Threats to waste pickers (workshop notes)

Here a complete list of the threats that each wastepickers and/or organization has expressed (thanks to Federico di Maria).

They are partially ordered, but more analysis is needed.

1) Corruption/Institutional problems:

• Decision making is made secret and in a small/closed group (Serbia)
• Exclusion from law, corruption (Ezquiel/Denies, Chile)
• Distrust in authorities and their leaders (Serbia)
• Political corruption (MNCR, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
• Coruption (MNCR, Brazil)
• Coruption (MNCR, Brazil)
• Coruption (MNCR, Brazil)
• Failure to comply with the laws on policies we have managed to achieve (Implementation failure)
• Government doesn’t do anything (Paraguay)
• Government coruption
• Lack of landfills (COGIAM, Mali)

2) Waste-to-energy

• 3 W-t-E plants (AIKMM, Delhi)
• CDM (Clean Development Mechanism)
• Waste-to-energy plants: threat to livelihood (Safai Sena, Delhi)
• Waste-to-energy (Suman More, KKPKP, Pune; India)
• Waste-to-energy (Vikas, Nagar)

3) Private companies

• The threat is the private companies that want the recyclable materials to make a profit out it, while we -the wastepickers- remain with their problems (Maria Ortiz, Santa Cruz, Bolivia)
• Big private companies together with the municipality that will come out with proyectos encubiertos (like incinerators,…) that will make us disappear (Cristina, Agentina)
• World Bank, Coca Cola, WtE pretending/saying/claming to be including wastepickers (Lucia, Ecuador)

4) Privatization

• Contrancting waste to private companies (AIKMM, Delhi)
• Middle men and private companies becoming owners of waste (Martha Elena, Rionegro Antioquia, Colombia)
• Privatization (Shalini, SEWA)
• Waste collection contractors (Suman More, KKPKP, Pune, India)
• Municipalities are giving contracts to private contractors for collection of waste from door-to-door
• Privatization (Simon, SAWPA)
• Privatization in solid waste management (No wastepickers inclusion), outsourcing of waste (Jai Prakash Choudhary, Safai Sena)
• Existence of multinational companies in waste system (El Cairo, Egypt, Michael H., Soy)
• That the wastepickers will not be able to decide for their work future + privatization of their recycling work (Uruguay)
• Private waste contractors exclude wastepickers (Eileen Belamide, Philippines)
• Privatization (Aliou Fare, Book-Dion, Senegal)
• Private companies pressure to manage the “clean system”: technologies, public policies, vertical integration
• Lack of access to waste due to privatization (SEWA)
• “100 days plan”: the way that multinational companies capture the waste management
• Private companies
• Privatization (COGIAM, Mali)
• Pressure from private companies (Tecnologies, PP, Vertical integration (ANR, Colombia)
• Privatization of collection services

5) Social security (Health, pensions,…)

• Closure of transfer stations (COGIAM, Mali)
• Unstable prices of recyclable materials (China)
• No insurance, no economic support for old age (pension) (China)
• We don’t get old age pension (Suman More, KKPKP, Pune, India)
• We don’t get pensions
• Safety, Health insurance, Income guarantee (India)
• Unstable land use, volatility prices of the recyclable materials, no social ensurance and services

6) Access to waste

• Recognition to WPs (China)
• Forced eviction, Harrassment as criminal by community or police (Indonesia)
• Except for those who run a recycling company, most waste pickers are not regarded as a carreer and can’t be protected as a regular labor. Now chinese government is trying to draw up into category of flexible employment (ICO, China)
• There has been no industrial association for WPs in China. And WPs cannot voice their right and don’t know whom to turn to when they most difficulties and they fell helpless like edged people. Now chinese government & advocating harmonious society hoping WPs have their own NGOs.
• Voice for WPs NGO (China)
• No recognition
• Exclusion policies (SEWA, India)
• Government and municipal assemblies should recognize waste pickers
• They have a right
• Door-to-door collection
• no access to waste if segregation at source
• difficulties in safe and secure access to waste at privately operated transfer station (Philippines)
• Access to waste is becoming a problem (Nalini, )
• No access to waste (KKU, Kamlesh Das)
• Of waste pickers not integrated in the system then no access to waste for them if there is segregation at source
• Livelihood
• Losing access to recyclable materials (Isabel Martinez, Colombia)
• ack of technology to ensure processing of materials (machines!)
• The dump sites should be sprayed gradually because flies have invaded the (Ghana)
• We need the compost machines how to deal with organic waste (Ghana)
• The union needs a reclycling unit so that they can work with themselves (Ghana)
• Include wastepickers in MSWM
• Inclusion of WPs (Brazil)
• Inclusion of WPs (Brazil)
• Inclusion of WPs (Brazil)
• Inclusion of WPs (Brazil)

Other threads:

• WPs are not organized
• Awareness education to wastepickers
• Lack of knowledge and education
• children stay at village when parents go to cities for earning a living
• On these conditions, it is difficult to provide our children with education and provide them with an option of alternative profession
• Dependence on NGOs
• Foreign or national consultants don’t know – or have no time to learn- local situation in relation to wastepickers