Who are our informal recyclers? An inquiry to uncover crisis and potential in Victoria, Canada

Abstract

What is considered garbage embodies a recoverable economic value, and environmental cost if not recycled. Throughout the world, the often marginalised and impoverished population earns a living through informal recycling. This is also true for Victoria, British Columbia, one of the most affluent cities in Canada. This paper discusses results of a participatory socio-economic survey involving informal recyclers in Victoria, BC to determine their livelihood determinants. The findings reveal that "binning" is an important survival strategy to generate income. A new waste-management model that considers the social and environmental context is needed. Inclusive public policies can respond to the livelihood concerns outlined in this paper by facilitating access to recyclable materials, devising occupational safety improvements and educating about alternative strategies for resource recovery. This model can contribute to the overall sustainability of the community by reducing the waste of resources and people, empowering marginalised populations and reducing the environmental impacts of natural resource use and waste disposal.

The Story of My Face: How Environmental Stewards Perceive Stigmatization (Re)produced By Discourse

“…Some of these cases are described under 'participatory sustainable waste management' [2,5]. Several municipalities in Brazil, for example, now remunerate the recyclers for the quantity of recyclables recovered, thus recognizing their environmental service contribution.…”

“…Given the increased size of the population of binners and homeless people in Victoria, they are receiving more media exposure and their livelihood circumstances have become more noticeable. While in 2006 there were approximately 50 binners in the CRD, the number has increased to up to 250 in 2010 [2,36]. A series of polemic questions are currently being discussed in the local press, including the possible closure of the only bottle depot in the downtown area, prohibition of homeless camping on public sites or the closure of the needle exchange facility.…”

“…Organized and autonomous binners are environmental stewards, who work with selective collection of recyclable materials, which generates their income and improves overall environmental health [2,5]. Most often however, these individuals live at the margin of society, suffer from prejudice, and are excluded from governmental initiatives to support their activity [3,13,14].…”

“…The survey was applied to a total of 156 binners in Victoria, with the help of 11 facilitators from the binning community. The research results brought to our attention the severe issues of marginalization and stigmatization the binners suffer from [2].…”

“…Yet, the binners are frequently associated with filth and are stigmatized and harassed by officials and the general public. In Canada the extent of binning has only recently caught academic attention and hence there is little published literature describing the social stigma these people carry [1,2]. Most of the literature that describes and discusses stigmatization and marginalization of informal recyclers stems from the global South, where large proportions of the population are involved in this activity [3][4][5][6].…”