From your bin to cash: the hidden economy of waste picking

For thousands of waste pickers, discarded plastic bottles, milk containers, cardboard and other recyclable materials are not junk but a source of income.

At least 15,000 waste pickers are recorded in the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

EPR is a mandatory environmental policy approach that holds producers, importers and brand owners legally accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products.

Sifiso Gumbi, a waste picker and founder of Urban Surfer, an organisation for waste pickers in Gauteng, said polyethylene terephthalate (PET), found in clear cold-drink bottles, is among the most valuable and widely recovered plastics.

“The everyday items include Coca-Cola bottles and other fizzy-drink bottles, which are PET,” Gumbi said. “Milk containers are HDPE, or high-density polyethylene. Flexible plastics, such as wrapping or plastic shopping bags, are usually LDPE [low-density polyethylene] and can also be recycled. But among those plastics, PET bottles are the most valuable.”

From two-litre cold-drink bottles to milk containers, yoghurt tubs and cardboard, household waste can have economic value long after it has been discarded. But that value depends on the material, where it is collected and constantly changing market conditions. Gumbi said PET currently fetches about R3.50/kg, down from about R7/kg six to eight months ago.

“Recycling is also subject to fluctuations like any other market because the recycling items that they recover are actually commodities.”

Packaging manufacturers should be held accountable for the products they put into the market. If the market is low for a particular plastic, it can end up in landfills, rivers and dams—  Sifiso Gumbi, a waste picker and founder of Urban Surfer

Musa Chamane from GroundWork Friends of the Earth said recyclable prices were also affected by broader economic conditions, including transport costs.

“The price of recyclables that waste pickers are relying on to make a living does get affected by markets,” Chamane said. “Mainly because if the petrol price has risen, like it’s been going up, that means the person who buys those materials from waste pickers has to factor in the transport costs.”

He said aluminium cans could previously fetch about R14/kg but dropped to around R10/kg when market conditions deteriorated.

Both Gumbi and Chamane said prices paid to reclaimers by buyback centres were not regulated, though discussions around regulation were under way.

Chamane said falling prices could force waste pickers to hold on to recyclable materials until conditions improved.

“When the market crashes, they sometimes have to pause working. They will stop even selling their stuff, maybe stashing the items at home, waiting for the market to recover,” he said.

Gumbi said multi-layered packaging, including some washing-powder packets and snack packets, could be particularly difficult to recycle because there is little or no market for them.

When material has little economic value, reclaimers have less incentive to collect it, meaning some plastics can ultimately end up in landfills, rivers and dams.

“Packaging manufacturers should be held accountable for the products they put into the market,” Gumbi said. “If the market is low for a particular plastic, it can end up in landfills, rivers and dams.”

The recycling industry in South Africa will not exist without waste pickers. But waste pickers are the least paid people in the value chain—  Musa Chamane from GroundWork Friends of the Earth

A reclaimer can collect between 80kg and 400kg of material a day, depending on where they operate, the materials available and their strategy.

Those operating in wealthier areas such as Sandton, Hyde Park, Sandhurst, Houghton and Linden may encounter more valuable discarded goods, including electronics and other unwanted household items.

Through Polyco, a non-profit company focused on making waste a valuable resource that works for South Africa’s economy, more than 600 reclaimers had received training, trolleys and protective equipment.

An EPR payment platform for glass had about 1,000 reclaimers and had paid about R2m in incentives to reclaimers and buyback centres over eight months.

“[But] the waste picker incentive is not enough. It’s only 15 cents a kilo,” Gumbi said.

Chamane said EPR implementation “has been flawed because of such gaps”, arguing that registered waste pickers should receive EPR-linked payments when they sell qualifying packaging materials at registered buyback centres.

“There is a loophole in the system,” he said. “The recycling industry in South Africa will not exist without waste pickers. But waste pickers are the least paid people in the value chain.”

Behind every plastic container is a market, a worker and a chain of buyers.

Whether it becomes income or waste again depends on its material, its market value and whether the recycling system can support its recovery.

Gumbi said solving plastic pollution requires action at the personal, business and government levels to reduce waste and improve recycling.