Waste Pickers and Climate Change | COP 16, Climate Change Conference, Recycling Waste

Follow us at globalrec.org/blog/

2011-11-28T12:57:00.000-05:00

The Global Alliance of Waste Pickers now has a website and this blog has been incorporated into the site. Please visit the blog at http://www.globalrec.org/blog/

Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and Allies to Attend 2nd Franco-Brazilian "Waste and Citizenship Week"

2011-04-27T15:19:00.002-04:00

France Libertés in coordination with the local authority of Plaine Commune (northern suburb of Paris) will host the 2nd Franco-Brazilian "Waste and Citizenship Week" from May 24-26th, 2011. This public event share the experiences of Brazilian catadores (waste pickers) and a whole network of French participants working in waste management and the social economy. Attending the event on the part of the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and Allies include waste pickers from KKPKP/ Alliance of Indian WastePickers, as well as from the Latin American and Carribean Waste Picker Network and allies from WIEGO.

The event takes a critical look at waste management in the global south and modern waste management systems within France.

To find out more about this event and read a report on last year's event please see their website: http://www.dechets-citoyennete.org/

Serie PROhumana: Reciclaje y las 3 R

2011-03-24T21:53:00.000-04:00

Video sobre el reciclaje con Exequiel Estay de MNRCh / Red Latinoamericana.

lanacion.cl: Recicladores, fundamentales en la mitigación del cambio climático

2011-03-02T10:44:00.001-05:00

lanacion.cl: Recicladores, fundamentales en la mitigación del cambio climático
por Nancy Arancibia/Nación.cl

Aportan el 60% del reciclaje nacional y la misma cifra a nivel mundial, pero no son reconocidos por el Estado como agentes de ese cambio. En la conmemoración del Día Mundial de Reciclador, exigen su lugar en la cadena para lograr un medio ambiente más sano.

Haz clic aqui para leer mas.

Dia Mundial del Reciclador

2011-03-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

Waste Pickers Across Latin America Unite with the Waste Pickers of Colombia to Recognize “Dia Mundial del Reciclador”

Thousands of waste pickers across Latin America will demonstate today on “World Waste Picker Day” as they have each year since 2008. Dia Mundial del Reciclador brings attention to the difficult work conditions that waste pickers experience, the valuable contribution that waste pickers provide to society and the environment, and the need for waste pickers to organize to improve their work and living conditions.

Events scheduled today across Latin America include marches and days of reflection in Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Dia Mundial del Reciclador was established in 2008 during the First World Conference and Third Latin American Conference Waste Pickers to commemorate the violent deaths of 10 waste pickers in Colombia.

New Plastics Law for India

2011-02-28T09:07:00.001-05:00

India has introduced a new law on plastic waste. The new law incorporates Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastics waste management and mentions the inclusion of waste pickers, a historic first. Some key features of the law include:

A ban on open burning of plastics.
A ban on plastic bags less than 40 micron.
Consumers must pay for plastic bags.
A pdf of the law can be accessed here: http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/DOC070211-005.pdf

New Plastics Law for India

2011-02-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

New Plastics Law for India

Peru Recycles

2011-02-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

Two Recent New York Time Articles on Waste Pickers

2011-01-25T11:51:00.001-05:00

The New York Times has published two excellent articles recently on waste pickers and their contribution to the environment and society.

Upon a Hill of Scraps: Surviving on Scavenging in Iraq by John Leland, examines the economic, social and physical difficulties associated with waste picking in Baghdad and the challenges of living in slums such as Naser City, where many waste pickers live illegally ("the land is free but illegal"). The article provides some interesting insight into the perspective of policy makers - from the governor Salah Abdul-Razzaq who states somewhat resignedly “Those people need to pick up garbage because there are no chances to work,” - to the mayor Saber al-Essawy, who plans on making changes to waste pick-ups to deter waste pickers and who states “In the future, those people will have to find jobs. That’s what we want, because they are a bad mark on our society.”

In Indian Scavengers Doing What Officials Can't, Akash Kapur discusses the issue of India and garbage, more specifically how waste pickers and waste workers in the informal economy offer a solution for to the India's rising tide of garbage. "... the scale of India’s waste problems is such that the country needs every bit of help it can get. With its decades of expertise, with its existing networks of waste collectors and recyclers, the informal sector is a key partner in alleviating what is shaping up to be one of the country’s biggest environmental challenges."

