Meet the Real Hero of Today, Tomorrow & Future - Shaping the Global Policies

After a childhood on the dump, John Chweya wants to ensure rights are enshrined in UN pollution treaty

As a boy John Chweya was one of many children who scrambled over the mountain of stinking waste at Kachok dump, using a magnet that he dangled over the rubbish to pull out metal scraps and earn a living.

Over the years since, global companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Nestlé have increased production to meet the demands of the billion of people, and plastic bottles have replaced metal as the source of income for those who pick through the garbage in Kisumu, the third-largest city in Kenya.

Today in the multibillion-dollar recycling industry, it is the people who live and work on rubbish mountains across the world who are the invisible backbone of waste recycling and enable multinational companies to meet their targets to reduce its use.

Leader of Kenyan waste pickers: ‘We are the backbone of recycling’

Waste pickers are increasingly included in municipal waste management plans and policy frameworks across various countries.

• Waste pickers are responsible for collecting and recovering up to 60% of all waste for recycling.
• These workers are key to preventing pollution, yet their work is rarely valued, they struggle to earn a living, and are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, two experts explain.
• They are also most likely to suffer ill health as a result of pollution – by inhaling fumes from burning plastic and breathing air tainted by microplastics.
• But a new global waste management treaties aims to change all this by putting waste pickers at the centre of its strategy to curb plastic use.

Historic recognition

Waste pickers are increasingly included in municipal waste management plans and services in various countries. Beyond collecting and sorting waste, waste pickers have also taken roles teaching people how to recycle waste properly. Multinational companies which generate a lot of plastic packaging, including Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Unilever and Nestlé, recently signed up to an initiative which would commit them to improving the rights of people in the informal waste sector who recover plastic to make recycled packaging with. It’s hoped this process might eventually lead to manufacturers buying recycled material directly from waste pickers, fairer prices and improved health and safety standards.

Now, waste pickers are also partners in devising the global treaty to curb plastic pollution. A ten-strong delegation from the International Alliance of Waste pickers (IAW) is attending the negotiations in Uruguay to influence the treaty as it takes shape. The IAW demands to be represented in all future treaty discussions – and, for this reason, has called for ring-fenced United Nations funding for six waste pickers from different regions to attend subsequent meetings.

Time for India to take Stand for these Real Heroes

The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules passed in January 2000 (but came into effect in January 2004) under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India, after directions from the Hon. Supreme Court of India in the Almitra Patel case, mandating a comprehensive policy for collecting, handling and managing solid waste. The Rules direct the municipalities in 41 Class I municipalities to extend their mandatory responsibility (collection from common points) and undertake measures for door-step collection of waste and citizens education for source segregation.

Although the Rules do not make a specific mention of waste-pickers, they are explicit in offering a wide range of choices to the municipalities in the systems that they may want to adopt depending upon local conditions. Contracting out the system of doorstep garbage collection, partly or fully, to both local and multinational operators is the most popular because there is a strong lobby that believes that privatisation of garbage collection is cheaper and more efficient. Frequently these measures displace waste-pickers as the contracting party now has direct control over the waste and its disposal.

Size and Significance

Estimates of the total number of waste pickers in the country are not easily available. However, some estimates, city wise have been recorded in some studies. In Ahmedabad city there are an estimated 30,000 waste pickers – a large proportion of them are women and children. In the state of Gujarat overall there are estimated to be over 100,000 waste pickers. Another study of Delhi estimates that the numbers of waste pickers in Delhi alone would be approximately 100,000. The total population of waste pickers in Pune is estimated to be 6,000, according to one study, of whom 72 per cent are women.

What's Happening ?

Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission -Urban (SBM-U) on October 2, 2014 with the objective to scientifically process all the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the country.

To carry forward the progress made, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-U) 2.0 has been launched on October 1, 2021 for a period of five years, up to October 1, 2026, with a vision of achieving Garbage Free Status for all cities through 100% source segregation, door to door collection and scientific management of all fractions of waste, including safe disposal in scientific landfills. It is also aimed at remediation of all legacy dumpsites and converting them into green zones. As on date, out of total waste generated i.e. 1,52,245 MT/D, a total of 1,14,183 MT/D (75%) of waste is processed.

What's Not Happening?

In India, establishing formal waste management across the country via public-private partnerships would require US$5 billion every year, if it is even possible to implement on the ground. The informal sector, however, requires less infrastructure, is highly responsive to economic signals, and is very flexible. Making sure our interventions enable the informal waste sector is economical, environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive.

When governments develop policies and allocate municipal funding for waste management, they must consider the role of informal waste workers. Recognizing and supporting them is a practical policy consideration that can save cost, improve waste management and achieve better social inclusion.