Waste workers often perform a job most people take for granted. Every day, they go through the enormous volumes of trash, recyclables, and discarded material society produces, ensuring our spaces are clean and habitable. Although they are an essential part of our infrastructure, they are largely underappreciated and exposed to huge health and safety risks.
Indeed, did you know that being a waste worker can be more dangerous than being a policeman or a firefighter for instance? I wasn’t aware of the huge amount of danger waste workers had to face each day. Nonetheless, when I think about it, their job involves a lot of lifting and carrying heavy loads, extreme weather (really hot/freezing days), and working with hazardous chemicals. Moreover, health-wise, they are at risk of inhaling toxic fumes, cuts from needles or other objects in the trash (such as knives or broken glass), and infection from dirty materials.
Additionally, in the majority of the world, ‘waste work’ is done by poor community workers, which is a perpetuation of social injustices. Although you don’t need a high degree to become a waste worker, their job doesn’t mean it’s easier than any other job you can get with a degree. It is challenging both physically and mentally.
At the same time, waste workers are leading the way to sustainability. They are key to recycling programs as well as reducing landfill waste. Worker cooperatives such as Pedal People demonstrate that waste work can be reorganized to prioritize dignity, fair pay, and ecological responsibility. These models challenge the traditional, exploitative models and demonstrate that waste collection can be sustainable as well as being equal.