Regenerating cities with community-based inclusive waste management practices

Abstract

Solid waste -a visible result of growth oriented production and consumption -is a major urban challenge worldwide, with a myriad of impacts on the environment, public health and economy of local communities. There is increasing recognition that growth cannot be reconciled with the environment and that current economic and productive relations as well as identities need to be re-conceptualized away from 'capitalocentric' thinking. With the majority of the world's population living in cities, urban spaces also become centre stages for social movements and alternative economies, based on critiques of growth. Reclaiming and reintroducing recyclable materials into material flows, is one of the immediate responses of a radical politics of de-growth. Worldwide waste pickers organize and retrieve recyclable materials, for reuse and further industrial processing. These collectives re-imagine their production and economic activities in terms other than those made available by capitalism. Their everyday actions produce democratic spaces centred on solidarity and the care of others, and also seeking to reclaim citizenship. The collective practices of recycling cooperatives generate social, economic and environmental benefits, but are not yet widely perceived as such, nor are waste pickers generally remunerated fairly for the services they provide. In Brazil, the waste pickers movement is a notable grassroots example, where members enact new practices, linking up the local spaces and actions into a broader political movement, bringing political debates to a broader audience. The paper discusses the role of waste pickers as political actors, central to moving towards a reconceptualization of the economy in terms of de-growth and alternative development, through co-production in selective waste collection.

Applying participatory research in solid waste management: A systematic literature review and evaluation reporting

“…Overcoming socio-cultural barriers to engage all community segments can be difficult, affecting inclusivity and representativeness. (Siu and Xiao, 2020;Becker et al, 2019;Bukirwa et al, 2022;Carreon and Flores, 2023;Gutberlet et al, 2017;Carenzo and Good, 2016;Gutberlet, 2016;Hamzah et al, 2023;Kittitornkool and Burt, 2006;Opoku-Asare et al, 2013;Islami and Prihantoro, 2023;Lederer et al, 2015;Hornsby et al, 2017;Zen et al, 2016;Gutberlet, 2008;Linzalone et al, 2017;Nugrahini et al, 2023;Janprasert and Suttawet, 2021;Lotfi et al, 2021;Rosyidah, 2021;Niyobuhungiro and Schenck, 2022;Gutberlet et al, 2017;Oduro-Appiah et al, 2019;Johnson and Wilson, 2000b) Resource Constraints…”

“…Limited financial and human resources can impede the initiation and sustainability of participatory projects. (Siu and Xiao, 2020;Yates and Gutberlet, 2011;Bukirwa et al, 2022;Carreon and Flores, 2023;Adam-Bradford, 2006;Carenzo and Good, 2016;Dokmaingam and Manomaivibool, 2017;Firmansyah et al, 2022;Gutberlet, 2016;Hadi, 2022;Hamzah et al, 2023;Heydari et al, 2021;Gutberlet et al, 2013;Islami and Prihantoro, 2023;Hornsby et al, 2017;Zen et al, 2016;Niyobuhungiro and Schenck, 2021;Gutberlet, 2008;Manomaivibool et al, 2018;Janprasert and Suttawet, 2021; Dias and Ogando, 2015;Carenzo and Good, 2016;Dokmaingam and Manomaivibool, 2017;Firmansyah et al, 2022;Hadi, 2022;Hamzah et al, 2023;Heydari et al, 2021;Gutberlet et al, 2013;Kittitornkool and Burt, 2006;Islami and Prihantoro, 2023;Lederer et al, 2015;Hornsby et al, 2017;Farrelly and Tucker, 2014;Manomaivibool et al, 2018;Heikkilä et al, 2016;Kristianto and Widya, 2021;Muhajirin and Kusuma, 2021;Nima et al, 2019;Nugrahini et al, 2023;…”

“…Participatory projects provide platforms for education and raising awareness about waste management, contributing to behavior change. (Moreira et al, 2019;Oduro-Appiah et al, 2021;Siu and Xiao, 2020;Yates and Gutberlet, 2011;Becker et al, 2019;Bukirwa et al, 2022;Gutberlet et al, 2017;Adam-Bradford, 2006;Carenzo and Good, 2016;Dokmaingam and Manomaivibool, 2017;Firmansyah et al, 2022;Gutberlet, 2016;Hadi, 2022;Hamzah et al, 2023;Heydari et al, 2021;Gutberlet et al, 2013;Kittitornkool and Burt, 2006;Islami and Prihantoro, 2023;Hornsby et al, 2017;Zen et al, 2016;Niyobuhungiro and Schenck, 2021;Gutberlet, 2008;Farrelly and Tucker, 2014;Krisnanda et al, 2023;Kristianto and Widya, 2021;Lambert-Pennington et al, 2018;Little, 2020;Lotfi et al, 2021;Muyassarah et al, 2022;Nima et al, 2019;Niyobuhungiro and Schenck, 2022;Nugrahini et al, 2023;Opoku-Asare et al, 2013;Praneetham et al, 2016;Rosyidah, 2021) Table 7. (Continued).…”

Circular economy disclaimers: Rethinking property relations at the end of cheap nature

“…The exclusion of informal workers is often rationalized based on a "moral order of 'good' and 'bad' environmental behavior" that names informal forms of waste labor illegitimate (Alexander and Reno, 2012). Those determinations of legitimacy are often highly racialized and classed (Resnick, 2021;Carenzo et al, 2022) and can result in the criminalization and harassment of the most vulnerable members of society (Gutberlet, 2016). Indeed, recycling has moved away from an environmental social movement driven by committed local activists and entrepreneurs and increasingly toward an in a profit-oriented enterprise driven by large corporations (Pellow, 2004).…”

The case for a climate bonus: waste pickers’ perceptions of climate change in Minas Gerais

“… 20. Buch, R, A Marseille, M Williams, R Aggarwal and A Sharma (2021), “From waste pickers to producers: an inclusive circular economy solution through development of cooperatives in waste management”, Sustainability Vol 13, No 16; Gutberlet, J (2016), “Regenerating cities with community-based inclusive waste management practices”, Sustainable City XI Vol 204, pages 57–63; Gutberlet, J and S Carenzo (2020), “Waste pickers at the heart of the circular economy: a perspective of inclusive recycling from the Global South”, Worldwide Waste: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Vol 3, No 1, pages 1–4. …”