Reading both articles, many issues come to mind - how society treats waste pickers, how municipalities and policy makers often undervalue the contribution of waste pickers (and see "modern" waste collection methods as superior) and how little power informal workers have in influencing the policy decisions that effect them and their livelihoods.

New York Times - thanks for the attention to the plight of waste pickers world wide. But just one issue - waste pickers aren't scavengers - they are people who make an enormous contribution to the environment and society - please try to be a bit more sensitive when referring to waste pickers in future articles.

Expocatador 2010 Highlights

2011-01-13T13:37:00.001-05:00

Approximately 3,000 waste pickers attended Expocatador 2010.
Participants included LAWPN (Latin American Waste Picker Network) representatives; Simon Mbata from South Africa; Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, past Brazilian president Lula da Silva, WIEGO and GAIA experts, AVINA and many other organizations.

In addition to panel sessions, there was the signing of various agreements between the MNCR Brazilian National Movement of Waste Pickers) and Federal Government. Some highlights include: the creation of a Human Rights hotline for street dwellers; donation of federal land plots for construction of recycling centres for cooperatives; cooperation agreements with federal banks for funding to coops.

photos by Gil Warley

Baby Mojite (KKPKP) on Climate Change

2011-01-07T11:00:00.002-05:00

KKPKP Documentary "Full Circle" now available online

2011-01-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Full Circle is a short documentary about KKPKP (trade union of waste pickers) and its work. The documentary follows the women of KKPKP, and recounts some of their hardships and their successes including the development of the recycling co-op, SWaCH.

GAIA Intervention at the 58th CDM Exective Board Meeting 26.11.10

2010-12-28T10:53:00.005-05:00

The 58th CDM EB Meeting was held in Cancun from 23-26 November 2010. Being already there, it was a good chance to do an intervention and put forward some sharpened questions on GAIA's and CDM Watch's behalf. Hope you enjoy.

You can also watch it here.

My name is Mariel Vilella and I represent the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, a worldwide network of more than 600 organizations in 89 countries working for a just, toxics-free world without incineration. Some of our member groups are wastepicker organizations; you may remember meeting a few of them in Copenhagen, where they raised questions about the CDM’s waste sector projects. As you may remember, wastepickers are concerned about the CDM’s support for incinerators and landfill gas systems, which have had the effect of displacing wastepickers from their livelihoods. It has also create a perverse incentive to increase waste disposal and therefore, increasing as well adverse effects on climate emissions.

Regarding support from the CDM to waste incineration and landfill gas systems, we'd like to bring your attention to one of the most problematic sides of the methodologies supporting waste-to-energy technologies. PDDs for incinerators and landfill gas projects routinely state that biogenic CO2 emissions do not need to be reported, following a blanket assumption that biogenic CO2 emissions are climate-neutral. However, this assumption is not being supported by science; actually, this miscalculation has been addressed by the IPCC, which explicitly states that if incineration of waste is used for energy purposes, both fossil and biogenic CO2 emissions should be estimated.

The fact that biogenic Co2 emissions are not taken into account may be a source of non-additional CERS, which should be a great concern for the CDM EB.

In facing this situation, we would like to know what steps the CDM Executive Board is taking to refine accounting for biogenic emissions.

Thank you

On behalf of CDM Watch:

Further to the submission of the methodology revision request to AM0001, CDM Watch has made 2 additional submissions, namely a revision request of methodology ACM13 and a request for clarification of AM0001. However, the revision request to ACM13 was rejected by the secretariat with the argument that the submitting entity was CDM Watch. While clarification request (AM_CLA_0191) was successfully submitted and put on the agenda of the 46^th meth panel meeting, the meeting report merely states that “the panel will conclude its consideration at a future meeting”.

Subsequently, CDM Watch was informed that the Board had started the discussion on the type of entity that might submit a request for revision of a CDM standard and that the Board had decided to request the secretariat to propose a clarification. CDM Watch was told that this discussion was scheduled to take place at EB58. However, since this discussion did not take place at this week’s meeting, CDM Watch would like to know

- how the Board is intending to address this issue,

- when the successfully submitted clarification request of AM0001 will be addressed and

- how the Board is going to address the flaws in ACM13 as outlined in the revision request.

