Contested Waste

Environmental conflicts and waste picker resistance in the Global South
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-74280-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 372 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 850 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Political Ecology

Contested Waste’ examines socio-environmental conflicts involving waste pickers in the Global South, uncovering the systemic injustices that underpin contemporary waste policies. Driven by the privatisation of waste management, these conflicts expose the “recycling paradox”: while waste pickers make critical, uncompensated contributions to sustainability, they are further excluded.

This book analyses how modern waste policies marginalise waste pickers, triggering conflicts in cities across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Drawing on over 70 conflicts documented in the Global Environmental Justice Atlas, the book explores how privatisation, incineration, and waste enclosures displace informal recyclers and worsen the sustainability crisis. These processes exemplify “Capital Accumulation by Dispossession,” as waste streams are enclosed and privatised, excluding waste pickers, and “Capital Accumulation by Contamination,” as environmental burdens are shifted onto marginalised communities. The book also showcases waste pickers’ resilience as they organise to fight for justice and equitable waste systems.

Essential for scholars, policymakers, and activists in environmental justice, development, and urban studies, this book reveals the structural drivers of waste conflicts and the transformative power of grassroots resistance in shaping sustainable and inclusive urban futures.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vico, Daniele

Demaria, Federico

Gabard, Lucia Fernandez

Gabard, Lucía Fernández

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Humangeographie
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Geographie: Allgemeines, Karten & Atlanten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface by editors

Foreword

Nohra Padilla

1. Introduction

Daniele Vico, Federico Demaria, and Lucia Fernández Gabard

AFRICA

2. Waste Management Failures and Marginalisation of Waste Pickers in Africa – Regional introduction

Amira El Halabi

3. Uncontrolled dumping and the initiative of women waste pickers: Cotonou, Benin

EJAtlas Team Member

4. Zabbaleen against corporate waste management: El Cairo, Egypt

Catherine Moughalian and Chandni Dwarkasing

5. Incinerator construction and landfill closures: Qalyubia, Egypt

Rickie Cleere

6. The new Reppie incinerator at Koshe landfill: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Rickie Cleere

7. Koshe Landfill and biogas plant: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Carla Petricca

8. Waste pickers of Kpone landfill fight for recognition: Accra, Ghana

EJAtlas team member, Karim Saagbul, Dorcas Ansah, and Vanessa Pillay

9. Waste pickers face repressive treatment and unsafe working conditions: Cape Coast, Ghana

Rickie Cleere and Desmond Alugnoa

10. Hazardous e-waste recycling in Agbogbloshie: Accra, Ghana

Carla Petricca, Zahra Moloo, and EJAtlas Team Member

11. Trafigura’s toxic waste scandal and closure of the Akouédo dump: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Zahra Moloo and EJAtlas Team Member

12. Waste pickers face harassment, exclusion, and toxic work conditions: Nakuru, Kenya

EJAtlas Team Member

13. Waste-to-energy project: Kibera, Kenya

Rickie Cleere

14. Relocation of municipal solid waste and informal waste management: Kisumu, Kenya

Layla van der Donk

15. The precarious conditions of informal recyclers at the “city of flies”: Antananarivo, Madagascar

EJAtlas Team Member

16. Disputes over waste collection: Bamako, Mali

EJAtlas Team Member

17. Landfill mismanagement and waste pickers’ struggle: Casablanca, Morocco

Ian Boladeres Galera, Alejandro de la Fuente Cuesta, Eduardo Veciana, Kim Hyunjung, and Emili Quintero

18. The Hulene dumpsite and waste picker protests: Maputo, Mozambique

Rickie Cleere

19. The Cleaner Lagos Initiative threatens waste picker livelihoods: Lagos, Nigeria

Rickie Cleere

20. Waste pickers of Mbeubeuss landfill fight against exclusion: Dakar, Senegal

Camila Rolando Mazzuca and EJAtlas Team Member

21. Poor waste management threatens public health and the environment: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Layla van der Donk

