Waste pickers in the Global South: understanding the key features that underpin the dominance of informality
24 April 2025
A new article on informality in urban e-waste management has been published in Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy by Labra Cataldo, Gallego-Schmid, and McLachlan.
The study presents a detailed ethnographic investigation into e-waste management practices in Santiago de Chile, highlighting the complex interplay between formal and informal sectors. Through interviews and observations, six labour profiles were mapped, spanning a spectrum of informality. The study identifies agility, capillarity, and flexibility as the core features enabling informal systems to thrive. These traits contribute significantly to urban material collection but are often overlooked in policy integration efforts.
The authors call for a nuanced understanding of informality, not merely as a challenge, but as a potential asset in circular economy strategies, especially within socially vulnerable populations. Unveiling agility, capillarity, and flexibility as key traits of informal recycling, offering insights to reform integration strategies and enhance circularity in e-waste systems.
The paper is available from the link below: