Waste Pickers
Waste Pickers
Introduction
Millions of people worldwide make a living collecting, sorting, recycling, and selling materials that someone else has thrown away. Vital actors in the informal economy, waste pickers provide widespread benefits to their communities, their municipalities and the environment. In many countries, waste pickers supply the only form of solid waste collection.
However, they often face low social status, deplorable living and working conditions, and little support from local governments.
Definition
The term waste pickers can be broadly defined as people who reclaim “reusable and recyclable materials from what others have cast aside as waste” (Samson 2009). Waste pickers can range from poor people rummaging through garbage in search of necessities such as food to informal private collectors of recyclables who sell to middlemen or businesses, as well as organized pickers/sorters linked to unions, cooperatives or associations.
Waste pickers may collect household waste from the curbside, commercial and industrial waste from dumpsters, or litter from streets and urban waterways. Some live and work on municipal dumps – as many as 20,000 people in Kolkata, India; 12,000 in Manila, Philippines; and 15,000 in Mexico City, Mexico (Medina 2005).
Other waste pickers work as sorters in recycling warehouses or as processors in recycling plants owned by membership-based organizations (MBOs) (Dias 2010). Some are involved in cross-border activities, such as the Mexican waste pickers who work on both sides the US border (Medina 2007).
The term “waste picking” is commonly used to refer to the task of extracting reusable and recyclable materials from mixed wastes. Many waste pickers also sort or segregate waste and sell it to persons or units further up the recycling chain. Also, MBOs of waste pickers perform a variety of resource recovery activities, including processing of wastes. In these web pages, the term “waste picker” is used to refer to those who do the primary collecting and sorting of waste.
At the First World Conference of Waste Pickers in 2008, the term “waste pickers” was adopted for use in English to facilitate global networking: it is preferred to such derogatory terms as “scavengers”. Other languages have their own terms to refer to waste pickers: “catadores” in Portuguese, “recicladores” in Spanish.
Although the situation differs across countries, some basic categories of waste pickers exist.
Across the different categories, countries and regions worldwide, waste picking shares common aspects:
- Workers are subject to social stigma, face poor working conditions, and are frequently harassed.
- Waste picking is highly responsive to market-driven conditions for recyclables.
- Waste picking is often a family enterprise. It offers flexible working hours (inclusive to women) and a high level of adaptability.
- In some cities, most waste pickers are migrants, such as in Delhi where waste pickers are often Bangladeshis. In other places, they are likely to be from marginalized groups or rejected from global economic processes.
- Waste picking appears to be chaotic work but is in fact very organized.
- Numbers of waste pickers fluctuate due to economic conditions and urban processes.
- Waste pickers are often not part of public solid waste management systems; they are socially invisible and are seldom reported in official statistics.
- Waste picking is easily learned and usually does not require literacy. However, when working in a collective endeavour, some activities (for example, administrative tasks) do require literacy.
- Non-organized waste pickers are often recruited by middlemen.
Size & Significance
There are millions of waste pickers worldwide, but little reliable socio-economic or statistical information exists.
Most studies for this sector are of a qualitative nature (ethnographies or social profiles of workers for particular cities or sites). In the case of existing quantitative studies, they are frequently based on very small samples, making generalizations difficult. The nature of the activity makes estimation of the total population difficult, since waste pickers are mobile and their population can fluctuate by season. Also, there is a tendency to avoid researchers as waste pickers may fear information will be passed on to public officials; this makes it harder to collect sound data.
A 1988 World Bank study estimated that waste pickers comprised 1-2 per cent of the world’s population (Bartone 1988). A more recent study in India estimated waste pickers in that country numbered 1.5 million people, primarily women and those from socially marginalized groups (Chaturvedi 2010). There are an estimated 18,000 recicladores in Bogota, Colombia; 15,000 clasificadores in Montevideo, Uruguay; and 9,000 cartoneros in Buenos Aires, Argentina (Schamber et al. 2007).
Brazil is the only nation that systematically captures and reports official statistical data on waste pickers. Read more about Brazil’s official statistics on waste pickers.
