Waste Pickers Demand Livelihood Protection During Dump Closures: Learnings from 3 Cities

 

With growing concerns around social and environmental impacts, pressure to close open dump sites is increasing. These processes often happen hastily and without due consideration for waste picker livelihoods. Experiences from Brasilia, Accra and Dakar show that the inclusion of waste pickers in dump closure plans is crucial for a just transition towards more sustainable waste management practices.

Brasilia, Brazil: A Comprehensive Approach

When the Estructural dump closed in 2018, Lúcia Nascimento, leader of the CORACE cooperative in Brasilia, had been working at the dump – Latin America’s largest – for 20 years. “On the 20th of January the dump was closed and we will never forget that date.”

The Estructural dump had been in operation since 1960 and, over the years, a village with over 40,000 inhabitants emerged on its outskirts. This was where waste pickers, who worked collecting thousands of tons of recyclables directly from the dump, lived and where recycling centres were located.

The dump was located at the base of a river vital to the water supply to the capital city, and therefore posed a significant environmental threat. Despite earlier judicial orders to close the dump, it wasn’t until 2015 that the new governor of Brasilia, under pressure from the environmental prosecutor’s office, took up the challenge. He committed to integrating waste pickers into the closure process.

A preliminary diagnosis identified 27 key problems related to the closure, and 17 government agencies were identified as having a role to play. An emergency plan was developed to address the most pressing issues. An epidemiological study was conducted to better understand the situation of waste pickers and the neighbouring community.