Moreover, related to the priority of the Board to improve approved crediting methodologies, CDM Watch would like to know how the Board is addressing shortcomings of methodologies in general.

In a recent report CDM Watch has highlighted serious flaws in the methodology for the destruction of N2O from adipic acid production that result in the issuance of millions of credits which do not represent any real emission reductions. CDM Watch would like to know when the Board plans to take action with regards to this serious flaw in the methodology.

Finally more generally, GAIA and CDM Watch on behalf of civil society would like to know who concerns about the environmental integrity of methodologies can be addressed by civil society so to be taken seriously and not being rejected without even being formally considered.

Expo Catadores 2010

2010-12-21T11:40:00.002-05:00

Watch Expocatadores 2010, Live broadcasts

Dec. 21 - 23, 2010

São Paulo, Brazil

(Transmissão aovivo; Transmisión en vivo)

The Tangled Web of Waste

2010-12-13T21:55:00.002-05:00

Published in ECO ISSUE NO 10 VOLUME CXXVII December 9th, 2010

Once again, the United Nations Environment Programme has done its homework in Cancun. The newly published study Waste and Climate Change: Global Trends and Strategy Framework presents a comprehensive approach to waste reduction and recycling that takes into account the environmental and social impacts of landfill gas systems (LFG) and waste incineration.

But at the same time, the new report raises concern. There is an apparent double standard between what the report says and what the UNEP´s Risoe Centre of Analysis is actually supporting. Unfortunately, the Centre´s head insisted on promoting waste-to-energy technologies in the CDM pipeline at a press conference to launch the report held earlier this week.

The good news is that the UNEP report draws attention to waste management, as landfills are an important source of methane, definitely a key target for climate action. This is important because rapid urbanisation in developing countries, where waste management systems remain largely unregulated, has led to an increase in landfilling.

The UNEP report does a good job when it emphasizes that waste reduction is by far the best approach to waste management, and recycling is indisputably the next best. And it wisely focuses on a number of environmental problems related to waste incineration and LFG, including soil contamination and toxic emissions.

The report also acknowledges the risk and damage that these end-of-pipe technologies have on the informal recycling sector. There are 15 million people worldwide who earn their livelihood through recycling, and their health and lives are threatened when otherwise recyclable materals are destroyed in incinerators and landfills.

Given all that, why did the press conference panel say that they support expansion of LFG in Africa through the CDM? The panelists said that carbon markets can develop waste-to-energy projects as the way to deal with methane emissions.

Hang on a minute! Did they actually read the report that they were launching? And is the UNEP going to act on its own report, or will its implementation programme be driven by politics and the commercial interests of the privatized waste sector?

ECO would like the Risoe Centre to recall that the methodologies for solid waste management projects were called into revision by the CDM’s Methodology Panel last week in Cancun. We expect this will highlight that these end-of-pipe technologies are far from being science-based safe solutions.

So we had good news in the beginning and huge questions in the end. Perhaps the written words of the report will remain, while the spoken words will be gone with the wind.

Sushila Speaks

2010-12-09T18:10:00.001-05:00

Sushila Sable has represented waste pickers at two international climate conferences - in Copenhagen in December 2009 and in Tianjin China in October 2010. In this post written by Maitreyi Shankar , Sushila speaks about the experience of traveling abroad for the first time and how it feels to represent waste pickers globally.

Sushila
(photo by Gigie Cruz)

As I stepped into the aircraft, I could hear my heart pounding. With each step down the aisle, I was reminded of everything I had to go through to get the documents that got me onto this flight. The humourous sides—when I mistook a passport for a bank passbook… the long hours I had to wait at the passport office… the explanations… mixed reactions from the family… For a fleeting second, I heard some instrumental music playing somewhere in the background. “Why would someone like you need a tatkal passport?” The tune sounded familiar… It was soon overpowered by the resounding voice of the passport officer—“you have to submit your marriage certificate…Or at least a photograph of the two of you together taken at the time of your wedding.” I was livid that I needed this sanction to travel abroad; the sanction of a man whom I had not met in the past 25 years… a man who had thrown his pregnant wife out of the house a few months after the wedding. I could live with the idea of not travelling abroad but not with the humiliation of having to ask him for photographs and certificates of a time I did not want to remember. A well meaning official in the bureaucracy got my passport through.

