Policing the stigma in our waste: what we know about informal waste pickers in the global north

Abstract

Although it is a widely existing phenomenon in the countries of the Global South, waste picking is increasingly visible in the cities of the North, although it remains under researched. In this article, a literature review is made in order to observe how waste picking is being conceptualised from an academic perspective, as well as to highlight its main dimensions in the context of the Global North. The results show that in the Global North the waste pickers tend to be labelled as ethnic minorities, or migrants in a situation of social exclusion. This justifies the fact that one of the main academic debates is about the processes of discrimination and stigma surrounding waste picking, as well as their living and working conditions. However, little is said about its environmental contributions nor on the ways to integrate waste picking into formal waste systems. The public policies currently used to grapple with waste picking tend to prioritise prohibitions and persecution, often paralleled with social policies. Yet, there are few policies capable of recognising the environmental benefits of waste picking and looking to integrate waste pickers into the social fabric.