Informal waste pickers play an important role in waste collection and recycling. However, their integration into the municipal waste-management value chain has been a contested and politicised issue that is also technically and economically complex.
Realising the potential that waste pickers (also known as reclaimers) can bring to the waste-management value chain requires a gradual, participatory process. Much work has been done within the sector by member organisations, industry, municipalities, policymakers and researchers. This project built on these existing guidelines and focused on the sustainable employment of waste pickers.
The project proposed meaningful guidelines for the integration of informal waste picking into the waste-management value chain. The goal was to not only influence policy and practice within the City of Tshwane but also to engage with the August 2020 document Waste Picker Integration Guidelines for South Africa, an evidence-based guideline produced by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI).
Background
The aim of this project was to pilot the integration of informal waste pickers and waste-picker cooperatives into the waste value chain within the City of Tshwane. The project built on existing structures and relationships between the City and informal recyclers to develop a viable and practical approach to waste-picker integration. It took a context-sensitive approach to the implementation of the national guidelines on waste-picker integration.
Project impact
A focus on formally integrating waste pickers into the waste-management value chain will not only improve job security, it will also positively influence the green economy, enhance our efforts to combat climate change, and impact health and cleanliness in our cities.
Results from the pilot project have been shared and may have wider implications for other metros. National Treasury will be conducting a feasibility study with the City with a view to pilot the implementation of the waste picker integration framework.
October 2020: Start of project.
February 2021: Stakeholder workshop with representatives from waste-picker associations and cooperatives, decision-makers from recycling companies, paper and packaging industry associations, buy-back centres, landfill owners, experts and NGOs operating in this sector, and representatives of the City of Tshwane, the Gauteng provincial government and national government departments.
The aim of the workshop was to:
1. validate and augment the findings and insights obtained during the stakeholder consultations and from desktop research; and
2. discuss best practice, case studies and principles, which would inform the integration strategy proposal.
March 2021: Design workshop (which followed an extensive stakeholder consultation process analysis).
The aim of the workshop was to:
1. present the proposed model for the integration of informal and formal waste recyclers in the waste value chain within the City of Tshwane; and
2. discuss the model and obtain inputs from stakeholders and ensure there was alignment with existing policies and programmes.