Informal plastic waste recycling firms in rural eastern India: Implications for livelihood and health

Hasan, Md Sayed; Ghosal, Somnath

doi:10.1016/j.cegh.2023.101286

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health

2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.cegh.2023.101286

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Informal plastic waste recycling firms in rural eastern India: Implications for livelihood and health

Md Sayed Hasan¹,

Somnath Ghosal²

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Cited by 2 publications

References 27 publications

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Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and analysis of prevalence and productivity

Cook,

Cano,

Velis

2023

Preprint

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A large global workforce of informal entrepreneurs has historically dominated circular economy practices in the Global South, collecting many millions of tonnes of waste for recycling, and supplementing insufficiencies in struggling municipal waste management systems. Ongoing negotiations for a ‘Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution’ implicitly recognise the substantial contribution made by the informal recycling sector (IRS - waste pickers) to plastic pollution mitigation. To this, we carried out a systematic scoping review of IRS prevalence and productivity following the PRISMA-ScR method followed by extensive data analytics. Waste pickers represent median 0.2% (interquartile range – IQR: 0.1-0.5%) of the urban population worldwide, collecting between 20 kg and 80 kg of engineered materials for recycling each day, of which 30% (mean wt. ar) are plastics. We identify substantial shortcomings in most methodologies used to gather data on the IRS, introducing epistemic uncertainty into some previous estimates of the sector’s activity. We recommend development of a standardised resource-efficient method of sampling and data gathering, suitable for implementation at municipal/local scale. Our work offers verifiable quantitative knowledge on the sector’s activities to date, suitable for use in plastic pollution quantification models and local/national action plans required to baseline and monitor progress towards multilateral targets.

show abstract

Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and analysis of prevalence and productivity

Cook,

Cano,

Velis

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and quantitative analysis of prevalence and productivity

Cook,

Cano,

Velis

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ongoing negotiations for a ‘Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution’ recognise the substantial contribution made by the informal recycling sector (IRS - waste pickers) to plastic pollution mitigation as part of just transition. Negotiating parties will require baseline evidence of the sector’s activities to inform the development of local and national actions plans. To this, we carried out a review of IRS prevalence and productivity following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) method followed by extensive (statistical) data analytics. Waste pickers represent median 0.2% (interquartile range – IQR: 0.1-0.5%) of the urban population worldwide, collecting between 20 kg and 80 kg of engineered materials for recycling each day, of which 30% (mean wt. ar) are plastics. We identify substantial shortcomings in most methodologies used to gather data on the IRS, introducing epistemic uncertainty into some previous estimates of the sector’s activity. We recommend development of a standardised resource-efficient method of sampling and data gathering, suitable for implementation at municipal/local scale. Our work offers verifiable quantitative knowledge on the sector’s activities to date, suitable for use in plastic pollution quantification models and local/national action plans required to baseline and monitor progress towards multilateral targets.

show abstract

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Informal plastic waste recycling firms in rural eastern India: Implications for livelihood and health

Cited by 2 publications

References 27 publications

Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and analysis of prevalence and productivity

Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and analysis of prevalence and productivity

Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and quantitative analysis of prevalence and productivity

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