Worker Protections in a Time of Crisis: Waste Lessons From Covid-19
One organization’s fight for waste workers and environmental justice
Management of plastic pollution is a global endeavor, involving a variety of actors in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. But what about actors, such as waste pickers and other waste workers, who work within the liminal space of the informal economy? How can we protect these informal, yet crucial, workers?
Especially in South Asia, where 75% of all waste ends up in open dumps, informal waste pickers play a crucial role in maintaining recycling systems, sorting through waste by hand — often without personal protective equipment (PPE) — and identifying recyclable materials. Waste picking is an important source of income for thousands of people. And, especially given the context of a global pandemic, waste pickers are essential workers.
This is the main position taken by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, or GAIA. GAIA advocates for workers’ rights through organizing media campaigns, influencing policy development, and providing a support network for member organizations and cities. Its grassroots empowerment projects, which facilitate mutual support networks, give waste pickers a platform for political mobilization.
GAIA’s key strategy centers the health and wellbeing of waste pickers within the discussion surrounding plastic pollution, raising awareness about the work done on a daily basis that many people are not aware of.
The organization aims to shift the discourse surrounding essential workers to be inclusive of waste pickers and other waste workers — because the way we talk about things matters. Further, centering the people who live and work in “away” places within the conversation about waste destabilizes the global North focus of mainstream waste discourses.
To get an insight into the operations that GAIA undertakes to advance the rights of waste workers, I met with Miko Aliño, Program Manager at the GAIA Asia Pacific Office. “Covid has highlighted society’s historical debt to waste pickers and waste collectors,” Aliño says. Waste workers face hazardous conditions and restrictions, which GAIA has documented through its reports, such as Discarded: Communities on the Frontlines of the Global Plastics Crisis. “It’s difficult for waste pickers because they are not always employed by governments, where they can receive a daily wage.”
“Covid has highlighted society’s historical debt to waste pickers and waste collectors”
Waste pickers are at a higher risk in lower-income areas, where less protections are in place. These essential workers not only face the danger of working with biohazardous waste, such as disposable masks and tissues. Early in the lockdown, waste pickers lost access to recyclable materials, landfills and dumpsites across the Asia Pacific region, as this was not considered essential work.
Because many scrap shops have remained closed, waste workers have been unable to recycle fully — and, in the process, unable to earn money and support their families.
Waste workers fall under informal workers, such as the contracted employees recognized through public-private partnerships, and independent contractors, who may or may not be recognized. “Governments must recognize that waste collection is an essential service, whether done by formal or informal collectors, and recovery schemes are needed to cover basic needs for food, housing, and medicine until things are normalized,” Aliño adds.
Informal waste workers’ primary source of income is decentralized, coming from user fees paid by residents who use their services. The suspension of scrap shop operations has led to increased instability of income and lowered job security. Coupled with lowered purchasing power for essential care such as medication and mental health services and a lack of Covid-19 safety measures, this has increased the precarity that waste pickers face.
So how can we support waste pickers? Aliño notes that households must properly sort waste and minimize contamination of recyclable materials. It’s also important for residents to talk to governments and lawmakers about waste picker protection and look for groups that support waste workers, such as EcoWaste Coalition in the Philippines, which is advocating for a law to safeguard rights for waste pickers at the national level. Readers can also donate to GAIA’s Emergency Solidarity Fund, which provides emergency support in response to applications from GAIA member organizations. Through this fund, over $200,000 has been distributed to support essential waste workers since April.
Households must properly sort waste and minimize contamination of recyclable materials.
During the pandemic, GAIA has hosted webinars that are open to the public and broadcasted on Facebook live. Previous webinars have covered zero waste initiatives and waste worker mobilization projects across South and Southeast Asia. The organization also runs the Zero Waste World website, which serves as a resource for its members and the public.
There is still much work to be done in advancing the rights of waste pickers and other people involved in the informal economy. As the world moves towards zero waste, we are increasingly seeing a trend towards social inclusion of waste pickers. This includes public-private partnerships, such as the SWaCH Cooperative in Pune, India, and government support of waste pickers, such as the hazard pay implemented in Navotas, Philippines.
“Covid is showing that recycling is broken.”
“Covid is showing that recycling is broken,” Aliño concludes. “Long-term, we want policy to be put in place to institutionalize protection and support, including hazard pay, Covid-19 testing, and mandatory health care at the national level.” This will help incorporate these essential workers into the formal economy without usurping their economic livelihood.
Andrew is a critical waste studies researcher and recent UCLA graduate with a B.A. in international development studies and geography. He is passionate about source reduction, kittens, and oat milk.
