Background: Circular waste picking in South Africa

Informal waste pickers (‘reclaimers’) play a central role in South Africa’s waste economy. They collect 80-90 percent of used packaging and paper that is recycled[i], and are key in achieving South Africa’s 57 percent overall recycling rate[ii]. Waste pickers provide important inputs for industrial production, and save South African municipalities millions of rands a year in landfill costs[iii]. Informal waste picking also provides livelihoods for almost 100,000 people[iv], including migrants and refugees, with many more across South Africa and the wider region supported by the income from this activity. Waste pickers also make a huge environmental contribution, diverting waste from landfills and reducing associated externalities. Yet, informal waste pickers in South Africa face various challenges. Often maligned, they are subject to health risks and dangerous working conditions[v]. They endure low incomes and exploitation by unscrupulous intermediaries. They may also find themselves in conflict and even deprived of livelihoods by local authorities[vi]. Women waste pickers are especially vulnerable[vii]. 

The below presents insights from initial discussion of the case ‘Circular waste picking in South Africa’ in a professional development workshop (PDW) at the Academy of Management International Conference 2022, on ‘Circular Economy and the Puzzle of Formalisation’.

Circular waste picking in South Africa: Prospects, lessons and questions

In 2020, South Africa released its Guidelines for Waste Picker Integration (GWPI), which aim to provide a blueprint for building a circular ‘recycling economy’, and improving livelihoods through integration of informal waste pickers[viii]. The GWPI offers guidance for industry, municipalities, and waste pickers, and was developed through partnership between government, academics, industry, and organizations like the South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA) and African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO). The GWPI showcases the importance of partnerships for developing solutions to complex sustainability challenges, including the creation of inclusive circular economies in the Global South. It further illustrates the importance of hearing marginalized voices for inclusive and responsive policy design. Also revealed is the role of organizing by informal actors for the development of inclusive circular economies, in this instance representative organizations like the SAWPA and ARO amongst others. Such organizations can strengthen the bargaining power and amplify informal voices. Wider actors can also support such action, in this case the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), and academics.

Waste economies and value chains are knowledge intensive, and require knowledge co-creation and iteration for sustainability. The case of circular waste picking in South Africa highlights the need to recognise, value, and build on indigenous knowledge e.g. the expertise of waste pickers, for the development of inclusive circular economies. The value of knowledge exchange across the global South is also evident, with development of the GWPI drawing upon similar guidance produced for Latin America countries and best practice cases like the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil[ix]. Inspiration can also be drawn from academic work examining interventions to support waste pickers elsewhere in the Global South e.g. Egypt[x].

Waste picking creates opportunities to achieve various Sustainable Development Goals, including ‘Decent work and economic growth (goal 8)’, ‘Reduced inequalities (goal 10)’, ‘Sustainable cities and communities (goal 11)’, and ‘Responsible consumption and production (goal 12)’. In South Africa, it also contributes to addressing urgent national development challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment, and achievement of Vision 2030. Across South Africa, informal waste pickers can be found in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. They still require further policy attention, measures to support their mainstreaming and integrating, and the creation of more conducive environments for them to thrive. If achieved, this has the potential to inspire inclusive grassroots development, with ripple effects across the country and contributing to agendas like ‘Leave No One Behind’ and ‘Building back better’.

The case of circular waste picking in South Africa, finally, raises important critical questions. First, about the extended responsibilities of waste producers for developing inclusive circular economies in the Global South, what role can and should they play in waste picker integration? Secondly, whilst the GWPIs are a positive step, waste pickers in South Africa, as elsewhere[xi], continue to be excluded from decision-making and ignored in the design of municipal waste management systems, how can this be changed? Lastly, how can waste picker integration in South Africa and elsewhere advance to full formalization? Where next after integration and how do we get there?

Next steps and future study       

Future work might examine successful and unsuccessful cases of partnerships for circular waste picking in South Africa, exploring how and why they led to waste picker inclusion/ exclusion. This could include study of how informal waste pickers complement or conflict with mainstream actors, and how indigenous knowledge and approaches are integrated or ignored in waste value chains. New work might further examine issues of power, participation, politics and the responsibilities of different actors in developing inclusive circular waste economies in South Africa. The role and organizing by informal actors to build inclusive circular waste economies could also be studied. As could new and non-traditional forms of organizing in this domain e.g. social/sustainable enterprises and cooperatives.

Waste picking is an important livelihood activity, and contributes positively to the environment and economies across the Global South. There is therefore much potential to explore and compare circular waste picking practices in South Africa with those elsewhere. What more can be learnt and shared to support waste pickers across the Global South, and how can academic work positively impact the lives of informal circular economy waste pickers in South Africa and globally.  

This blog post aims to provide a starting point in exploring the case of circular waste pickers in South Africa, including the questions it raises and its connections with wider conversations on the intersection of informal and circular economies in the Global South – see the recent perspective piece in Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Whilst recognizing the value of existing work by academics and organizations in this area, we think there still much to be considered, and look forward to future conversations on this topic. If you are interested in discussing this topic with us, please get in touch.

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[i] Godfrey, L., Strydom, W. and Phukubye, R. (2016). Integrating the informal sector into the South African waste and recycling economy in the context of Extended Producer Responsibility. CSIR Briefing Note, February. Available online: https://wasteroadmap.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/informal_sector_2016.pdf (Accessed 25/08/2022).

[ii] Godfrey, L. and Oelofse, S. (2017). Historical Review of Waste Management and Recycling in South Africa. Resources, 6 (57): 1-11.

[iii] Godfrey et al. (2016), op. cit.

[iv] Samson, M., Kadyamadare, G., Ndlovu, L., & Kalina, M. (2022) ’Wasters, agnostics, enforcers, competitors, and community integrators’: Reclaimers, S@S, and the five types of residents in Johannesburg, South Africa, World Development, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105733

[v] Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and Department of Science and Innovation (2020). Waste picker integration guideline for South Africa: Building the Recycling Economy and Improving Livelihoods through Integration of the Informal Sector. DEFF and DST: Pretoria.

[vi] Samson, M. (2021). Johannesburg is threatening to sideline informal wastepickers. Why it’s a bad idea, The Conversation, May. Available online: https://theconversation.com/johannesburg-is-threatening-to-sideline-informal-waste-pickers-why-its-a-bad-idea-159969#:~:text=It%20is%20bad%20for%20the,are%20a%20low%20carbon%20alternative (Accessed 25/08/2022)

[vii] Ogando, A.C., Roever, S. and Rogan, M. (2017), ‘Gender and informal livelihoods: Coping strategies and perceptions of waste pickers in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America’, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 37(7/8), 435-451.

[viii] Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and Department of Science and Innovation (2020), op. cit.

[ix] Dias, S. M (2011) Recycling in Belo Horizonte, Brazil – An Overview of Inclusive Programming, WIEGO Policy Brief (Urban Policies) No 3. Available online:  https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/Dias_WIEGO_PB3.pdf (Accessed 25/08/2022)

[x] Jaligot, R., Wilson, D. C., Cheeseman, C. R., Shaker, B., & Stretz, J. (2016). Applying value chain analysis to informal sector recycling: A case study of the Zabaleen. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 114, 80-91; Hashem, E. (2020). Factors affecting solid waste recycling in Egypt. Journal of International Business and Economics, 8(1), 1-21.

[xi] Guardian (2022). ‘No rules in this job’: Cairo’s violent waste wars pit sorters against startups. Available online:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/12/no-rules-in-this-job-cairo-waste-wars-pit-sorters-against-startups-abaleen-garbage-people (Accessed 25/08/2022)