Tag Archives: waste pickers

Photo of the month: Waste pickers’ protest in Durban, South Africa

Photo: Langelle/GJEP

One of the millions of people who globally make a living from waste picking during a demonstration in Durban, South Africa

On 5 December 2011, during the UN climate conference in Durban South Africa, the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers held a “permitted” protest inside the UN compound.  The protest was almost stopped by UN security, who told organizers they needed to have their signs and banners approved by the UN before they could be displayed.  The waste pickers held their protest anyway, which included emptying trash from the UN conference center on the ground then demonstrating how they sort and recycle it.

Millions of people worldwide make a living from waste picking. They collect, sort and process recyclables, reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfills and saving valuable natural resources. Today, an increasing number of waste pickers are processing organic waste, diverting it from landfills and reducing methane gas pollution. Waste pickers could further reduce greenhouse gas emissions given proper support.

About the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers:

The Global Alliance of Waste Pickers brings together waste picker organizations from Africa, Asia and Latin America. To learn more about waste pickers’ experiences and to support fair and just solutions to climate change, visit their blog http://www.globalrec.org/

Also please visit GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) http://www.no-burn.org/

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Orin Langelle is currently working on a book of four decades of his concerned photography.  From mid-June to mid-July Langelle worked on the book as an artist in residence at the Blue Mountain Center in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

Also check out the GJEP Photo Gallery, past Photos of the Month posted on GJEP’s website, or Langelle’s photo essays posted on GJEP’s Climate Connections blog.

Global Justice Ecology Project explores and exposes the intertwined root causes of social injustice, ecological destruction and economic domination with the aim of building bridges between social justice, environmental justice and ecological justice groups to strengthen their collective efforts.  Within this framework, our programs focus on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, protection of native forests and climate justice.  We use the issue of climate change to demonstrate these interconnections. Global Justice Ecology Project is the North American Focal Point of the Global Forest Coalition.

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Durban COP 17: Waste Pickers Tout Only Truly Green Solution to Municipal Waste, Decry Dirty Energy (news and photos)

Note:  This morning the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers held a “permitted” protest inside the UN compound here in Durban.  After the first photo is a media release from GAIA (Global Alliance of  Incinerator Alternatives)  explaining the position of Waste pickers internationally.  The protest was almost stopped by UN security, telling organizers that they needed their signs and banners approved by the UN before they could be displayed.  The protest went on anyway. The waste pickers went to their approved area and then emptied trash on the ground, chanted, showed their signs and then cleaned up the area.  I have a photograph of an UN security person believed to be Flemming Rosendkrans.  He wore no identification badge and refused to tell me his name.  He dictated the orders to organizers along with a mysterious woman who also said she was with the UN and also refused to disclose her identity after I identified myself showed her and the badgeless officer my UN accredited press credentials.  That photo and and additional photos follow GAIA’s copy below.  All photos by  Orin Langelle/GJEP on assignment for Z Magazine.

Waste Pickers Tout Only Truly Green Solution to Municipal Waste, Decry Dirty Energy

Durban, December 5, 2011 Waste pickers attending COP17 today called for a Green Climate Fund with direct community access and an end to CDM “waste-to-energy” projects. Representatives from three continents highlighted the fact that waste pickers are the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the waste sector.

Millions of people worldwide make a living from waste picking. They collect, sort and process recyclables, reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfills and saving valuable natural resources. Today, an increasing number of waste pickers are processing organic waste, diverting it from landfills and therefore reducing methane gas pollution. Waste pickers could further reduce GHG emissions given proper support.

To secure this support, a waste picker delegation has come to COP17 to raise their concerns surrounding current climate financing mechanisms and to advocate for more just alternatives that are directly accessible by waste pickers. Waste pickers from three different continents spoke against disposal technologies that undermine their livelihoods, such as incinerators and waste-to-energy projects.

Harouna Niass, a waste picker from Dakar, Senegal, spoke about the formation of Book Diomm Waste Pickers Association with 800 members, and the threat they face from CDM-backed landfill gas companies competing to extract methane and force the waste pickers off the landfill.

“Waste pickers should be included and given more respect because we take care of our environment,” Niass said.

 Simon Mbata, with the South African Waste Pickers’ Association, discussed the importance of supporting waste pickers.

“We demand a Green Climate Fund that is directly accessible to waste pickers and an end of support for CDM projects which compete directly with us,” Mbata said.

Neil Tangri, with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, provided background on CDM-backed projects and the Green Climate Fund. Suman More, a waste picker with SWaCH cooperative in Pune, India, discussed incinerator alternatives.

About the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers:

The Global Alliance of Waste Pickers brings together waste pickers organizations from Africa, Asia and Latin America. To learn more about waste pickers’ experiences and to support fair and just solutions to climate change, visit our blog www.globalrec.org

Read GAIA’s case studies on CDM projects on Municipal Waste Management:

The CDM incinerator in Chengdu Luo Dai, China: http://www.no-burn.org/downloads/luodai.pdf

The Bisasar landfill in Durban, South Africa: http://www.no-burn.org/downloads/bisasar.pdf

The Usina Incinerator in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: http://www.no-burn.org/downloads/Rio-de-janeiro.pdf

Mysterious UN woman on left refused to disclose her name. The man in the center who wore no identification badge and refused to identify himself is believed to be Flemming Rosendkrans.

Waste pickers dumped waste collected from the UN and then picked it up in their protest

Waste picker makes sure all the trash is picked up at the end of the protest

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Corporate Globalization