“Society calls us waste pickers but I am a reclaimer, I don’t collect waste,” says Luyanda Hlashwayo, who for the last 12 years has made a living by sifting through household garbage to find recyclables for sale.
It is estimated there are 15-20 million people worldwide who, like Hlatshwayo, depend on the informal waste sector for livelihood.
Their work is dangerous and they are paid poorly.
Through the Africa Reclaimers Organisation which he helped found, waste pickers from South Africa and Kenya are discussing ways to improve their working conditions and livelihoods, as they continue to push for recognition as formal stakeholders.
In this episode of Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja talks to Hlatshwayo and Winnie Wanjira who has been a waste picker at one of the largest landfills in East Africa.