"Market-driven approaches to plastic pollution won't end inequalities—and waste pickers are speaking up"

In Busan, South Korea, talks on a global treaty on plastic pollution, which were held from November 25 to December 1, ended in failure. Negotiations are due to resume at a later date.

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The focus on plastics recycling and waste management affects millions of waste pickers in Asia, South America and Africa. These informal workers, often living in extreme poverty, recover, reuse or resell plastics, textiles, aluminum and other valuable materials from waste.

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Waste pickers—and others working with them in informal and cooperative settings—do a large part of the world's recycling work. They significantly reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the oceans.

Despite this, and because they do "dirty work" and live in "dirty places," they are often blamed for plastic pollution. Their work has long been derided as unskilled and inefficient in municipal and national policy discourses. The lack of official recognition of their work makes their livelihoods particularly unstable and precarious. Environmental regulations can exacerbate these threats by accelerating the privatization of waste management ...

Informal recyclers, represented by the International Alliance of Waste Pickers, have leveraged the plastic treaty negotiations to demand recognition of their work. They have asked for their "historic contributions to plastic pollution reduction" to be explicitly recognized and for a just transition objective to be included in the plastics treaty.

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