Informal Sector Integration and High Performance Recycling: Evidence from 20 Cities

The global informal recycling sector has come into focus as the base of the industrial value chain. With few exceptions, reports and articles have investigated the activities, condition, and position of informal enterprises and individuals, but have paid little attention to the context: the waste management systems in the cities in which informal recyclers work. This research report seeks to correct that imbalance by analyzing and contextualizing informal recycling in low- and middle-income countries, and providing recommendations for implementation of inclusive recycling.

The basis for its empirical research is the data set of 20 reference cities that was initiated for the 2010 UN-Habitat Third Global Report, Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities, for which this paper’s author was principal editor.

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