Debate session : Informal Recycling, ecological alternatives and social rights
Event in Barcelona, the 16th October 2014.
Informal recycling is a way of life for about 15 million of people all over the world who, very often, suffer from very hard and unhealthy working conditions, in contexts of poverty and social and political marginalisation. Nevertheless, experiences like the South-African Waste-Pickers Association (SAWPA) show how, with adequate support, informal recyclers can organize themselves and improve their living and working conditions. In Barcelona, informal recycling has grown enormously during recent years under conditions of precarity and, very often, also illegality. With the aim of improving this situation, different initiatives with a cooperative character, are trying to recognize, dignify and improve the working conditions of these people.
This debate session is an opportunity to know some of these experiences and realities and to discuss in public about these social, economical and ecological problems that affect the sustainability of many lives in, and the environment of, Barcelona.