The Economical, Social And Environmental Implications Of Infomal Waste Collection And Recycling

The local economy of a community is equally supported by the formal sector, but also by the informal sector. While the formal economic activities are carried out through modern, technologized, industrialized means, within public or private organizations whose existence is officially recognized and benefiting from the protection of the authorities, the informal activities exist outside the officially control and protection system. There is a dynamic connection between the actors in the formal sector and those in the informal sector, which is seen at the levels of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. This article analyzes the waste recycling informal activities carried out by persons or enterprises involved in the extraction of recyclable materials from generated waste and evaluate the informal waste sector perspectives and implications from three points of view: economic, social and environmental. Even though, at first sight, the informal waste collection and recycling is neither efficient, nor viable, the social, economic and environmental benefits resulted from waste valorization possibilities are clearly superior in the informal waste sector compared with formal waste activities.