Waste Picker Contributions
The value of waste picking is increasingly important to global environmental efforts and the development of cities. There is growing recognition worldwide that waste pickers contribute to the local economy, to public health and safety, and to environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, the contributions made by waste pickers are rarely acknowledged by authorities.
Waste pickers make important contributions, specifically:
- Public health and sanitation improves when waste pickers remove waste from urban areas not served by municipal garbage collection.
- Municipal expenses are reduced through subsidization of solid waste management systems. In many cities, waste pickers supply the only form of solid waste collection. A 2010 UN Habitat publication states that waste pickers perform between 50-100 per cent of all ongoing waste collection in most cities in developing countries – at no cost to the city budget. For more on the cost savings to cities of solid waste collection, sorting, and disposal by waste pickers, see Waste Pickers & Solid Waste Management.
- The environment benefits when waste pickers divert a significant quantity of materials from the waste stream. A 2007 study carried out by the GTZ/CWG found that waste pickers recovered approximately 20 per cent of all waste materials in three of the six cities studied; in one city, the rate was even higher due to the collection of organic matter for pig feeding (GTZ/CWG 2007).
- Reuse and recycling of materials decreases the amount of virgin materials needed for production, thus contributing to the conservation of natural resources and energy while reducing air and water pollution. Recovery of recyclable materials and organic matter contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) and to the mitigation of climate change.
- Livelihoods are created for waste pickers and those who recycle materials – usually very poor people who may not have other job opportunities. A significant number are women, and some are children. Penalizing this activity has a negative impact on poverty alleviation measures.
Driving Forces & Working Conditions
For many people in developing countries, especially those with limited education or opportunity, waste picking offers a livelihood. Flexible hours make it inclusive for women who have other care responsibilities.
The job of waste pickers is taking on particularly new importance as an employment opportunity for persons with limited education and skills in the current economic downturn.
Earnings
Waste pickers’ earnings vary widely between regions by the type of work they do, and for women and men. For example, in Belgrade, waste pickers may earn US $100 monthly on average (Simpson-Hebert et al. 2006), while in Cambodia, the earnings can be as little as one dollar a day (ILO/IPEC 2004). In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, about 59 per cent of waste pickers earn below the minimum wage. However, although waste picking is the lowest paid part of the recycling chain in many places, these workers can earn more than the minimum wage; in Brazil and Mexico, some earn many times the minimum wage. In Brazil, RAIS database shows that a third (34%) of waste pickers earn 1.01 – 1.50 times the minimum wage, 29 per cent between 1.51 to 2.00 times minimum wage; 18 per cent between 2.01 to 3.00 times minimum wage; 7 per cent between 3.01 to 4.00 times minimum wage (Crivellari et al. 2008).
A gender analysis of RAIS data concluded that men earn much more than women in all age groups (Crivellari et al. 2008). In age groups with higher earnings, those receiving between 3 and 4 times the minimum wage, 98 per cent are men while only 2 per cent are women. That disparity is also found in the groups that receives between 4 and 5 times the minimum wage (5% women), between 5 and 7 times the minimum wage (3% women) and between 7 and 10 times the minimum wage (6% women). No women are found in the highest income groups, those that earn between 10 and 15 times and above 20 times the minimum wages.
Health risks
Handling waste poses many health risks to workers. These are even greater for informal workers due to their daily unprotected exposure to contaminants and hazardous materials. Risks include contact with fecal matter, paper saturated by toxic materials, bottles and containers with chemical residues, health residues, contaminated needles, and heavy metals from batteries (Cointreau 2006). A lack of worker protection and poor access to health care aggravate these risks.
Risk of injuries
Waste pickers face great risks of injury, especially those who work at open dumps and may be run over by trucks or become the victims of surface subsidence, slides and fires. They are also exposed to great quantities of toxic fumes.
Waste pickers also endure ergonomic hazards such as heavy lifting, static posture and repetition, and may have high incidences of low back and lower extremity pain. Some studies indicate a higher prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders amongst waste pickers, likely the result of stressful conditions (Da Silva et al. 2006).
