Informal waste collectors as a driving force in recycling

Waste picker – pepenadores – Lumpensammler –rag picker – catadores – récupérateurs – buzos – cirujas – chiffonniers…

the list could go on. All these names describe people who make a living on a job under difficult circumstances, which is unpleasant, little recognized, hazardous and often dangerous. The project Partnerships for Recycling Management is dedicated to those workers who make a significant contribution to recycling, to the environment and to climate protection. Without them, much larger quantities of waste would be dumped or disposed of and would not leak back into productive and resource cycles. The collection of recyclables provides them an income – one way to reduce poverty.

Partnerships for Recycling Management wanted to underline life and work of these people and therefore organized a photography contest. We were looking for meaningful,surprising and inspiring pictures on the topic "Valuable waste: Informal waste workers as a driving force in recycling." More than 100 photos were sent in. The three winners of the poto contest have now been selected, the winner photo "Embedded" is shown on this page. The winners are:

1. Enrico Fabian with "Embedded"
2. Ulrike Killguss wth "Living on waste"
3. Klaus Ackermann with "Play and dream on a pile of rubbish"

These and a selection of the other pictures will be shown in publications and on our website. Some of them will also be exhibited at the symposium of the GTZ environment department and other events. And in the future, your picture will remain in circulation - perhaps as an illustration of a GTZ publication, for a postcard, a calendar?

The winners receive the following prices:

1. Johan Sundgren Los pepenadores, a photo book with impressive photos
2. A handmade recycling bag from the Uswag Calahunan Livelihood Association, Philippines
3. An exclusive photo album of handmade recycled paper.

Contact

Sofia Garcia-Cortes
Email: recycling-partnerships@gtz.de
Tel: +49 6196 79-3265

posted on: 7/8/2010