When Kenya recently joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Waste Pickers Day on March 1, it was not lost on players that despite the vital role waste pickers play in environmental sustainability and urban cleanliness, their contribution has continued to go unrecognised and appreciated by many, including government authorities.
Waste pickers’ role in waste management, recycling, and environmental conservation help to reduce pollution, improve public health, and drive the country towards a circular economy where waste is minimised, and resources are reused efficiently.
Their role cannot be wished away especially in a country like ours where managing solid waste remains a major challenge in many urban areas. Most Kenyan cities and towns have inefficient waste collection and disposal systems. It is estimated that up to 45 per cent of the waste generated in Kenya’s major towns and cities is not collected. The collected waste is disposed of in open dumpsites. The bulk of waste in Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru is dumped in unmanaged landfills, which negatively affects people’s health. It is usually the waste pickers who end up collecting waste from such health-threatening landfills.
Yet, despite their crucial role and the risks they expose themselves to in the course of their work, most waste pickers largely remain unrecognised formally, earn very little, and have to contend with social stigma. The work conditions are usually hazardous, with some of them losing their lives due to constant exposure to toxic substances.
Kenya’s waste sector, which generates over 22,000 tonnes of waste daily (or eight million tonnes annually), is largely informal, with waste pickers manually sorting through dumpsites, often without protective gear or legal safeguards. The informal waste picking economy is historically associated with vulnerable groups such as street families and slum dwellers, many of them women and children. They collect garbage from the streets, bins, markets, and from waste transfer stations as well as dumpsites.
The informal nature of their operations has made waste pickers in Kenya victims of environmental injustices. They are exposed to toxic, unsafe and unhealthy work environments. Yet without them, it would be hard to bridge the waste collection service gap and have an effective link in the provision of raw materials for recycling industries.
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A case in point is the Dandora dumpsite in Nairobi, which sustains thousands of waste pickers and their families. Many waste pickers here work without protective gear and a number of them have succumbed to illnesses, mainly respiratory-related, resulting from environmental pollution.
Lack of policies that recognise the important role of waste pickers in waste management and environmental protection is to blame for waste pickers’ woes. As has been proposed by the World Bank and other concerned entities, the first crucial step in recognising the waste picking role as an important contributor to the green economy is to develop immediate and mid-term strategies that recognise and uphold the dignity of informal waste workers and improve their working conditions.
Kenya’s Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022, whose main goal was to promote circular economy through waste segregation, recycling, and producer responsibility, has been hailed as a step in the right direction. However, its implementation has been slow, and waste pickers remain largely unrecognised in official waste management structures.
Kenya can borrow a leaf from countries like Colombia and Brazil which have successfully integrated waste pickers into municipal waste systems, providing them with legal recognition, contracts, and social protections. Kenya can learn from these models and recognise waste pickers as essential workers in urban sustainability. This can be achieved by county governments registering waste pickers and formalising their role in waste collection and recycling.
Another important step is to advocate for better working conditions, fair wages, and legal recognition of waste pickers. Waste pickers should have access to protective gear, training, and improved working environments to reduce health risks.
Finally, Kenya must urgently put in place policies that integrate waste pickers into formal waste management systems. Waste pickers’ work is not just about collecting waste; it’s about sustaining livelihoods, protecting the environment, and contributing to the circular economy. It is time to recognise these unsung heroes of environmental conservation.