Through the Social Protection Programme, WIEGO has undertaken a three year research project about occupational health and safety (OHS) for informal workers, including waste pickers. This involves working with membership-based organizations and partners to find out how to develop OHS in a way that can better meet the needs of informal workers.
Visit WIEGO's Microsite on Occupational Health & Safety.
Harassment, disrespect and violence
Treated as nuisances by authorities and with disdain by the public, waste pickers are usually ignored within public policy processes and frequently suffer low social status and self-esteem. They are particularly susceptible to violence by the police. They may face exploitation and intimidation by middlemen, which can affect their earnings. The significant number of women engaged in this occupation are particularly affected by exclusionary policies towards waste picking.
Recent trends – such as privatization of municipal solid waste management services, global approaches to climate change mitigation, and the global recession – have exacerbated the situation for some waste pickers:
- Privatization of municipal solid waste management services threatens the zabaleen community of waste pickers in Cairo, Egypt and waste pickers in Delhi, India. For more on this topic, read Chapter 6 of Refusing to be Cast Aside: Waste Pickers Organising Around the World by Melanie Samson.
- Global approaches to climate change mitigation, such as funding for incinerators and waste-to-energy plants that burn materials waste pickers could otherwise recycle, threaten rather than reward the work of waste pickers.
- The global recession has hit waste pickers hard. Research conducted by WIEGO and its partners in the Inclusive Cities project found the economic crisis caused a marked drop in the demand for and price of waste. For more information on this topic, see the Informal Economy/Links with Economic Crisis page.
Policies & Programmes
In spite of the significant benefits waste pickers make to public health, the environment and the economy, they continue to suffer poor working conditions without recognition. In addition, the majority of waste pickers worldwide do not have access to any kind of state-sponsored social protection schemes. However, change is on its way. Membership-based organizations of waste pickers and other progressive entities are helping cities recognize the vital role waste pickers play, and encouraging authorities to design more progressive policies. Cities like Belo Horizonte in Brazil, Lima in Peru and Pune in India are developing policies that integrate waste pickers into selective waste collection.
Progressive Waste Management in Brazil
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“In Brazil, as in other countries, the system for recycling varies from city to city: some municipalities collect recyclables from recycling containers scattered at public places (a kind of drop-off system) and some have door-to-door collection of recyclables (separate from waste to be taken to the landfills) and taking recyclables to cooperatives of waste pickers for further sorting and commercialization. In Brazil, in 2007, the Basic Sanitation Law #11.445/07 altered the Public Administration Bid and Contract Law (Lei de Licitações e Contratos da Administração Pública), allowing the hiring of waste picker organizations without bid for service provision in municipal recycling schemes.” – Sonia Dias, Waste Picker Sector Specialist for WIEGO, former Consultant of the Ministry of the Cities and Member of the Coordination Team of the Waste and Citizenship Forum of Minas Gerais State. Read "Overview of Legal Framework For Social Inclusion In Solid Waste |
Replacement of repressive policies with inclusive policies focused on legal backing, redistributive measures, social recognition and the strengthening of waste picker organizations is crucial. WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme generates research, policy analysis and good practice documentation on how urban policies affect waste pickers for the global Inclusive Cities project. For more information, see Legislation & Policies Beneficial to Waste Pickers.
There are also growing opportunities in the private sector. For example, in Mumbai and other cities in India, helping corporations deal with post-consumer waste is providing a niche to informal workers. Waste pickers are involved with companies such as Tetra Pak in the recovery and sorting of paper and plastic-aluminium into separate commodities, and with Coca Cola for shredding PET units.
Organization & Voice
Waste pickers, traditionally known for their independence and individualism, are increasingly motivated to organize and fight for recognition and a place within formal waste management systems. Waste pickers are organizing in many different ways – cooperatives, associations, companies, unions, micro-enterprises. Some are even forming “women only” organizations in order to better confront gender stereotypes. Research suggests that women waste pickers are more likely to belong to organizations. A small-scale study conducted in Brazil found that 56 per cent of the members of waste picker organizations, cooperatives and associations are women while 44 per cent are men.1
Forging solidarity links across continents is an important strategy. Waste pickers have increased their global networking since the First World Conference of Waste Pickers in 2008 in Bogota, Colombia. Networking helps the development of organizations by showcasing successes and inspiring nascent movements. In a presentation at the Bogota conference, Bernardo Toro discussed the importance of organizing for waste pickers. See the presentation.