A smiling airhostess guided me to my seat. I sat down and fumbled with the seat belt, displaying both nerves and my unfamiliarity with the situation. A kind co- passenger helped me buckle up and told me I could ask him for anything on the way. Jyotitai’s son had made me many placards—all bilingual—to be used during my flight. I was relieved that I might not have to use those cards anymore.

As the plane started to move, my throat felt dry. I had a funny feeling in my stomach. I suddenly realized that we weren’t on the ground anymore. Airborne, I looked down to see the blue plastic sheets characteristic of slum roofing in Mumbai. I took a deep breath. Suddenly I spotted a familiar tree, a corner of the street and a pile of sacks. It was the place where I used to sort waste for many years. I had spent so many hours under that tree looking at aircraft taking off. In those days I used to wonder what it was like to sit in one of them. My eyes welled up with tears. I felt humbled and a sense of extreme pride rush through me. All that happened when I was traveling to Denmark in December 2009. On my second trip abroad to Beijing in 2010, I boarded the aircraft with the comfort of boarding a bus!

I was there not only for myself but was representing waste pickers in my country and of the world. I felt this huge responsibility on my shoulders. Language was a barrier. While I heard my colleagues talking to other delegates in English, I regretted never having made it past elementary school. It was good to meet officials from India, because I could speak to them directly in Hindi. I thought the visibility event in Tianjin was excellent. I didn’t realize we had been standing there and singing for two hours. People noticed us and the issue we were there to talk about. One of the most exciting parts was inviting people for our Side Event in Tianjin. “Please come tomorrow”—followed by giggles at the sheer joy of being able to speak in English, albeit three words.

The first thing that stuck me about “foreign” was the cold. I wondered how people lived there. The country was well-to-do but I didn’t quite take to the food. Even the bread there tastes different from what we get here in India.

When I told my son I would be traveling to Copenhagen, he was thrilled. Before I left, some idle talk about my making this trip made its way to my ears. He told me to ignore it and encouraged me to grab this opportunity. On my return, he was supposed to be there at the airport to receive me. We learnt through a friend of his that he had met with an accident on the way. The cab we were in and the ambulance carrying him arrived at the hospital at the same time. I feared that people would blame me for this—as if my being so “forward” had caused this. His accident shook me—emotionally and financially.

Of course, there are some people who think I get a lot of money for these trips abroad. They assumed it covered the hospital expenses and much more. Some people thought that our organisations were flaunting our poverty for their benefit. I knew and believed otherwise and know that there are many more who think like me. The wonderful part from my travels has been that other waste pickers have started to recognize the value of what they do. None of us really knew that we played such an important part in protecting the environment and mitigating climate change, including me. Travelling to different countries and seeing other places has been a great experience for me. In the past, I didn’t really think about other waste pickers, certainly not those in different countries. Learning about their way of life, their work has been wonderful. Between the two trips, I think I had a better time in China, although there was a lot more happening at the conference in Copenhagen. I was more confident about speaking in public. The opportunity to fly was perhaps the most exciting thing for me.

About Sushila Sable

Sushila Sable has been associated with Stree Mukti Sanghatana (SMS) for the last 11 years and is also the president of a Federation of 160 self-help groups of waste pickers in Mumbai, with 1650 members. The Federation is registered with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and is affiliated with SMS. Apart from working on microfinance the federation has also set up scrap shops with the help of MCGM and also helps members to set up small business ventures. SMS is a feminist organistion working in the city of Mumbai since 1975 and working with waste pickers since 1999 in 4 cities including Mumbai.

waste pickers send greetings from Brazil

2010-12-07T04:25:00.005-05:00

Waste pickers from the MNCR send greetings from Belo Horizonte. Eliana, from ASMARE saw what is a blog from the first time by visiting the Waste Pickers and Climate Change. She said " it´s very cool to see all these people struggling together"

Catadores do MNCR enviam saudações de BH. Eliana da ASMARE viu um blog pela primeira vez ao visitar o blog "Catadores e mudança climática". Ela disse "é muito bacana ver toda essa gente lutando juntos".

