In order for waste pickers to benefit from what they do and make a living, all waste pickers operating in Johannesburg are to be registered by the City of Johannesburg.
The Environment and Infrastructure Services Department (EISD), in conjunction with Pikitup, the waste management entity of the City, has started to register waste pickers within the City of Johannesburg.
According to the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Services, councillor Nico de Jager, waste pickers are one of the key stakeholders in increasing the amount of recyclable materials diverted from Pikitup’s landfill sites, which is the ultimate objective of the City’s waste minimisation efforts.
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However, their contribution to saving the remaining landfill space cannot be quantified because of the informal nature of their business activities.
Through this registration, waste pickers can be considered for training opportunities and will benefit from waste minimisation value chain projects.
EISD also has a forum in place where waste pickers are registered. “We will therefore consolidate these lists to better engage with waste pickers in the future. We will engage in terms of how we can assist with protective clothing, tools of the trade, and inoculations through corporate sponsorship,” said De Jager.
He also mentioned that a report commissioned by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) estimates that there are 62 147 waste pickers in the country, of whom about 25 467 operate as kerbside trolley pushers and about 36 680 operate at landfill sites. According to the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) as much as one per cent of the world’s population sustain themselves and their dependants through recycling activities.
The objectives of the registration process are:
– To recognise waste pickers who are currently in the system for integration into the City’s solid waste management system as stakeholders
– To verify, record and quantify the waste pickers contribution to waste minimisation by collecting statistics about the recyclable materials collected by waste pickers
– To have accurate records of the number of waste pickers that can be used for planning programmes, and selection of people to access different opportunities, such as training etc. This will ensure that the process is fair and transparent and it can be properly monitored to make all opportunities equitable
– To allow for new waste pickers to be registered and recognised when they enter the system
– All waste pickers (i.e. South Africans and documented foreign nationals) will be registered and issued with a Waste Pickers Identity Card.