The extent and depth to which waste pickers have organized varies across countries and regions.
In Latin America, some waste picker organizations are as old as the Cooperativa Antioqueña de Recolectores de Subproductos, formed in Medellín, Colombia in 1962. However, activism took a firmer hold in the 1990s. One example was the city-wide formation of the Asociación de Recicladores de Bogotá (ARB) in 1990 (read more about the growth and accomplishments of ARB). In 2005 the first meeting of the Latin American Waste Picker Network (LAWPN) was held in Brazil. Today, the LAWPN includes movements and associations of waste pickers from 16 countries.
In India, the Alliance of Indian Wastepickers (AIW) is a national network of 35 organizations working with, and comprised of, waste pickers and/or itinerant buyers with a presence in 22 cities. Their focus is on peer support, advocacy, and cross-learning. Also in India, a waste picker union known as KKPKP, a partner with WIEGO in the Inclusive Cities project, has provided valuable support to its members; read about one family's changed circumstances as a result of their involvement with KKPKP.
In Asia, a mapping exercise carried out by KKPKP as a step toward building an Asian waste picker network, found that there are NGOs working on the issues of waste in Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand, with municipalities and citizens groups who understand the situation of waste and waste pickers in these countries. There are many waste pickers who are loosely organized internally, and represented by one of their own group or by an activist. Trade unions and networks of other groups have also been supporting or initiating new work in and with this sector. Then there are environmental NGOs, anti-incineration lobbyists and small community-based organizations, as well as groups working specifically on alternative decentralized recovery and processing of waste (vermicompost, biogas, etc.).2
In South Africa, waste pickers are beginning to organize: in addition to the formation of organizations, associations, cooperatives, unions and micro-enterprises at the municipal level, a national association is taking shape.3 The South African Waste Picker Association held its first meeting in July 2009. Read Options for Organizing Waste Pickers in South Africa by Jan Theron (WIEGO Organizing Series, 2010).
Waste pickers are fighting many battles on many fronts: the threat of privatization of municipal solid waste management services faced by the waste pickers in Egypt and India; legal battles required to defend the right to work as recicladores in Colombia; and climate change issues on a global level, including the proliferation of waste-to-energy plants that burn materials that waste pickers could otherwise recycle. In response to these pressures, waste pickers around the world have voiced a common set of demands which are discussed here. Refusing to be Cast Aside presents details on legal battles (chapter 5) (Samson 2009) being fought to defend the right to work as waste pickers.
In December, 2010, the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and Allies, which WIEGO supports, spoke at the United Nations Climate Change conference (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico to draw international attention to the value of their work, and the need for global policies that respect, rather than hinder their work. Read more about the waste pickers’ involvement in climate change negotiations.
For more about waste picker organizations, read Chapter 3 of Refusing to be Cast Aside (Samson 2009).
Benefits of Organizing
Organizing benefits waste pickers by:
- raising social status and self-esteem
- improving members’ incomes and their quality of life, in part by circumventing middlemen
- improving working conditions and contributing to better health quality
- facilitating the development of networks
- providing institutional frameworks for hiring of waste pickers for local bodies/ firms
- preventing harassment and violence
Waste pickers organizations can in turn benefit everyone by building more robust and sustainable solid waste systems, reducing carbon emissions and creating a cleaner and healthier environment. To find out more about specific waste picker MBOs and associations, please visit WIEGO’s WORD database.
1 Data were collected in 2007 by CATAUNIDOS, a commercial network of nine cooperative enterprises in Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Area and published in INSEA – Instituto Nenucia De DeSenvolvimento Sustentavel. Perfil sócio-econômico dos catadores da rede Cataunidos. Belo Horizonte: INSEA/UFMG/FELC, 2007. 31 p. Relatório.
2 Mapping exercise carried out by KKPKP for the CWG/WIEGO mapping process (internal report).
3 Source: personal communication with Melanie Samson.
