#wastepickers

Plastic credits claim to solve plastic pollution – but are they a false solution? Waste pickers and experts say it’s all greenwashing.

Wasterpickers, also known as ragpickers in India, and scavengers elsewhere, are people who make a living from sorting waste and digging through landfills for saleable stuff - raw materials like plastic , metals, textiles (used in India to make newsprint for example), wood, cardboard etc or items thrown away inthe trash.

There's an entire informal economic & industrial ecosystem that exists behind the formal and visisble one in "developing countries" - its a post consumption economy that's parts of the informal economy and I'll be sharing more stuff on this topic as well.

Soledad Mella, leader of the National Association of Recyclers Chile[1], vindicates the role of these workers in the fight against climate change

Soledad Mella got involved in the world of recycling out of economic necessity more than 20 years ago. She was born in the Población Lo Hermida, in Santiago de Chile, she is the daughter of peasant parents and the youngest of seven siblings, and she has three children and three grandchildren. “The economic situation in my country in the nineties was not very good. What my husband earned was not enough for us, ”she recalls.

She decided to go out to find a way to contribute to household expenses. “I started by collecting some waste such as the glass from the bottles; metals, especially copper, bronze and aluminium; and the cellulose found in books, magazines and cardboard”, says Mella. She took those materials to the fair, where she worked as a colera (that's how informal workers are called in Chile). Today, her entire family is dedicated to recycling.

In her journey, Mella has participated in different social organizations to fight against inequality and injustice. Today she is 51 years old and is a leader of the National Association of Recyclers Chile (ANARCH) [2], in addition to being part of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Recyclers (Red LACRE) [3] and the Global Alliance of Recyclers[4]. Through these organisations she seeks to represent the 20 million recycling workers who are made invisible in the world.

Mella became aware of the importance of her job starting in 2005: in short, she was in charge of rescuing the families' waste and thus caring for the planet. A decade later she became involved as a leader of the Chilean professional association. “I fell in love with the theme, with the recyclers and what they represent,” she says. In Chile there are about 60,000 workers in this sector.

But Mella was not satisfied with leading an organisation at the national level. In 2020 she became one of the leaders of Red LACRE, that represents recyclers from 18 Latin American countries. For almost two decades, the organisation has supported union and political actions to achieve the incorporation of these workers in public policies related to recycling. It is estimated that at the regional level there are around four million workers in the sector.

“I was always organised, I have never seen myself doing things alone. With the pandemic we really realized how fragile and weak[5]  we are and the importance of unity and organization to be able to face this kind of thing. Uniting means being able to defend ourselves against unfair situations such as the eviction of recyclers from landfills or the privatization of waste that is happening throughout Latin America,” says Mella.

Although the leadership of women waste pickers in Latin America is very powerful[6], they also suffer violations of their rights. “One of the main problems we face is raising our children. It is very common to have to go out to recycle together with them. Recently, I visited several landfills in Costa Rica and Panama and I met children who drop out of school to go with their mothers to collect waste from the landfill. That shouldn't be happening anymore. On the other hand, we are quite violent in the street. People think we are drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes or criminals. There is a lot to do to defend our rights,” she emphasizes.

In February, Mella travelled to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to participate in the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly. Her goal was to recognize the role of recyclers as part of the solution to plastic pollution. [7] She never imagined that she was going to travel to Africa. “I went to be the voice of 20 million recyclers in the world. Although it was a great experience, I experienced a feeling of anguish. There I met colleagues from the other side of the world and we realised that they were in the same or worse conditions than we have: more slavery and more exclusion”, she reflects.

For Mella, it was important to make the people gathered there understand that the work of recyclers is fundamental. “The invisible, the faceless, the poor among the poorest, we had the opportunity to tell who we are, what we are doing and why it is important that we are part of political decisions. We have the right to comment on plastics, a material that has not given us sustenance in our home. With our work we minimise the environmental impact and subsidise the States”, says Mella.

Mella also participated in the negotiations in May in Dakar (Senegal) to develop the first legally binding international treaty to end plastic pollution. The historic resolution agreed at the United Nations Environment Assembly points out that this agreement must address the entire life cycle of plastic. [8] “Our voice was very important in that discussion. In many countries, laws are carried out that promote leaving recyclers out of waste management and that the work remains in private hands. That leaves us completely helpless and without the possibility of fair processes that allow us to be part of the chain”, says Mella.

In Chile, for example, Law 20,920 has existed since 2016 for waste management. [9] This rule aims to reduce the generation of waste and promote its reuse, recycling and recovery. Under the "polluter pays" principle, it establishes that the generator of a waste is responsible for it, as well as for managing the costs associated with its management. “With this law we gain visibility because we are considered the real waste managers, but our work is still not valued. Our labour rights are not recognized” [10], comments Mella.

Society has a great debt with the grassroots recyclers, stresses the leader. “I think that no one would dare to do what we do: stick their hands in garbage bags and find all kinds of things. One is exposed to pollution and the mixture of odours. In no country is our work really being valued. But we have a very important role to play in reducing the impact generated by plastic pollution in the world.”

Mella is motivated by the fact that we are in the 21st century and that there are still men and women who live among waste. She reflects: “We depend on the garbage for our living, we are part of the garbage, but we don't want to become garbage. It moves me that we can get out of marginality, which is not something we choose. They forced us to live in those conditions.” And she insists: "I want the lowest quintile of this society to have the place that corresponds to it and that recyclers are recognized as fundamental actors in environmental terms."

