
Category: Denunciations

From the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) we want to express our strongest repudiation and publicly denounce the brutal police repression exercised against our member...

Dry waste centre and the basis of our livelihood have been destroyed
The Dry Waste Collection Centre (DWCC) in ward 177, JP Nagar (India), was set on fire on 20th May 2023. The centre is run by Kumuda, a former waste picker who put her own money int...

Waste picker shelters burned in Bantar Gebang Landfill (Indonesia)
On March 15, at 2pm Indonesia time, shelters of members of Ikatan Pemulung Indonesia (Indonesia Waste-pickers Union – IPI) were burned near Bantar Gebang Landfill (in Bekasi,...

Fire outbreak in waste picker homes in Ghana
On March 16, 15 waste pickers in Ghana at Kpone landfill lost their properties due to a fire outbreak at their quarters that started during the night. Their homes, where they lived...

YoSoyLiliana: Condemnation of violence against a waste picker in Colombia
While Liliana Ospina Corrales, a waste picker by trade from the Planeta Verde Cooperative, was making her route to provide waste recovery public services, the neighbours and the co...

Waste pickers from São Caetano do Sul abandoned amid the crisis
On June 8, 2020, amid the worst sanitary, economic and humanitarian crisis of the new millennium, the autarchy responsible for waste management in the municipality of São Caetano ...

Let waste pickers work in Porto Alegre
Immediate repeal of the Melo Law. Right in the middle of the pandemic, the Melo Law, named after the former councillor and current candidate to mayor of Porto Alegre, known as the ...

We repudiate the abuse of Lebanon’s waste pickers!
RECYCLERS IN LEBANON ARE NOT DISPOSABLE!
The Global Alliance of Waste Pickers stands in solidarity with fellow recyclers in Lebanon in these difficult times.
The explosion in Beirut exposed them to worse conditions of vulnerability, abandonment and more abuse than they had been suffering since the beginning of the pandemic. Especially to migrant workers.
We denounce the failure of the multinational company RAMCO to pay the nearly 200 recyclers, we call for their prompt repatriation for the ones who wish to be repatriated to the embassies of Bangladesh, Indonesia and Egypt, and advocate for a better recovery of recyclers infected with COVID 19.

Two waste pickers imprisoned and denied access to medicines and food in South Africa
Update 2020.07.07: Justice and George have been released today from jail. “The detention of the Applicants is declared unlawful and unconstitutional”, read the full jud...

Another brutal killing of a waste picker in Kenya
Our friend and a fellow waste picker Warren Jirongo, a 26 years old man at Kawangware, Nairobi (Kenya), was killed last month. He was brutally stabbed to death by his landlord over...

Waste Pickers under Attack in Downtown Buenos Aires
In April, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires deployed garbage containers that excluded and stigmatized urban waste pickers.These are smart containers that can only be opene...

India’s cleanest city Indore evicting waste-pickers from work
The Alliance of Indian Waste-pickers condemns exclusion of waste-pickers in Indore. To prepare for Swachh Bharat Survey 2019 (Clean India Survey 2019), the Indore Municipal Corpora...

Indore’s Wastepicker in Buenos Aires
Koushlya Bai is a waste-picker from Indore, associated with Janvikas Society. She is participating in the exchange of the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers, as a representative of A...

Call from RENAREC to stop the removal of the redeemable tax on plastic bottles (IRBP)
Drawing from the meeting between delegates of the Ministry of Industry and Productivity (MIPRO) of Ecuador and private employers due to the possible removal of the IRPB, the Nation...

Report of persecution and harassment of leader waste pickers in Colombia
The Association of Waste pickers of Bogota (ARB) published this report (download PDF) describing the current condition experienced by trade union leaders in Colombia. This associat...
Violent Assault of Waste Pickers Near Genesis Landfill, Johannesburg
On June 20th, at least 70 reclaimers (waste pickers) were violently attacked in a raid by the Red Ants, a private security company specialising in evictions. The attack took place ...

Bengaluru’s Dry Waste Collection Centres Are Not Being Paid for Their Work
Bengaluru (India) city’s dry waste collection centres (DWCCs) operated by erstwhile waste-pickers and waste collectors have not been paid their dues for more than a year. The DWC...

Condemnation of the brutal killing of a waste picker in Rajkot (India), demand for immediate action
This is the letter endorsed by members of the Alliance of Indian Waste-pickers condemning the killing of Mukesh Vaniya, a waste picker in Rajkot Rajkot, Gujarat (India). Dated: 25t...

The criminalization of street waste pickers in Brazil: a human rights crisis
When it comes to recycling policy, Porto Alegre is a city of firsts. In 1986, Porto Alegre became the first Brazilian city to legally recognize a waste picker organization. In 1990...

Brazilian waste pickers say there is a scarcity of recyclable material
The cruel face of the economic crisis can be best observed in the daily life of waste pickers. In the past four months, there has been a huge drop in the volume of recyclable mater...