. For appropriate disassembly, waste pickers require environmental suitEnvironmental suit
An environmental suit is a suit designed specifically for a particular environment, usually one otherwise hostile to humans. An environment suit is typically a one-piece garment, and many types also feature a helmet or other covering for the head...
s, the appropriate tools for disassembly, and should only focus on products they can effectively disassemble properly with these tools.
Terminology
Many terms are used to refer to people who salvage recyclables from the waste stream for sale or personal consumption. In English, these terms include rag picker, reclaimer, informal resource recoverer, binner, recycler, salvager, scavenger, waste collector and waste picker; in Spanish cartonero, clasificador, minador and reciclador; and in Portuguese catador de materiais recicláveis.Many waste pickers find the use of the “scavenger” demeaning, due to the implied comparison with animals.
A waste picker is different from a waste collector
Waste collector
A waste collector is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and remove refuse and recyclables from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection site for further processing and disposal...
because the waste collected by the latter may be destined for a landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
or incinerator, not necessarily a recycling facility. Developing nations depend on waste pickers to reduce the waste reaching landfills.
Waste Pickers in the Developing World
The socioeconomic conditions prevalent in developing world cities differ markedly from those in industrialized countries. Developing world cities are experiencing rapid urbanization brought about by fast population growth, as well as high immigration rates. Urbanization often takes place as the expansion or creation of new slum areas and squatter settlements. Typically, these settlements grow organically and lack any planning, resulting in twisting and narrow streets, as well as in the occupation of environmentally sensitive and disaster-prone areas, such as wetlands, river beds, creeks, flooding plains, and steep slopes.The physical characteristics of developing world cities, their rapid expansion, and the lack of resources to provide them with the necessary infrastructure and urban
services translate into an insufficient collection of the wastes generated, as well as their improper disposal on the streets, vacant lots and in municipal open dumps. Most developing world cities do not collect the totality of wastes they generate. Despite spending between 30 and 50% of their operational budgets on waste management, developing world cities collect only between 50 and 80% of the refuse generated.
Low-income neighborhoods, slums, and squatter settlements constitute the areas where municipal collection of wastes often does not exist. Residents of areas without refuse collection may resort to dumping their garbage in the nearest vacant lot, river, or simply burning it in their backyards. The improper disposal of solid wastes constitutes a source of land, air and water pollution, and poses risks to human health and the environment. Developing world cities, preoccupied with extending waste collection and with improving final disposal, generally lack recycling programs.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
In 2002, the Argentine Census Bureau estimated that over 44% of the workforce was directly associated with the informal labor sector. Decades of poor governance, labor market reforms and structural adjustment programs led to the 1999-2002 Argentine Economic Crisis. In 2000, amidst the financial chaos, there were an estimated 40,000 cartoneros (waste pickers) operating in the greater Buenos Aires area . Consequently, Reynals cites that 100,000 people live directly off the income generated from the cartoneros. Contemporary figures cite that there are five recycling cooperatives in Buenos Aires, directly employing 110 people. Unfortunately there is no recent data to suggest whether the current population of cartoneros has altered significantly since 2002. One sizable cooperative operating in Buenos Aires is El Ceibo. This cooperative employs 40 people who collect and sort waste from over 900 homes in the affluent Palermo district. The largest organization of cartoneros is the Excluded Workers Movement (Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos), with around 2500 members. In 2007, this organization led an epic struggle against the right wing local government for the nationalisation of the recycling contracts and a general policy for cartoneros in the City of Buenos Aires, which is considered the most advanced program for waste pickers worldwide.Cairo, Egypt
In Cairo, waste pickers are called "ZabbaleenZabbaleen
The Zabbaleen are a minority religious community of Coptic Christians who have served as Cairo's informal garbage collectors for approximately the past 70 to 80 years. Zabbaleen means "Garbage people" in Egyptian Arabic...
". Most of them live in Mokattam
Mokattam
Mokattam and the Moqattam Hills, , also Muqattam and Moqattam Mountain, is the name of a hill range and a suburb in them, located in southeastern Cairo, Egypt.-Landform:...
, a garbage village on the outskirts of the city.
At present, organizations such as the Association for the Protection of the Environment are helping the zebaleen community to be more efficient in the collection and sale of recyclable materials.
