Formalization of wastepickers in Bogota and Lima: Recognize, regulate, and then integrate?

Abstract

Waste management models in Colombia and Peru are at a turning point in favor of the integration of informal waste pickers. The Capital District of Bogota and Lima's fifty municipalities are putting in place formalization processes that are more than just a formality. It involves recognizing, regulating and integrating wastepickers. The study of the processes at work in these two cities reveals distinct models of formalization with contrasting impacts on the informality and the marginality of a practice and the population dedicated to it.

Economía informal, chatarreo y marco social.

“…Otros procesos han sido más inclusivos con los recicladores, desde el reconocimiento de su trabajo, su formalización e inserción en el sistema oficial de gestión de residuos. En los casos de Bogotá (Dias, 2016;Tovar, 2018;Rateau y Tovar, 2019), Montevideo (O'Hare, 2019), Lima (Rateau y Tovar, 2019) y Belo Horizonte (Dias, 2016) se han dado procesos de inclusión de los recicladores informales con fórmulas diferentes, constituyendo cooperativas y/o gestionando su inclusión en empresas, con similares o diferentes requerimientos que los exigidos a las empresas mercantiles, etc. Estos procesos, algunos de los cuales continúan desarrollándose, han tenido resultados desiguales acerca de la mejora laboral y de condiciones de vida de los recicladores informales.…”

“…Estos procesos, algunos de los cuales continúan desarrollándose, han tenido resultados desiguales acerca de la mejora laboral y de condiciones de vida de los recicladores informales. Si bien se trata de procesos, ciudades y países distintos, cabe destacar tres aspectos comunes que han facilitado estos procesos de inserción laboral formal: la organización de los recicladores informales, un discurso que valoriza su actividad (mantienen limpia la ciudad, favorecen la salud pública y constituyen un eslabón clave del proceso de reciclaje) y un sólido arraigo en comunidades y movimientos sociales (Dias, 2016;Tovar, 2018;Rateau y Tovar, 2019;O'Hare, 2019). En algunos de estos países se ha dado incluso reconocimiento judicial al papel histórico de los recicladores informales, como en Colombia, con sucesivos pronunciamientos y sentencias de la Corte Constitucional (Tobar, 2018).…”

Global review of human waste-picking and its contribution to poverty alleviation and a circular economy

“…informal economy should be seen as an inclusive process, not only linked to legal economic activities but also serving as a means to define the social contract and to support nation-building. A study carried out by Rateau and Tovar (2019) stated that formalisation is accompanied by the institutional recognition of an activity and a group of people who have remained marginalized for a long time, such as waste pickers. Naidoo (2022) added that transition from the informal to the formal economy should apply a theory of change as this transition needs to be shaped based on the waste pickers needs, harnessing resources from the formal economy and structuring legal frameworks that prioritise health and social protection.…”

“…However, there are various models with successful indicators in existence in several developing countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and India, where recycling is formalised as part of the municipal public service and waste pickers have the opportunity to be properly recognized as workers (WIEGO 2013). In Colombia, the constitutional court, in judgment N • 275 of 2011 states that waste pickers historically play a highly important role as environmental stakeholders, while in Peru, Law N • 27 419 specifies that the state recognizes the activity of waste pickers and promotes their formalisation as well as their integration into MSWM system (Rateau and Tovar 2019).…”

New Kids on the Recycling Block: the Role of Supermarkets and Bodegas for Sustainable Consumer Behaviour in Lima

“…Evidence on the role of supermarkets and bodegas for consumer recycling behaviour in Peru is sparse. Previous studies looking at recycling in Peru have concentrated mainly on analysing municipal solid waste management [8,20] and the problem of informal recyclers [21][22][23][24][25]. Another study by Chong et al [26] used different messages to promote household recycling behaviour in the context of a municipal recycling programme.…”