Shifting perceptions of informal operators in the service and value chains: A retrospective of 40 years of observation and advocacy for informal recyclers and waste service providers, through the eyes of five global participant-researchers.

Abstract

This article offers a reflective retrospective of the literature and practice on the informal waste and recycling sector. The authors have joined to share our experience and knowledge on the interface between the formal solid waste sector and informal recyclers and operators. Together, we discuss where this discourse has come from, where it is now, and where we, as practitioners, think it is going. We share our understanding of the waste and recycling sectors and how informality within them functions. The retrospective covers nearly 40 years of research, practice, advocacy, action, writing and intervention. The main storyline is how the public and private solid waste authorities and service providers relate to informal operators in both recycling ('the (private) value chains') and waste management ('the (public) service chain'). The recurring theme is how engaged scholarship and practice have interacted with, modified and improved the position of informal operators and workers and contributed to positive outcomes in both service and value chains. Throughout the period covered by this retrospective, opinions and framing on all sides have shifted substantially through the years, whereas the economic activities of informal recyclers and informal waste collection service providers have remained largely unchanged. Although we refer to both scientific and operational documents, we do not have the ambition to produce a scientific paper. Rather, we follow other authors of the special issue in referring to ourselves as involved witnesses who share a commitment to improving waste and recycling practices at the boundary of formal and informal systems.