Gilberto and Mateus both regional MNCR leaders saw the blog. Mateus spoke of his difficulties to assess it because he does not have a PC at home and at the computer they had at his cooperative was stolen by robbers who invaded their warehouse.

Gilberto e Mateus líderes do MNCR em Minas viram o blog. Mateus falou de suas dificuldades de assessar o mesmo pois ele não em um computador em casa e o da cooperativa foi roubado por ladrões que invadiram o galpão.

life testimony - Madalena Duarte -Brazil

2010-12-07T03:44:00.002-05:00

Last Friday I spoke with Madalena Duarte about her life and struggles and this is her message to the Cancun delegation:

"I am a waste picker since the age of 7. At that time I was a street vendor - I sold biscuits and cakes made by my mom. Out of curiousity one day I asked Dona Barbara, a next door neighbour, why she came back home everyday with a pile of cardboard. She told me then she made a living out of collecting recyclables. I then reasoned that this could be a good idea for me to help out my mom and this is how I began to work at the open dump in Itaúna.

I left the open dump at the age of 37 in 1999 to be the one of the founders of the waste pickers association COOPERT with 23 other pickers. We have a good partnership with the municipality since our foundation. The municipality collects the materials and takes them to a recycling warehouse where we work. The municipality hired this building and we have an agreement to use this building. In the beginning the municipality paid all the bills for the maintenance of this warehouse but slowly we managed to earn enough to pay for some of our own bills. The municipality is building a proper warehouse which will be ours.

I am at the MNCR since its foundation and today I am one of its representative at LAWPN. In my state, Minas Gerais, we are discussing and trying to understand how waste pickers can find a niche in the solid waste systems and not loose a livelihood. We are struggling for payment for environmental services. We have some cities that are already doing this such as Londrina, Araxá, Brumadinho.....

I want to send my greetings to the Cancun delegation,

Madalena Duarte - COOPERT- MNCR Minas Gerais"

Recyclers Tout Benefits of Their Trade at Cancún Summit

2010-12-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from IPS article on waste pickers at COP 16

Recyclers Tout Benefits of Their Trade at Cancún Summit
By Emilio Godoy

Ezequiel Estay began collecting glass bottles in 1991 after losing his job with the Chilean media conglomerate Copesa. Now, years later, he heads Chile's National Movement of Recyclers and is a leader of the Latin American Recyclers' Network, which is questioning the climate benefits of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

"We are in the first part in the chain; we are the solution for waste management. First is to prevent garbage production, then come reduce and recycle, and, finally, disposal," Estay told TerraViva.

The Chilean organisation is part of a global movement of solid waste collectors who separate out materials to supply the recycling industry with paper, plastic, glass and aluminium.

At the 16th Conference of Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under way in the Mexican resort city of Cancún, the recyclers are voicing opposition to the CDM projects being implemented at garbage dumps to capture greenhouse-effect gases.

They are also calling for the creation of an international fund of immediate access for local communities engaged in recycling practices.

The goal of the CDM, established under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, is to offset greenhouse gas emissions in industrialised nations by allowing their governments and companies to invest in emission-reduction projects in developing countries.

The countries of the industrialised North thus obtain Certificates of Emissions Reduction (CERs) that can be counted in their favour as if they were in fact reducing their own national carbon emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol, in force since 2005, requires the industrialised nations that ratified it to reduce their emissions by 2012 an average of 5.2 percent below their 1990 emissions.

"There are no public policies that recognise the recyclers' social and environmental contributions. The (CDM) initiatives tend to displace our work," Silvio Ruiz, of Colombia's National Association of Recyclers, told TerraViva.

Read the full article here http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53778

La Alianza se encuentra con pepenadores en México

2010-12-05T13:35:00.002-05:00

En el marco de las actividades que la Alianza Global de Recicladores y Aliados se encuentra realizando en la Conferencia de las Partes en Cancún, ayer 4 de diciembre hicimos un recorrido por la comuna aledaña a Cancún, en el Municipio de Tulum. En el lugar tuvimos una reunión con el Municipio y una organización que se encuentran trabajando en un proyecto de relleno sanitario para la ciudad. Hoy Tulum dispone los desechos en un vertedero donde trabajan 35 recicladores.

