Recognizing wastepickers place in the recycling chain and in municipal waste policy

People from Latin America, Asia and Africa who earn their living by sorting through and reselling municipal waste reasserted their role as productive members of the global economy at an unprecedented March 1-4, 2008 conference in Bogota, Colombia. The First World Congress of Waste Pickers explored ways to improve their working conditions and looked at models for organizing themselves, participating in the recycling waste chain, and relating to public waste management systems. The event aimed to reaffirm the importance of recycling, informal recyclers and related public policies especially in urban areas which face complex social, environmental and economic situations.

"We've gotten to know each other as waste pickers from across the world and we've begun an unbreakable relationship," said Silvio Ruiz of the host organization, the Association of Waste-Pickers of Bogota, which is made up of 22 grassroots wastepicker associations and was the first Latin American waste pickers association when it was created in 1990.  The congress attracted 290 recyclers from South Africa, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Cameroon, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Turkey, Guatemala, and Colombia, as well as more than 50 experts in waste management, companies that make products from recycled materials, and international aid organizations.

Waste pickers earn a living from collecting, sorting, and reselling recyclable materials, such as paper and plastics, found mainly on the street or at landfill sites. Such recycling has recently become an important economic activity as large industry reincorporates waste into products, and recyclers thus make a global contribution which is economic, as well as environmental and social. In Colombia, for example, recycling accounts for an estimated 1% of GDP. Although there is no official estimate of the number of waste pickers worldwide, delegates from Colombia, Turkey, and China estimated their national totals are around 300,000; 200,000; and 6 million respectively.

While many countries include waste-pickers in their public system of waste-collection, there also is an international trend towards privatizing waste collection as a business rather than as a public service with social, environmental and economic impact. And, like other informal workers, waste pickers are often excluded from labour protections and social welfare programs. Their dependence on public spaces means they are affected by municipal policies and thus they must talk with local authorities who often do not see them in a positive light.

As a result, strong waste-picker cooperatives have emerged. In Colombia, Mar. 1 is designated the Day of the Waste Picker, and in Brazil, a delegation of waste pickers meets annually with the country's president to discuss public policies that impact their colleagues. Latin American groups have held several large regional conferences since 1990, when Colombia created its national association. Waste pickers in Africa and Asia have struggled to match Latin America’s levels of organization.

Patrick Mwanzia of Kenya sees two key obstacles: "Firstly, waste pickers in Kenya lack exposure to experiences elsewhere. And secondly they need facilitation: at the moment, they have no power to communicate, and to have someone to bring them together is rare. So my first role when I go back is to work [to create] a local network of waste pickers."

In Turkey, where waste pickers have faced hostile government policies including the destruction of their warehouses, many remain unconvinced of the benefits of organizing. Eloise Dhuy of the fledgling Ankara Recycling Association is looking forward to bringing home examples of what is being done elsewhere.

"Hearing these experiences gives us a motive to keep struggling," says Ruiz from Bogota, who has been organizing waste pickers since he co-founded a cooperative at the age of 14. "It is just a matter of time. In Latin America, we've been organizing ourselves for decades; in Africa and elsewhere, they're just beginning the process." This depth of experience makes the Latin Americans a strong force within the global network of informal rubbish recyclers, classifiers, divers, waste-pickers, and waste-collectors.

The waste pickers want to ensure that the environmental benefits of their work are rewarded. "We are sifting through the rubbish and saving the authorities money, but we are being labeled as dirty," says Laxmi Narayan from the Puna Recyclers Union in India.

Many delegates expressed enthusiasm for the possibility of applying for carbon credits. Under the Clean Development Mechanism, which is part of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, rich countries can partially meet their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by financing emission-reducing projects in poor countries. Waste pickers reduce garbage going to landfill sites, and could do so further by composting organic waste, but it's unclear whether such projects would be eligible for funding under the carbon-credit program. Another profitable option, already successful in Latin America, is to add value by transforming waste into materials that can be sold for a higher price.

Waste pickers also are seeking to ensure they are included when local authorities begin official recycling programs. Delegates from across Latin America approved a declaration that included a call for waste pickers, not private companies, to be awarded government contracts for doorstep collection of recyclable waste. But according to Narayan of the Puna Recyclers Union in India: "Just rejecting the privatization of waste collection hasn't worked. So we're looking to see if we can build alternative models with the municipalities."

This story was compiled from Congress press releases, information on the Congress website, and a story entitled World’s Garbage Recyclers Meet in Colombia published by OneWorld.net and also available on the conference site. Many of the conference presentations are available on the site in written or video format.

http://www.recicladores.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=53

 


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