What are the challenges that waste pickers face in their cities?

Conversations with waste pickers from 16 cities around the world shed light on many of these challenges. This collaborative project involving CoLab-MIT and WIEGO seeks to understand the relationship between formal waste management and the informal recycling sector. Using interviews carried out during the Global Strategic Workshop for Waste Pickers (held in Pune, India, in 2012), the project shows the global state of waste pickers’ organizations and their relationship with municipalities, city by city. If you click over the map in the city of interest, you will find 1) a waste pickers’ personal story, 2) the official waste management system, 3) the informal recycling system, 4) waste pickers’ organization and 5) current central issues.

The Cities and Waste project was commissioned by Lucía Fernández, of WIEGO, in March of 2012. It was completed by Leslie Vryenhoek, Libby McDonald and Federico DeMaria in October of 2012. Information from Cities and Waste should be cited as follows: Fernandez Lucia, Vryenhoek Leslie, Mc Donald Libby, DeMaria Federico, Cities & waste report, WIEGO-MIT, 2014, http://www.globalrec.org/cities/