22. Waste pickers against privatisation: Tshwane, South Africa

Rickie Cleere

23. New England Road landfill and construction of materials recovery facility: Msunduzi, South Africa

Rickie Cleere

24. Pikitup’s separation-at-source program and waste picker protests: Johannesburg, South Africa

Rickie Cleere

25. Averda’s privatisation of the Genesis landfill: Johannesburg, South Africa

Rickie Cleere

26. Waste pickers struggle post-revolution: Tunisia

Chandni Dwarkasing

27. Poor waste management leads to environmental degradation and health concerns: Kampala, Uganda

Layla van der Donk

28. Waste pickers struggle for access to waste: Lusaka, Zambia

EJAtlas Team Member

MIDDLE EAST

29. The Intersectional Violence and Human Right Abuse of Waste Pickers in the Middle East – regional introduction

Amira El Halabi

30. Economic woes, plastic packaging, and child waste pickers in “Dirt Gold Mafia”: Tehran, Iran

Chandni Dwarkasing

31. International cooperation improves waste-picker conditions: Northeastern Jordan

Chandni Dwarkasing

32. Waste pickers struggle for formal incorporation into legal waste-collecting framework: Ankara, Turkey

Chandni Dwarkasing

33. Waste picker challenges and opportunities: Istanbul, Turkey

Karla Grosse Kohorst, Andreas Halbig, Dijne Haaker, and Lisa Hall

ASIA PACIFIC

34. Waste alliances: An overview of Solid Waste Management dynamics in the Asia Pacific region – regional introduction

Lakshmi Narayan

35. Amin Bazar landfill threatens wetlands and farmers: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Syeda Rizwana Hasan and EJAtlas Team Member

36. Precarious informal waste recycling: Dhaka, Bangladesh

EJAtlas Team Member

37. Stung Meanchey landfill and waste pickers’ struggle: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Nina Clausager

38. Impact of waste management initiatives and waste import ban on waste pickers: China

Olakunle Sunday Olanrewaju, Chinenye Okoye-Uzu, Xiaorong Li, and Shuhan Xu

39. Okhla waste-to-energy plant: Delhi, India

Swapan Kumar Patra, Federico Demaria, and Joan Martinez-Alier

40. Waste-to-energy plant and Ghazipur landfill closure threaten informal recyclers’ livelihoods: Delhi, India

EJAtlas Team Member

41. Arson at Bengaluru's dry-waste collection centre: Karnataka State, India

Alina Zafar, María Pérez Manzano, Shuran Mo, Amanda Restu Hamirani, and Dea Ruçaj

42. Bantar Gebang landfill: Jakarta, Indonesia

Nina Clausager

43. Protests against plan for multiple incinerators: Bandung, Indonesia

Nina Clausager

44. Waste pickers risk losing livelihood as landfills modernise: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

EJAtlas Team Member

45. River pollution and waste pickers’ struggle for recognition: Kathmandu, Nepal

EJAtlas Team Member

46. Marginalised informal recycling and waste-to-energy: Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

EJAtlas Team Member

47. Exploitation of child waste pickers: Karachi, Pakistan

Daniele Vico and Layla van der Donk

48. Protesters resist planned incinerators despite national ban: Quezon City, Philippines

Nina Clausager

49. Hazardous garbage dumping and new waste-to-energy projects: Colombo, Sri Lanka

EJAtlas Team Member

50. Incineration and hazardous informal recycling: Hanoi, Vietnam

EJAtlas Team Member

LATIN AMERICA

51. “We cannot find another job!” An introduction to Latin America

Lucía Fernández Gabard

52. Ban on animal-drawn carts: Berazategui, Argentina

Valeria Calvas

53. City installs “anti-poor” waste containers contrary to waste picker rights: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Valeria Calvas

54. The state company (CEAMSE) and waste management: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lucrecia Wagner

55. Aurá dump and the struggle of Belém’s informal waste pickers: Pará, Brazil

EJAtlas Team Member

56. Waste pickers struggles and water contamination in Jardim Gramacho: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

