Essential or dismissible? Exploring the challenges of waste pickers in relation to COVID-19

Waste plays an essential role during the COVID-19 crisis. This includes increased attention to the amount of waste produced, concerns with how hazardous materials are discarded and handled, or unease that sustainability and recycling efforts are derailed. However, there is a human side to waste: the people who work directly with these materials. Waste pickers are the men, women, and children around the world who rely on tossed away items for their livelihoods. Across dynamic and generally informal networks, waste pickers collect, transport, and separate our discarded materials. They are recyclers, entrepreneurs, and a key component of solid waste management systems in many countries. However, they are also subject to discrimination and unsafe working conditions. The pandemic has shed light on the nuances between vulnerability and opportunity for waste pickers. This intervention considers economic and societal structures during and beyond COVID-19 to highlight underlying concepts of health, hygiene and sustainability and how these may shape experiences of waste pickers.