Paris, France
Paris has a large underground society of scavengers, known as les glaneurs from the medieval custom of gleaning. They were the focus of a report by Martin Hirsch, France's High Commissioner for Active Solidarity Against Poverty.Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
There is a population of impoverished and socially excluded individuals in VictoriaVictoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
whose livelihood depends on the collection of refundable beverage containers from dumpsters. The value redeemed from refundable bottles is an important source of income for impoverished individuals, many of whom are homeless and some of whom identify themselves as North American Aboriginals. As scavenging through garbage bins remains an illegal activity in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, their actions are not without confrontation. Frequent encounters with police lead to fines or arrests. They also suffer from negative reactions from the community at large. The binning activity, accepted by the government and the community, provides the ability for marginalised individuals to become independent through earning an income without having to resort to begging or crime. Organising informal recyclers into cooperatives and social enterprises can significantly improve their working and living conditions, build their capacity to network and collaborate with businesses, industry, and government, and stimulate community environmental awareness of waste reduction and selective collection, among other benefits. Cooperative recycling practices can be part of an integrated strategy to reduce urban poverty and environmental contamination.
Cooperatives
In the mid-1980s, waste collectors across Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa began to form cooperatives to move up the value chain and advocate for their rights. The cooperative movement could be said to have three primary purposes. First, by pooling capital, establishing microenterprises, and forming partnerships with business and government, waste collectors increase their selling power. Second, by securing uniforms, safety equipment, and work permits, cooperatives increase workplace dignity and safety. And third, by demanding recognition and compensation from the state for their environmental and economic contributions, cooperatives increase members’ political might. These three functions—political influence, workplace dignity and safety, and increased earnings—are mutually reinforcing, like legs on a stool.In the early 1990s, cooperatives began uniting into regional, national, and transnational coalitions to increase their political voice and economic leverage. In March 2008, delegates from 30 countries gathered in Bogotá, Colombia for the first World Conference (and Third Latin American Conference) of Waste Pickers (WEIGO 2008). One of the key issues discussed was the global trend of privatization and concentration of waste management systems. Normally, privatization is thought of as the handover of government functions to the private sector, but in this case, privatization often means the transference of services formerly provided by informal waste collectors to private firms. As waste streams have expanded due to increased consumption, the waste management industry is becoming increasingly lucrative. Governments around the world are granting private companies monopolies on waste management systems, meaning that the cooperatives’ survival hinges on building political and economic alliances needed to win contracts—often an uphill battle given authorities’ distrust of waste collectors and the cooperatives’ lack of capital for modern machinery.
Participatory Sustainable Waste Management
Participatory sustainable waste management (PSWM) presents one option available for dealing with safe and non-contaminating waste; in this case, solid recyclable waste, which can be used as a rich resource for income-generation. By collecting recyclable material, communities are able to boost their personal incomes while also contributing to a more healthy and sustainable local environment. As a response to poverty and the increasing value of recyclables, the number of people involved in such ‘waste picking’ is growing in many cities across the globe, particularly in large metropolitan areas such as São PauloSão Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
The purpose of PSWM is to help expand participatory action research
Participatory action research
Participatory action research – or action research – is a recognized form of experimental research that focuses on the effects of the researcher's direct actions of practice within a participatory community with the goal of improving the performance quality of the community or an area of...
processes and to improve the organization of recyclers. This will be done through capacity building, strengthening organizational structures, increasing awareness, adding value to recyclables by increasing the effectiveness and the safety during the collection, separation, stocking and collective sale of recyclables. In the long term, PSWM aims to improve the urban environment in this area through participatory waste management.
PSWM projects help structure, organize, and strengthen cooperatives, associations, and community groups involved in recycling, by training, knowledge generation, and the exchange of experiences on cooperativism, micro-credit and the practice of solidary economy. PSWM helps to increase responsible consumption and to reduce the generation of waste.
Occupational health issues
The collection of recyclables is a widespread activity among urban poor, particularly in countries with large socio-economic disparities. The health of recyclers is at risk because of unsafe working conditions, socio-economic exclusion, and stigmatization. In 2005 an in-depth socio-economic survey of 48 informal waste collectors was taken in Santo André, BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Almost all workers reported body pain or soreness in the back, legs, shoulders, and arms. Injuries, particularly involving the hands, are frequent. Flu and bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
are common, and one recycler had contracted hepatitis B. Policymakers at all government levels need to address the pressing health issues affecting large numbers of informal recyclers in Brazil and abroad. Recyclers need to be involved in the design of waste management policies, and the public must be educated about the important environmental service these people provide.
On July 10th, 2000, several hundred people were killed by a trash slide
in Payatas
Payatas
Payatas is a barangay located in the 2nd district of Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Nearby barangays are Commonwealth, Batasan Hills and Bagong Silangan....
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
External links
- Cartoneando: the web page of Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos, the largest cartoneros organization of Argentina
- Scavenger Cooperatives in Asia and Latin America (PDF)
- Chintan is an environmental research and action group uniting wastepickers
- a virtual exhibition about ragpickers