Recycling

In developing countries, waste management presents a huge challenge for city governments and is a major source of GHG emissions, but also a key opportunity for generating “green” jobs and community enterprise. The processing and recycling of solid waste (paper, steel, tin, plastic) currently represents a massive and growing market, and could contribute significantly to reducing GHG emissions from dumps and incinerators (UNEP 2008). Recycling and waste management employs an estimated 10 million in China. In Brazil, an estimated 500,000 people are employed in the recycling sector, with over 2400 co-operatives bringing decent work and social protection to some of the world’s poorest people. But this represents only a fraction of the potential as only 10% of urban waste is currently recycled.

There is a huge challenge in ensuring that the growth of these new markets lead to decent, safe jobs and value chains that generate and retain new wealth among poor communities. But experiences to date show that the right policy, regulatory, institutional and community engagement conditions can maximize both the poverty reduction, and the environmental management potential of these new markets.