Source

Florencia Tuchin: La chilena que quiere ser la voz de 20 millones de recicladores: “Vivimos de la basura, pero no nos queremos convertir en basura”, in: El Pais, 15-07-2022; https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/que-mueve-a/2022-07-15/la-chilena-que-quiere-ser-la-voz-de-20-millones-de-recicladores-vivimos-de-la-basura-pero-no-nos-queremos-convertir-en-basura.html

[1] Asociación Nacional de Recicladores Chile

[2] An association that represents the largest recycling industry in Chile; activated in all regions of Chile, with more than 5,000 formal associates. https://anarch.cl/quienes-somos/

[3] The Latin American and Caribbean Network of Recyclers, Red LACRE, is a representative and integrating organization of the national movements of grassroots recyclers of the continent, made up of delegates from 17 countries. It participates in regional and global initiatives, alliances and platforms, seeking to generate the conditions for the economic, social and environmental inclusion of grassroots recyclers. https://www.redrecicladores.net/somos/

[4] The Global Alliance of Waste pickers is a networking process started after the 1st World Conference of Waste pickers held in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2008. Waste pickers organizations and allies from more than 30 countries participated in this first global event organized by the Bogota Waste Pickers’ Association, Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat waste pickers’ collective of Pune, India (KKPKP), the Latin American Waste pickers’ Network, Avina Foundation and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). Since then, an International Steering Committee has met once a year in Durban, Belo Horizonte, Bangkok and Pune to give direction to our strategic vision and work. The Global Alliance is currently focusing on the sharing and exchange of information and solidarity among thousands of waste pickers’ organizations, with the support and coordination of WIEGO and contributions from waste picker leaders and allies across the world. https://globalrec.org/who-we-are/

[5] The essential role of recyclers in times of pandemic. Two million people are engaged in recycling informally in Latin America, a key task in a continent that barely reuses 10% of the garbage it generates. The covid-19 has put them on the ropes. https://elpais.com/elpais/2020/06/12/planeta_futuro/1591966071_168333.html

[6]The garbage women who lead the rebellion for their rights. In a Latin America that hardly recycles, thousands of women who work in this field demand recognition, more decent working conditions and inclusion in waste management; https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/07/30/planeta_futuro/1532951802_580050.html

[7] More than 140 million tons of plastics already pollute the planet's rivers, oceans and lakes. The OECD warns that only 9% of the waste of this material is recycled. 193 countries negotiate in the UN the first world treaty to stop this plague https://elpais.com/clima-y-medio-ambiente/2022-02-22/mas-de-140-millones-de-toneladas-de-plasticos-contaminan-ya-los-rios-oceanos-y-lagos-del-planeta.html?rel=buscador_noticias

[8] From February 28 to March 2,2022 representatives of the 193 Member States of the United Nations, business leaders, civil society and environmentalists from around the world will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, for the resumption of the fifth session of the Assembly of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEA-5), the world's main environmental decision-making body. https://unric.org/es/que-es-la-asamblea-de-las-naciones-unidas-para-el-medio-ambiente/#:~:text=UNEA%20se%20re%C3%BAne%20para%20establecer,el%20Medio%20Ambiente%20(PNUMA). Read also: https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/683799686179618816/scientists-warn-limit-on-plastic-production-is

[9] Law 20,920 for waste management, Extended Producer Responsibility and Promotion of Recycling, known as the REP Law, aims to reduce the generation of waste and promote its reuse, recycling and other types of recovery. Under the principle "who pollutes pays", the law says that the generator of a waste is responsible for it, as well as for internalizing the costs and negative externalities associated with its management. https://www.todosreciclamos.cl/ley-rep#:~:text=La%20Ley%2020.920%20para%20la,y%20otro%20tipo%20de%20valorizaci%C3%B3n.

Episode 3: My Circular Economy

Things are looking better for Slick and I now that we have some power. But the waste lands still look like...well...waste lands! We needed our own circular economy.

Ok – when I look around  – most of what I see is actually plastic.  The first thing I need to do is collect some and Slick agreed to help!

Words can't really explain what it felt like to stand at the precipice of this open landfill in Bluefields, Nicaragua.  The photos I am posting here aren't quite sufficient either.  I've been reading about wastepickers through the semester in preparation for the Co-Lab waste management project, but experiencing such a scene in person was more intensely sobering than I had expected.  I felt ashamed snapping photos and tiptoeing among the smoking heaps of soiled plastic, paper, cardboard, metal scraps and feces while women and children sorted through the freshly dumped load. 

Beyond that, I felt ashamed of the life of relative luxury that I live.  Of course, shame alone is not an especially productive reaction, and everyone has a right to enjoy whatever means they have.  But I suppose shame is better than numbness, which is what I have sadly begun to feel, and this time it came with a fiery kick to my motivations.  Lately I have been questioning why I want to work on environmental problems in developing countries when there is plenty of env work to do in the US (not to mention, near my friends), and this morning delivered a stark reminder and welcome renewal of my original motivations.  The barriers to successful waste management in impoverished cities are many, however, and it is hard to know what our team needs to do to beat the odds.  On a more selfish note, in the medium term I don't see myself sacrificing the many perks of life in the US and financial security* to continue working on this type of project. (*yes yes I said it, but I couldn't live with the burden of knowing that I would have to rely on my parents or loans if I stumble the slightist bit.)   But in my dwindling time as a student, I can stay involved in this project without giving up real world responsibility.  So I hope I can do it well, especially since it might be a while before I come back to this kind of work...

Well that was conflicted.  But here's to honesty.  In any case, our team will be blogging on Co-Lab Radio throughout the month of January, and I will definitely be posting more details on this project there if you are interested.