Waste pickers: The unsung heroes tackling plastic pollution crisis

When Joyce Wangari was only six, she started trailing behind her mother up the waste hills in Kenya's largest landfill-Dandora.

Her mother, who died in October this year because of respiratory complications that resulted in the collapse of her lungs, had for years eked out a living from collecting waste in the dumpsite.

Every path her mother took, Joyce's little feet tried to fit in. By the time she got to her teenage years, she had become a peerless waste picker. Around this time, her mother's body started wasting away, making her miss out on going to get her daily bread.

Joyce stood in the gap and opted to quit school to focus on her waste picking career, one that she has climbed the ladder and now represents her colleagues as the secretary for the Nairobi Recyclable Waste Association.

"When you go daily to the dumpsite, two months won't pass before visiting the hospital. I suffer the same fate. It's usually something like a cold, or a congested chest," she tells Nation
 
"The waste lights itself up. The situation is usually worse on hot days. When there is rain, we breathe cleaner air because the fire at the dumpsite rarely ignites," she adds.
 
Solomon Njoroge is the chairperson of the Nairobi Recyclable Waste Association. 

Just like Joyce, he started waste-picking quite early - at only eight years old. He did that discreetly, but when he completed high school and his mother couldn't afford school fees for his secondary education, he went all out.

He has been waste-picking for over 25 years

"The dumpsite is a crisis, it is disastrous. When people see it as a place to dump their waste, I see it as a cemetery where people are buried and left to rot,” he tells the Nation

Joyce and Solomon represent over 20 million waste pickers worldwide who play an important role in reducing the plastic pollution crisis through their recovery and helping recyclers get material.

But, is that really enough?

In 2017, Kenya banned the use of plastic bags, and in 2019, the use of single-use plastic in protected areas like National Parks and beaches was also enforced through a gazette notice. 

Joyce and Solomon, who pick waste daily, tell the Nation that the dumpsite still gets volumes of single-use plastic waste that has no value.

"We still see nylon bags in the dumpsite. The problem is not the recyclers, it is the

government because it has the resources to arrest those who are going against the law," says Solomon.

Joyce tells the Nation that if there is any motivation for waste pickers to fight single-use plastic, it is because of the zero monetary returns it has to them. 

"It affects us. We rarely collect single-use plastics because no one can buy them. They mostly stay in the dumpsite unattended to, piling up the mountain of dirt," says Joyce.

With the ongoing fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC 5) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution including the marine environment, Kenya, together with South Africa, proposed just transition to be included in the negotiations.

Should it be adopted, waste pickers will be recognised as key stakeholders in reducing plastic pollution and will be offered decent working conditions that will protect their health and well-being. 

This is why Griffins Ochieng’, executive director of Centre for Environment Justice and Development, emphasised the importance of solidarity among African nations at the last rounds of negotiations happening in Busan, South Korea.

“African countries as net importers bear the brunt of plastic pollution. Previous negotiations have seen petrochemical companies dominate the discussions, sidelining the voices of High Ambition Countries. It’s time for African leaders to stand united and demand a treaty that prioritises eliminating hazardous chemicals, ensures transparency, and includes mechanisms for labeling, tracking, monitoring, and data-sharing,” he said.

In Kenya, as from November 4, plastic manufactures were given a month to set their house in order and reduce plastic pollution by being responsible for the plastic once it gets out of their factories. This is called the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is now recognised by law under the Sustainable Waste Management Act, EPR regulations 2024.

Unlike before when the plastic ban was just a gazette notice, the National Environment Management Authority’s director of enforcement, Ayub Macharia said in a press briefing that a legal notice, which is now in place. will help in increasing compliance.

“We know that the demand for single-use plastics is still high, and they are a nuisance.  When we banned plastic bags in 2017, people switched to non-woven bags, which are made of plastic and are mostly single-use. We don’t want that,” he said.

Mr Macharia said that Kenya championing just transitioning to be part of the negotiations is not just because of the waste pickers, but also manufacturers who will be given some time to reduce production, in a fair manner.

A report published by the World Bank dubbed ‘Unseen Green Jobs’ shows that despite the important role of waste pickers, they continue to be undermined because of a lack of policies that support them.

Just like Joyce and Solomon who started picking waste when they were young, the study shows that three in 10 waste pickers involve their children in the job when they are still young.

“Parents stated that this was because they had no caretakers for their children at home and had no choice but to bring the young ones to work. This was especially the case during school holidays,” shows the report.

The report recognises the role that waste pickers have in boosting the livelihoods of a large informal and unregulated sector.

“It is crucial that steps are taken to develop immediate and mid-term solutions to recognising the waste picking role as an important contributor to the green economy. Taking these actions will provide more recognition and dignity to the work of informal waste workers and improve their working conditions,” shows the report. 
 
hshikanda@ke_nationmedia.com