Inclusive recycling

The circular economy movement is gaining momentum, fueled by a growing awareness of the global waste problem.
The World Bank reports that by 2050, the amount of waste we produce each year could increase by 70%. Even more frightening, in developing countries where waste management systems are ill-equipped to handle such growth in consumption, only 4% of waste is reused.
In response to this growing waste concern, businesses and public institutions are developing more circular operations to address plastic waste. However, this drive toward circularity, for all its benefits, risks excluding a critical but vulnerable part of the waste value chain: waste pickers.

There are 15 to 18 million informal waste pickers worldwide who make their living collecting, sorting, and recycling waste, sometimes accounting for 50 to 100% of waste collection. Despite their important environmental and economic contribution, most waste pickers are often not supported by the authorities and face poor living and working conditions. Their already precarious situation can be further aggravated by the introduction of competing circular economy initiatives. These well-intentioned initiatives that seek to industrialize and improve the coverage of waste collection systems risk depriving waste collectors of access to waste and thus jeopardizing their livelihoods.

Truly sustainable and effective waste collection systems must be both circular and inclusive.

InclusEO can help you implement inclusive recycling projects, circular economy initiatives that integrate waste collectors, to help you achieve a triple bottom line: environmental, social, and business.