On August 16, 2013, over 250 waste recyclers of Safai Sena held a protest in front of Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam office. Many of them marched over 12 kilometers despite heavy rains that day. The protest was organized to raise a collective voice against the illegal collection of money by private contractors and exploitation of waste recyclers in Kavi Nagar and Mohan Nagar zones.
Join us by signing this letter to Mexican authorities requesting protection for Jorge Tadeo Vargas, an activist who struggles peacefully for environmental and social justice from the territories.
Waste pickers have found that collective action in defense of their rights and livelihoods is an effective solution to transforming the difficult working conditions, discrimination and harassment they face.
La cooperativa El Álamo está formada por 60 cartoneros que recuperan materiales reciclables por un total de 200 toneladas por mes, evitando que estos materiales vayan al relleno sanitario. El Gobierno de la Ciudad de Bs.As. planea construir en un mes un túnel bajo nivel reduciendo las dimensiones del actual lugar hasta convertirlo en un sitio inutilizable para la tarea que realiza la cooperativa.
The documentary “Catador”, meaning “Waste Picker”, which explores the struggle of the 246 waste pickers of Gericinó, in Rio de Janeiro, as they face the closure of the dump that has sustained them and their families. The documentary was made by Professor Andrew Mills of Northwestern University (United States) with students from th
A Montevideo bill proposed for January 2014 would create “exclusionary zones” where waste pickers and their horse-drawn carts would not be allowed to enter. The bill involves not only the exclusion of waste pickers but the privatization of recyclables only accessible to so-called “authorized” parties.
Manwara, a waste picker, has been in Delhi since her childhood. She chose this work to add to her husband’s income who is also a waste picker. Recently, Manwara’s dream turned ugly when her innocent children were blamed for a theft that happened in the nearby area. She was unaware that her being waste picker would make her so vulnerable to being accused, harassed, and suffers violence openly.
Currently wastepickers have to deal with this waste as part of household waste that they collect and also when they are picking from containers, dumps and landfills. In the recent years the amounts of this waste is also rising rapidly. As you can imagine handling this waste with their bare hands is particularly degrading and can impact the health of women who can have a compromised immune system from malnutrition and hardships.
On July 26, Safai Sena sent letters to New Delhi’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the Women and Child Department and the Delhi Commission for Women detailing what happened to the Safai Sena waste picker and her son on July 19 and calling for a number of actions and reforms. (the letters were written by Jai Prakash Choudhary, Safai Sena secretary)
The National Waste Pickers’ Movement of Brazil (MNCR) participated on July 31st in the launch of the third edition of Cataforte, a federal program whose purpose is to strengthen waste pickers’ organizations. The objective is the restructuring of waste pickers’ networks and associations so that these solidary networks become more capable of performing recycling service for municipalities, as well as to become involved in reverse logistics (producer responsibility) and begin to commercialize their recyclable materials, with the goal of reaching 35 networks.
On the occasion of the “Waste Picker Regional Training and Consultation”, held from July 30-31, 2013 at the UCCP Shalom Center, Davao City, we stand committed and united in mind, voice, and action to attain our dreams and aspirations of a better situation and livelihood, that we may rise above our poverty and ensure a better future for our children.
“Amidst incessantly growing joblessness, the government should uphold pro-poor projects and legislations that will improve occupational health and safety of waste pickers, secure their employment and encourage more unemployed Filipinos to enter the recycling industry,” said Thomas Kellenberger, Founding President of the Philippine Island Kids International Foundation, Inc.
On the occasion of this meeting, dubbed “Waste Picker Regional Training and Consultation”, July 24-25 at the University of Cebu, Banilad, Cebu City, we stand committed and united in mind, voice, and action to attain our dreams and aspirations of a better situation and livelihood, that we may rise above our poverty and ensure a better future for our children.
Congratulations to the association of waste pickers of the Mao landfill, in the Dominican Republic, for hosting their first assembly on July 21st. “We continue to move forward towards the creation of the National Movement of Waste Pickers of the Dominican Republic,” the Asociación de los Recicladores del Ecoparque Rafey said on their facebook page. See their facebook post with photos.
El documental “Clasificadores. Algunas experiencias del trabajo con residuos en Uruguay” es uno de los productos comunicacionales elaborados y pretende reflejar las condiciones en las que viven y trabajan los clasificadores de residuos sólidos así como algunas de sus principales reivindicaciones.