En nuestro recorrido compartimos con los encargados del proyecto de relleno sanitario para impulsarlos a buscar un programa de gestión de residuos que incorpore políticas de basura cero y que incluya a los recicladores en dichas políticas.

Luego visitamos el vertedero donde trabajan los recicladores (pepenadores) donde la Alianza compartió su experiencia y el trabajo que se encuentra desarrollando en el marco de la Conferencia. Quedó el contacto hecho para iniciar el desarrollo de un vínculo concreto con los recicladores de México.

A estas actividades de vinculación con los programas de residuos locales en México, así como con los recicladores involucrados, se suma un contacto realizado con la organización Si Kanda, de Oaxaca, donde alrededor de 100 familias de recicladores desarrollan programas de trabajo para la promoción y visibilización de su actividad.

Y ya todos saben, además la Alianza se hizo parte de las demandas locales de Ciudad Juárez, donde un grupo de recicladores fue apresado tras ser desalojado del vertedero donde trabajaba.

Es una gran alegría haber logrado estos vínculos locales, que han permitido fortalecer la autoestima y las luchas de los recicladores en México, y permitirán fortalecernos como Alianza en nuestras demandas.

por Magdalena Donoso

The Alliance Meets Wastepickers in Mexico

On Monday December 4, as part of the activities that the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and Allies are undertaking during COP16 in Cancun, we toured the town of Tulum, a community near Cancun. There we had a meeting with the municipality and an organization that is working on a project for the city landfill. Today Tulum disposes of waste in a landfill where 35 wastepickers working.

During our journey we shared with those responsible for the landfill project to encourage them to find a waste management program that incorporates zero waste policy and that includes wastepickers in those policies.

Then we visited the landfill where waste pickers (pepenadores) work. Here the Alliance shared it’s experience and work that is developed within the framework of the Conference. Contact was made to initiate the development of a concrete link to recyclers in Mexico.

To these outreach activities with local waste programs in Mexico, as well as the recyclers involved, we also made contact with the organization Si Kanda of Oaxaca, where about 100 wastepicker families develop work programs for the promotion and visibility of their work.

And as everyone knows, the Alliance also became part of the local demands of Ciudad Juarez, where a group of wastepickers was jailed after being evicted from the landfill where they worked.

It feels great to have achieved these local ties, which have allowes for the strengthening of the self-esteem and struggles of wastepickers in Mexico, and also allows us as the Alliance to strengthen our demands.

Support to the delegation in Cancun from Madalena Duarte

2010-12-03T12:34:00.000-05:00

Sou Madalena Duarte cooperada da COOPERT e liderança do MNCR e da Rede Latina de Catadores. Hoje aqui no Brasil hoje os catadores estão passando por um grande desafio também que é a questão da incineração. As grandes empresas de incineração já estão fechando contratos com municipios como Brasília, Unaí. Mas no Brasil os catadores estão sentando com os governos para entender melhor a questão de como a incinerção impacta os catadores. Temos que negociar mais espaços de inclusão dos catadores.A mesma preocupação que o mundo inteiro ´tem para salvar nosso planeta nòs catadores lutamos também para salvar as vidas de pessoas que estão excluídas, sem direito ao trabalho. Nossa sonho no Brasil é poder ter todos os catadores organizados. Abraços a todos da delegação. Madalena Duarte

Madalena Duarte of the COOPERT cooperative and leadership of MNCR and the Latin American Network of Waste Pickers. Today here in Brazil waste pickers (catadores) are facing a major challenge - the issue of incineration. Large companies are already closing incineration contracts with municipalities such as Brasilia, Unai. But in Brazil waste pickers are meeting with governments to better understand the issue of how incineration impacts waste picker. We must negotiate more spaces for the inclusion of waste pickers.The same concern that the whole world has to save our planet, waste pickers have also fought to save the lives of people who are excluded, without the right to work. Our dream in Brazil is having all waste pickers organized. Hugs to all of the delegation. Madalena Duarte.

Wastepickers Demand a Global Fund and Speak Out Against Incineration / Recicladores exigen fondo global y alertan sobre financiamiento de incineradores.

2010-12-02T18:43:00.005-05:00

Cancun - December 2, 2010

The Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies, through its representatives from Latin America, South Africa, and India, is in Cancun to speak out against Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects that fund waste incinerators and landfills, causing the displacement of recyclers and their undeniable and historic contribution to greenhouse gas mitigation.

