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How South Africa’s informal waste pickers (reclaimers) are gaining recognition in an invisible trade

Informal waste picking is a taxing and hazardous line of work. These individuals, known as reclaimers in South Africa, labour in harsh environments with little protective gear, routinely enduring workdays that can stretch up to a gruelling 12 hours.

In addition, because informal waste picking is not an officially recognised profession, reclaimers face suspicion, verbal threats and, in some cases, even physical violence.But for many residents in South Africa who live on the fringes of society, often in extreme poverty and lacking access to higher education, they have little choice; collecting waste has a low barrier to entry.

And so, the reclaimers bear the scorn and risks.

“There are some residents who really don’t understand what we do. They call us names and insult us when we [reclaimers] come to take waste from their bins, says Khoali. “They think we are criminals and looking to steal things, but we are just trying to make an honest living by collecting recyclables.”

As a woman, Khoali says she faces even more dangers. One of them is territorial rival reclaimers.

In Johannesburg, many live by the scraps they earn from picking waste. It is a thankless, hard and dangerous lifestyle. The African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO), an organisation formed to unite informal waste workers, is working hard to change this narrative. Through the support of the Alliance, ARO has launched initiatives to make informal waste picking more dignified, safer and sustainable.

It’s pitch black in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the first rays of morning will not hit until three hours later. The city lies asleep, but Mantoa Khoali is already up and about.The 45-year-old single mother of one rides a makeshift trolley, which is more commonly used to move bulky goods in warehouses and supermarkets. Today, it is filled with a few empty garbage bags as Khoali propels through the quiet streets of Auckland Park and Brixton,looking to scavenge recyclable waste from garbage bins.

With its flat, thick wooden board and four wheels, the trolley is a simple, low-tech solution to getting around town. The rider pushes off the ground with their foot to move the trolley and grabs onto an ironing board frame attached to its front to stabilise themselves.

With this setup, a rider can carry at least two bags of waste and travel up to a remarkable 70 kmper hour, similar to that of a standard bicycle. However, there are no brake pads, so one jams their foot into the ground to stop the trolley and hopes for the best.

Khoali isn’t the only person riding these unsecured, jerry-rigged contraptions.

Thousands of individuals like her—men and women—prowl the suburbs of Johannesburg, breaking the tranquillity of pre-dawn with the rhythmic, rattling sound of their trolleys. All of them fixated on a singular endeavour — to fill their bags with as much valuable recyclables as possible so that they can sell them to recyclers or buyback centres.

The perils of waste picking

Informal waste picking is a taxing and hazardous line of work. These individuals, known as reclaimers in South Africa, labour in harsh environments with little protective gear, routinely enduring workdays that can stretch up to a gruelling 12 hours.

In addition, because informal waste picking is not an officially recognised profession, reclaimers face suspicion, verbal threats and, in some cases, even physical violence.But for many residents in South Africa who live on the fringes of society, often in extreme poverty and lacking access to higher education, they have little choice; collecting waste has a low barrier to entry.

And so, the reclaimers bear the scorn and risks.

“There are some residents who really don’t understand what we do. They call us names and insult us when we [reclaimers] come to take waste from their bins, says Khoali. “They think we are criminals and looking to steal things, but we are just trying to make an honest living by collecting recyclables.”

As a woman, Khoali says she faces even more dangers. One of them is territorial rival reclaimers.

“Women reclaimers are taken advantage of by other reclaimers. When we go out to collect, some male reclaimers will claim that the area belongs to them. And we can’t fight for ourselves because they are stronger than us. In the mornings, when we work mostly alone, it becomes even more dangerous,” she says.

Khoali says the lack of access to toilets also presents an obstacle for female reclaimers. “This is especially challenging since we sometimes travel more than 80 km just to collect the waste.

”The struggles do not end there. Getting a fair payout for the collected recyclables can be difficult because the price fluctuates. In December, when recycling plants and businesses wind down for the holidays, the buying price for recyclables drops significantly, sometimes by more than half.

Businesses can cut the buying rates because they know that the reclaimers need to offload their collection quickly. Otherwise, they must wait at least two months for the prices to return to normal.

It’s a rush to sell at optimal market rates. Reclaimers may even rent a truck to transport their collection bags more swiftly to the recyclers. But the pricing system is so arbitrary that sometimes reclaimers may still find that prices have dipped by the time they get to the recyclers, resulting in an even more drastic loss of earnings.