DURBAN - Waste pickers save South African municipalities an estimated R700m annually, researchers say.
Researchers affiliated to the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security (COE) have found a hidden economy thriving on our landfill sites.
All over South Africa, small communities of ‘waste pickers’ have created livelihoods by scavenging recyclables, food and potentially useful items off of rubbish dumps.
“Waste pickers save South African municipalities an estimated R700 million every year. They are essentially offering a free service to remove recyclable items from the landfill sites. This saves money in terms of landfill space, as well as the indirect costs of recycling and waste management,” said Professor Rinie Schenck of the University of the Western Cape.
An interdisciplinary team of collaborators in the fields of social work, economics and nutrition, under the guidance of the principal investigator Schenck, studied these marginalised communities to better understand this informal economy.
Findings reveal that while collecting recyclables, more than 50% of the waste pickers, collect food as well. In some cases, the food is brought to the dump in containers and many waste pickers will eat it. In other cases, the food is buried in line with regulations for disposing food past its sell-by date or mixed with other waste.
The pickers reported not getting sick from eating the food, saying they can tell when food is fine to eat by smell, taste and touch.
Findings also suggest that some waste pickers eat diverse diets, particularly in landfill sites situated in areas in which there are industries and restaurants.
However, in some cases, the consumption of sugary beverages and alcohol contributed significantly to energy dense diets whilst in other cases, there simply wasn’t enough food to scavenge.
Researchers found that on average pickers made about R770 on a good week and about R290 on a bad week from the waste they collect.
Despite this service, waste picking is not covered by any type of legislation or policy and the waste management policies in South Africa cover only the formal waste sector.
In some cases, the pickers are chased off the landfill sites and sometimes they are left to do their work in unhealthy and unpleasant conditions. In a rare few, they are looked after and supported in the work they do.
“Waste pickers are the most important part of this informal waste value chain, but their contribution is unrecognised. We don't want to do anything to take their livelihoods away from them,” Schenck said.