“We call for the creation of a Global Climate Fund that can be directly accessed by recyclers and civil society organizations, in order to promote community-based recycling and resource recovery programs for organics, as well as waste minimization and reuse programs. In contrast with the so-called “waste-to-energy” projects of incinerators and landfills, this would actually mitigate climate change,” explained Exequiel Estay, grassroots recycler from Chile. He added: “We denounce Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects that harm recyclers and their ability to improve their living conditions and increase recycling. Support for our cause will help to create sustainable economies and green jobs.”

“Grassroots recycling is the fastest and most economic way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from products, and it also contributes to strengthening local economies and improving the living conditions of millions of recyclers,” said Mariel Vilella, a waste and climate change campaigner from GAIA, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.

Lucía Fernández, Global Wastepicker Coordinator from WIEGO (Women in Informal Economy Globalizing and Organizing), has said that “To achieve inclusive, efficient, and above all, non-privatized solid waste management, city governments need to integrate the first link in the chain of recycling: local wastepickers. In this way, international climate solutions will not emerge from polluting corporate projects approved by the CDM, but rather from the hands and work of this informal sector economy.”

TESTIMONIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Simon has been a wastepicker in South Africa for the last 13 years. “I have supported my family through this job. I am really affected by the lack of recognition and respect that my work deserves in combating climate change. The misleading false solutions of incinerating waste and capturing methane are destroying millions of livelihoods around the world and causing more emissions, destroying the planet’s resources. Wastepicking and recycling are the biggest missing pieces of the puzzle in combating climate change. Without them, the planet is still in danger.”

Supriya Bhadakwad, wastepicker from India, has been directly affected by an incinerator in Pune. “I have been associated with KKPKP for the last 18 years. From this organization I gained confidence and leadership, and now I participate in all kinds of negotiations with the municipal corporations. Our problems started last year with the intervention of a private company named Hanger, which has taken away our livelihoods, because now the waste which is generated is no longer ours to recycle.”

The Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies brings together recyclers from Latin America, Asia, and Africa with environmentalists and other supporters, to offer real solutions to waste and climate change.

For further information and interviews: Magdalena Donoso (Spanish and English) magdalena@no-burn.org

skype: magdalenadonoso

Cell phone in Cancun: 56-9-96526550

_____

Cancún 02 de diciembre 2010

La Alianza Global de de Recicladores y Aliados a través de sus representantes de América Latina, Sudáfrica e India, se encuentra en Cancún para alertar sobre el financiamiento de incineradores y rellenos sanitarios a través del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL), desplazando con ello a los recicladores y su innegable contribución histórica a la mitigación de las emisiones de efecto invernadero.

“Insistimos en la creación de un fondo global de acceso directo a recicladores y sociedad civil que promueva el reciclaje social, el compostaje de residuos orgánicos, junto a la minimización y la reutilización, como mecanismo efectivo para la reducción de la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero, en contraposición a la llamada "recuperación energética" de los residuos en incineradores y rellenos”, explicó Exequiel Estay, reciclador de base de Chile. Agregó que “rechazamos los proyectos que a través del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL) afectan a los recicladores tendientes a mejorar sus condiciones de vida y aumentar el reciclaje. Apoyarnos significa hacer más sustentables el empleo y la economía de los países.

"El reciclaje de base es la forma más rápida y económica de reducir las emisiones de efecto invernadero, a la vez que contribuye a las economías locales y a la mejora de las condiciones de vida de millones de recicladores" dijo Mariel Vilella, de la campaña de cambio climático y residuos de GAIA (Alianza Global de Recicladores y Aliados).

Lucía Fernández, coordinadora global de recicladores de WIEGO (Mujeres en Empleo Informal: Globalización y Organización), señala que “para lograr una gestión de residuos inclusiva, eficiente, y sobre todo, no privatizada, los gobiernos municipales deben integrar al primer eslabón de la cadena del reciclaje: los recicladores de base. De la misma manera, las soluciones globales climáticas no están en proyectos corporativos y contaminantes aprobados por el MDL, sino en manos de este sector de la economía informal”.

