Program to address welfare of Kenyan waste pickers starts

A program to address the welfare and human rights of waste pickers is likely to improve the quality of their lives in the coming years.

Responsible Sourcing Initiative, by The Circulate Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving the ocean plastic pollution challenge in emerging markets, is now in Kenya: having previously been launched in India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

"The Kenyan project is the first step towards scaling responsible sourcing practices across Africa aimed at protecting workers who are at the frontlines of the fight against plastic pollution,” said Annerieke Douma, senior director of programs at The Circulate Initiative.

The organisation's assessment of Kenya showed waste pickers still face routine discrimination and lack of formal recognition.

"We will partner with the Kenya National Waste Pickers Welfare Association (KNWPWA) and other groups in harnessing their collective voice and ensuring all solutions are shaped by those on the ground and directly impacted,” Douma said.

At Nairobi's Dandora Dumpsite, plastic containers are the most sought-after litter that feeds local recycling firms.

“This plastic would end up in the river and then to the ocean if we do not pick it up for recycling,” says 25-year-old Joyce Wangari, secretary of the 8,000-strong Nairobi Recyclable Waste association.

Statistics show Kenya generates approximately 983,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), about 27 per cent of this waste is currently collected and eight per cent recycled while the remainder is disposed of in landfills and dumpsites.

In Africa, a continent that relies heavily on imported materials, will see plastic waste increase to 116 million tonnes by 2060. In most African countries, recycling plastic has been left in the hands of private companies with little or no government interventions such as tax rebates for recyclers.

Yet, collection and sorting of such plastic has been left in the hands of waste pickers who work under unhygienic conditions.

KNWPWA estimates that it has 46,000 members who play a critical role in bridging the gap in waste collection services and supplying materials for recycling.

“The government should help us in the fight for the rights of waste Pickers. For example, there is no controlled pricing of plastic waste. A kilo of plastic is approximately made up of water 80 bottles and fetches between Sh15-20. This is a poor pay for someone who spends a whole day trying to rid the city of plastics. We are lobbying brands behind the production of the bottles to give prices that make sense,” said Gisore Nyambuti, chairman of KNWPWA.

Responsible Sourcing Initiative will bring together businesses, investors, recyclers, and waste worker organizations.

In Kenya, it will work with pioneering plastic recycler, Mr. Green Africa and select suppliers in the value chain to implement the Harmonized Responsible Sourcing Framework for Recycled Plastics. The Harmonized Framework was launched in 2024 as the first global effort to establish harmonized and actionable guidelines to implement responsible sourcing practices in the recycled plastics value chain.

“Our launch in Africa is a significant milestone. It allows us to take learnings from our work to date to the broader ecosystem in Africa, addressing human rights issues for informal workers across the continent," Douma said.

The collaboration with the Kenya-based recycler with a capacity to handle 20,000 tonnes of plastic annually seeks to address instances of low pay, unsafe working conditions, and poor access to social and financial services for some informal waste sector workers

“Our technology-driven plastics collection model is designed to integrate informal waste workers into a transparent, inclusive value chain. By joining the Responsible Sourcing Initiative, we can expand our network and increase the supply of responsibly sourced recycled plastic in Africa while improving livelihoods and conditions for these workers,” said Keiran Smith, co-founder and chief executive officer, Mr. Green Africa.

The initiative aims to improve the livelihoods of 50,000 informal waste sector workers worldwide by securing the commitment of over 50 global brands, investors, recyclers, and plastic waste aggregators and deliver 100,000 tonnes of responsibly sourced recycled plastic.