Peru: Recyclers Leadership Initiative

Informal recyclers, often drawn from poor and vulnerable sectors of society, conduct their work in harmful conditions, mostly without personal protective equipment or proper healthcare precautions, such as vaccinations. With poor opportunities and insufficient earnings, informal pickers are unrecognized and unprotected actors in the waste management system. Working without protective equipment, recyclers are the first link in the recycling value chain, recovering waste from generating sources such as residential homes, businesses, and public entities. Empowering these first actors in the value chain through formalization is critical to supporting inclusion, improving working conditions and decent work, and strengthening the sector overall.

Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) partnered with Ciudad Saludable, a Peruvian-based organization, to implement the Recyclers Leadership Initiative (RLI) program focused on strengthening the culture of recycling while enhancing the capabilities of recyclers by providing recyclers with technical knowledge and access to succeed in 14 municipalities in Peru. RLI provided training to recyclers on health and sanitation, inclusive recycling, and business management practices that targeted improving their health and livelihoods. They strengthened the capacity of Centros de Acopio de Residuos Reclicables (CARRs) for formalized Waste Pickers’ Associations, provided personal protection equipment to not only protect the recyclers from the innate hazards of their work but also to help add credibility and legitimacy through the uniformity and professionalism of the equipment. The program created linkages with local governments to help recyclers access existing public health services and government programs such as Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS), Peru’s public health system, and Pensión 65, the state-run pension program. RLI recyclers received hepatitis and tetanus vaccinations, gained access to the public healthcare system, and were integrated into Pensión 65. These activities empowered the recyclers with the necessary resources and skills to work with dignity and embedded their work in a formal, organized labor sector with public and private support.