TESTIMONIOS DEL MUNDO

Supriya Bhadakwad, recicladora de la India, ha sido afectada directamente por un incinerador en la India. “He estado asociada a KKPKP desde los 18 años. Con esta organización he logrado confianza y liderazgo y ahora asisto a todas las negociaciones municipales en las instancias municipales. Nunca tuvimos problemas hasta que el año pasado la intervención de una nueva empresa llamada Hanger nos quito nuestro medio de subsistencia porque los residuos que se generaban antes ya no son nuestros".

Simon ha sido reciclador en Sudáfrica por los últimos 13 años. “He sostenido a mi familia a través de mi trabajo y he sido afectado por la falta de reconocimiento y respeto que merece mi trabajo en el combate al cambio climático. Las falsas soluciones de incineración y captura de mecano están destruyendo millones de empleos alrededor del mundo y emiten más emisiones, destruyendo los recursos del planeta. La recolección y el reciclaje son las piezas del puzzle que faltan para combatir el cambio climático. Sin ellos el planeta aun está en peligro”.

Qué es la Alianza Global de Recicladores y Aliados?

Alianza que reúne a recicladores de América Latina, Asia y África con organizaciones de apoyo y ambientalistas, para ofrecer soluciones reales a la mitigación del cambio climático y la gestión de residuos.

Contacto para mayor información y entrevistas: Magdalena Donoso (español e inglés) magdalena@no-burn.org

skype: magdalenadonoso

Celular en Cancún: 56-9-96526550

En cada uno de nosotros esta la solución, en nuestras manos

2010-12-02T17:28:00.002-05:00

Independientemente del lugar y el momento idioma religión o cultura, el estado social cultural o económico que tengan las personas vivimos bajo un mismo techo el cual estamos agujereando y en cada uno de nosotros esta la solución, en nuestras manos! Y digo nuestras manos muy orgullosamente por estar trabajando por dar una mejor calidad de vida a los que están solucionando el problema de casi la mayoría, como es el manejo de residuos. Aparte de alternativa económica de subsistencia para muchas personas, es una alternativa para todos para la vida misma. Estoy en la cop16, en Cancún México, defendiendo el fondo global directo hacia los recicladores y rechazando el financiamiento hacia soluciones falsas como son los incineradores. Desde costa rica trabajo con un programa de reciclaje en el cual para mi organización de mujeres Asofamisae ha sido todo un reto en la parte económica. Y esto que contamos dichosamente con el apoyo logistico de recoleccion y divulgacion nuestro proyecto hubiese sido un fracaso. Es por esto que de contar con este fondo tendríamos dentro del país, este y otros proyectos de reciclaje de igual interés con un futuro mejor.

Marlen Chacon

Excerpt from "Respect for Recyclers" a GAIA publication

2010-12-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

While municipally-run recycling systems are commonplace in industrialized countries, in the developing world, most recycling is done by wastepickers. Wastepickers are self-employed workers, mostly in the informal economy, who retrieve reusable and recyclable items from the waste stream.

Wastepickers collect, sort, clean and in some cases, process the recyclables, returning them to industry as an inexpensive and lowcarbon raw material. In doing so, wastepickers relieve the public authority of much of the expense of waste management and lengthen the lifespan of landfills.

Recycling provides a livelihood to approximately 15 million people worldwide – 1% of the urban population in the developing world. Wastepickers can be incredibly efficient recyclers, achieving recycling rates higher than 80% in places where they handle organic material, such as Cairo.

Yet, in spite of their efforts, much municipal waste around the world is not effectively recycled. Wastepickers thus represent a huge opportunity to reduce GHG emissions through increased recycling rates, if given the proper recognition and support.

Read the entire publication:

Excerpt from Giles Parkinson of the Business Spectator....

2010-12-02T12:49:00.000-05:00

What do we want?! When do we want it?!

The first demonstration was held inside the Moon Palace today, with a dozen or so waste collectors from South American countries, India and Africa protesting against waste projects funded by the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism. The CDM is designed to bring investment in emissions abatement projects in developing countries, but the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers and Allies complains that its members were losing their jobs because of the emergence of huge landfills and waste incinerators, and families that made their living – or even lived – on large rubbish tips were being moved and disenfranchised.

The entire article can be found here:CLIMATE SPECTATOR: Cancun calling – one small step

Photos provided by Lucia Fernandez.