A lot of papers and reports suggests that thousands or millions of people or families work as informal "recyclers" in the world, or at least in developing countries. Nevertheless, it is not clear how many really are. Do you know any study or paper or report that support any specific data? If we don't have clear this information, it could be difficult (as actually is) to find solutions.
Dear Sandra
The status of solid waste management in a city is often considered an index for assessing governance. In cities of the developing world, the informal sector plays an important role in the management of solid waste. The amounts of recyclables informally picked out of the municipal solid waste stream are unknown as informal waste workers do not record their activities.
Hope that the following papers could be helpful for you:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344916300532
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25106535
Regards,
Ata
Dear Sandra
in case not seen, here are two books that might be useful:
-Minter, Adam. 2013. Junkyard Plant. Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade.
-Alexander, Catherine and Joshua Reno. 2012. Economies of Recycling. The Global Transformation of Materials, Values and Social Relations.
In addition, I have seen a few articles on 'urban mining' and/or 'flexible mining' that touch on the topic. One of these was authored by UMICORE research staff. I don't have the reference now, but can find them, if of interest.
Regards,
Evelyn Dietsche
According to the avina foundation, it is estimated that in the world there are about 15 million people who live from recycling.
It could help you the website of Global Alliance of Waste Pickers: http://globalrec.org/
Best regards,
Paula Juarez
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