EJAtlas Team Member

57. Residents and waste pickers of Sarzedo struggle against incinerators: Minas Gerais, Brazil

EJAtlas Team Member

58. Incinerating urban solid waste in Barueri: São Paulo, Brazil

EJAtlas Team Member

59. Waste pickers mobilise against the carbonisation of solid waste: Rondônia, Brazil

EJAtlas Team Member

60. Waste pickers fight against incinerator in Mauá: São Paulo, Brazil

Marcos Todt and EJAtlas Team Member

61. Prohibition of animal- and human-drawn vehicles: Porto Alegre, Brazil

Marcos Todt and Alexandro Cardoso

62. Waste incineration in Curitiba: Paraná, Brazil

Marcos Todt

63. Waste pickers against pollution and public policy: Federal District, Brazil

Francisco Venes and Grettel Navas

64. City hall hampers activities of waste picker cooperatives: São Paulo, Brazil

Marcos Todt

65. Waste pickers mobilisation against incinerator in São Bernardo do Campo: São Paulo, Brazil

Alice Kasznar and EJAtlas Team Member

66. Policy change puts inclusive waste pickers’ labour practices at risk: Bogota, Colombia

Valeria Calvas

67. Waste pickers fight exclusion at eco-park Rafey: Santiago, Dominican Republic

EJAtlas Team Member

68. Waste pickers face insecurity and toxic conditions at Zona 3 dumpsite: Guate, Guatemala

EJAtlas Team Member

69. Garbage woes and attempts to include waste pickers: Georgetown, Guyana

EJAtlas Team Member

70. Waste pickers fight for formalisation and the right to work: Mérida, Mexico

Marcos Todt

71. Veolia waste-to-energy incineration plant: Mexico City, Mexico

Valeria Calvas

72. The La Chureca dumpsite enclosure: Managua, Nicaragua

EJAtlas Team Member

73. Waste pickers fight for labour and human rights: Cerro Patacón, Panama

Joseph Carter, Isobel Bishai, Kaoutar Haddouti, Lucas Leitz, Eleonore (Yi-Hsin) Hung, and Ghina Sawan

74. Waste pickers lose access to recyclable waste from closure of dumpsite: Panama

Valeria Calvas

75. Ban on animal-drawn carts jeopardises waste picker livelihoods: Montevideo, Uruguay

Valeria Calvas

76. The landfill of Cambalache: Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela

Emiliano Teran Mantovani

77. Afterword

Additional annotated bibliography

ANNEX 1 Resolution 5: Just Transition for International Campaign to Promote Integration in Waste Management and Strong Social Safety Net

ANNEX 2 Constitution of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers

Über Autor(innen)

Federico Demaria is a Serra Hunter Associate Professor in ecological economics and political ecology at the University of Barcelona (UB). His main research interest is to understand the interactions between society, the environment, and the economy. His research aims to inform theory on how these interactions are shaped, politicized, and contested. He is the co-editor of Degrowth (Routledge, 2014) and Pluriverse (Columbia University Press, 2019); the co-author of The Case for Degrowth (Polity Press, 2020), and author of The Political Ecology of Informal Waste Recyclers in India (Oxford University Press, 2023). In 2023, the International Society for Ecological Economics awarded him the Bina Agarwal Prize for Young Scholars in Ecological Economics.

Daniele Vico is a researcher in political ecology and ecological economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona, Spain. His research focuses on informal recycling in European and Global South cities. Before joining academia, he worked as a project manager for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), focusing on trade unions, labour protection, the just transition, and the social and solidarity economy.

Lucía Fernández Gabard has spent 20 years organizing the waste picker movement: locally with the UCRUS Union in her native country Uruguay, regionally with the Latin American Network RedLACRe, and internationally by leading and founding the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) in 2024. She is now the director of the Organisation and Representation Programme at WIEGO (Women Informal Employment, Globalizing and Organizing). Member of the Lefebvrian Studies “International Network of the Production of Space.” she co-organized events and co-edited
publications around Lefebvre’s theory. She is a co-founder of the Observatory of Territorial Conflicts in the Metropolitan Area of Uruguay, as well as an assistant professor at the Institute of Urban Studies and Theory of the Architectural, Design, and Urbanism School in Uruguay.