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Working with Waste: Hazards and Mitigation Strategies Used by Waste Pickers in the Inner City of Durban

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  • Ntobeko Mlotshwa

    (Urban Futures Centre, Faculty of Engneering and Built Environment, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4001, South Africa)

  • Tanya Dayaram

    (Urban Futures Centre, Faculty of Engneering and Built Environment, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4001, South Africa)

  • Asiphile Khanyile

    (Groundwork, 8 Gough Road, Pietermaritzburg 3201, South Africa)

  • Princess A. Sibanda

    (NRF SARChI Chair in Sexualities, Genders and Queer Studies, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa)

  • Kira Erwin

    (Urban Futures Centre, Faculty of Engneering and Built Environment, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4001, South Africa)

  • Tamlynn Fleetwood

    (Urban Futures Centre, Faculty of Engneering and Built Environment, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4001, South Africa)

Abstract

Informal waste pickers in cities across the Global South divert significant amounts of tonnage from landfills. This diversion contributes towards a sustainable environment and better public health practices. Informal workers globally derive livelihoods from collecting, sorting, and selling recyclable waste. In South Africa, there is growing recognition of the valuable work that waste pickers carry out. Despite this, however, these informal workers remain largely unrecognised, are often stigmatised, and suffer from a lack of social protection linked to their work. This lack of recognition and protection creates specific occupational hazards for waste pickers. Using an ethnographic method, this study explores the physical and socio-psychological hazards that emerge from waste picking on the streets of the inner city of Durban, in South Africa. We found that the waste pickers, the majority of whom were women, developed mitigation strategies against these risks. A better understanding of how the occupational hazards of waste picking are shaped by the local context of working on the street enables the recognition of the knowledge waste pickers already hold regarding mitigation strategies. Insight into occupational hazards are important to consider if the municipal integration of waste pickers is to happen in a way that ensures access to social protections for these informal workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ntobeko Mlotshwa & Tanya Dayaram & Asiphile Khanyile & Princess A. Sibanda & Kira Erwin & Tamlynn Fleetwood, 2022. "Working with Waste: Hazards and Mitigation Strategies Used by Waste Pickers in the Inner City of Durban," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:12986-:d:938432
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hunter, Mark, 2020. "Heroin hustles: Drugs and the laboring poor in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
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    3. Sayed Mohammad Nazim Uddin & Jutta Gutberlet & Anahita Ramezani & Sayed Mohammad Nasiruddin, 2020. "Experiencing the Everyday of Waste Pickers: A Sustainable Livelihoods and Health Assessment in Dhaka City, Bangladesh," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 833-853, August.
    4. Rajesh Buch & Alicia Marseille & Matthew Williams & Rimjhim Aggarwal & Aparna Sharma, 2021. "From Waste Pickers to Producers: An Inclusive Circular Economy Solution through Development of Cooperatives in Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-9, August.
    5. Jesne Kistan & Vusi Ntlebi & Felix Made & Tahira Kootbodien & Kerry Wilson & Nonhlanhla Tlotleng & Spo Kgalamono & Angela Mathee & Nisha Naicker, 2020. "Health care access of informal waste recyclers in Johannesburg, South Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-12, July.
    6. Catherina J Schenck & Phillip F Blaauw & Jacoba MM Viljoen & Elizabeth C Swart, 2019. "Exploring the Potential Health Risks Faced by Waste Pickers on Landfills in South Africa: A Socio-Ecological Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
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