Amid efforts to end plastic pollution, millions of waste pickers become a focus

In 2024 alone, humanity generated an estimated 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, contributing to an ongoing plastic pollution crisis experts say is damaging fragile ecosystems and exposing people to potential risk of exposure to harmful chemicals in plastics and also pollutants, like microplastics.  
 
Waste pickers like Briones, whether informal or part of a cooperative, are responsible for almost 60 per cent of all the plastic waste collected globally, according to one study. But waste pickers often have few employment rights and no access to health insurance, the latter especially problematic in a field where cuts and infections are common, experts say.   

“As we move toward a more sustainable future, it is vital that this transition is just and inclusive, and that waste pickers are guaranteed Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work – including the right to a safe and healthy working environment,” says Moustapha Kamal Gueye, Director of the Action Programme on Just Transition at the International Labour Organization. “A just transition must leave no one behind, and that includes the millions of waste pickers and workers whose labour underpins recycling systems around the world.”   

Experts point to cooperatives, like San Jose Sico, as a model for the just transition. The organization has 500 members who receive a regular income, accident insurance and paid sick leave.  

Briones says he is grateful for what the job has given him. “Some people might view our work as dirty or unpleasant, but we choose to ignore such opinions,” says Briones, who joined the cooperative when his father suffered a stroke and could no longer support the family. “I've been able to establish my own home, small as it may be, and can support my family, my father, and ensure my child receives a good education.”   

A growing number of countries are exploring laws that would require those who place plastic products on the market to be responsible for the end-of-life management of their products. Waste pickers could play a role in operationalizing these so-called extended producer responsibility schemes.  

“The manufacturers will eventually look for those who can do the work,” says manager of San Jose Sico Landfill cooperative Sherryl Hernandez, who took part in a study conducted by SEA Circular, a UNEP-supported initiative designed to prevent marine plastic pollution with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. “Who has that capability? It’s waste workers,” adds Hernandez.   

SEA circular (2018–2024) was an initiative of the UN Environment Programme Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA). It aimed to inspire market-based solutions and encourage enabling policies to prevent marine plastic pollution. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SEA circular worked with governments, businesses, civil society, academia, and international partners with the aim to reduce and prevent plastic pollution and its impact.