Integration, recognition and inclusion of informal waste workers into national waste management systems have been strongly advocated by the Africa Regional Executive of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers, Mr Johnson Doe.
He called for policies that deliberately place waste workers at the centre of decision-making.
“Our work needs to be integrated into waste management policies, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies and laws should benefit the informal sector strongly, and we must be involved in all discussions concerning waste management financing. We should be at the table to speak for ourselves,” Mr Doe stated.
Speaking at a Waste Workers Dialogue aimed at shaping the formation of a National Informal Sector Waste Workers Alliance in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Doe, who is also the co-founder of the Green Waste Pickers Co-operative Society Ltd in Tema, said waste workers in the country continued to suffer neglect, discrimination and exclusion despite their critical role in environmental sanitation and public health.
The dialogue, convened by the Ghana Youth Organisation (GAYO), brought together waste workers from landfills, informal collection sites and related corporate entities, alongside municipal officials and environmental health officers.
It was designed as a participatory platform to gather grassroots input for the proposed National Waste Workers Alliance.
He noted that stigma was one of the most pressing challenges facing waste pickers, noting that many were unfairly perceived as criminals and labelled a nuisance by society.
According to him, the negative perception had contributed to their marginalisation by local authorities and decision-makers within the sanitation sector.
Beyond stigma, Mr Doe highlighted serious occupational health and safety risks confronting waste workers who were exposed daily to hazardous materials without adequate protection or support.
He said despite decades of contributing to environmental cleanliness and earning livelihoods through waste picking, workers had received little attention in terms of health services, safety training or capacity building.
He stressed that waste workers were often excluded from policy discussions that directly affected their livelihoods, adding that repeated attempts to engage district and municipal assemblies for collaboration, including franchise agreements for waste collection, had largely been ignored.
“We are not consulted when decisions are taken about waste management. Policies are developed about us, without us, and that must change,” he said, reiterating calls for inclusion in all policy processes within the sector.
The Project Coordinator of GAYO, Ms Mabel Naa Amorkor Laryea, explained that the engagement sought to understand the real challenges faced by waste workers and ensure their voices shaped the framework of the alliance.
She said waste workers were frequently exploited by middlemen and aggregators who undervalued their materials, worsening their financial difficulties.
According to her, forming a national alliance would help protect workers from exploitation, promote fair pricing and strengthen collective bargaining.
Ms Laryea disclosed that although a draft framework for the alliance existed, it was deliberately kept skeletal to allow waste workers themselves to contribute practical details based on lived experiences.
Inputs from the dialogue, she said, would be incorporated into policy proposals to be presented to government.
She estimated that the country had between 6,000 and 8,000 informal waste workers nationwide, many of whom were hesitant about formalisation but stood to benefit from cooperative organisation.
The dialogue, she noted, was not an awards ceremony but a consultative process to build consensus, trust and ownership, and to lay the foundation for an inclusive, worker-led alliance that would advance dignity, coordination and sustainable waste management across the country.
FROM CECILIA YADA LAGBA , TEMA