School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, London, UK.
Waste Manag Res. 2012 Sep;30(9 Suppl):43-66. doi: 10.1177/0734242X12454934.
In low- and middle-income developing countries, the informal (collection and) recycling sector (here abbreviated IRS) is an important, but often unrecognised, part of a city's solid waste and resources management system. Recent evidence shows recycling rates of 20-30% achieved by IRS systems, reducing collection and disposal costs. They play a vital role in the value chain by reprocessing waste into secondary raw materials, providing a livelihood to around 0.5% of urban populations. However, persisting factual and perceived problems are associated with IRS (waste-picking): occupational and public health and safety (H&S), child labour, uncontrolled pollution, untaxed activities, crime and political collusion. Increasingly, incorporating IRS as a legitimate stakeholder and functional part of solid waste management (SWM) is attempted, further building recycling rates in an affordable way while also addressing the negatives. Based on a literature review and a practitioner's workshop, here we develop a systematic framework--or typology--for classifying and analysing possible interventions to promote the integration of IRS in a city's SWM system. Three primary interfaces are identified: between the IRS and the SWM system, the materials and value chain, and society as a whole; underlain by a fourth, which is focused on organisation and empowerment. To maximise the potential for success, IRS integration/inclusion/formalisation initiatives should consider all four categories in a balanced way and pay increased attention to their interdependencies, which are central to success, including specific actions, such as the IRS having access to source separated waste. A novel rapid evaluation and visualisation tool is presented--integration radar (diagram) or InterRa--aimed at illustrating the degree to which a planned or existing intervention considers each of the four categories. The tool is further demonstrated by application to 10 cases around the world, including a step-by-step guide.
在低收入和中等收入发展中国家，非正规（收集和）回收部门（以下简称 IRS）是城市固体废物和资源管理系统的一个重要但经常未被认可的组成部分。最近的证据表明，IRS 系统实现了 20-30%的回收利用率，降低了收集和处理成本。它们通过将废物再加工成二次原材料，在价值链中发挥着至关重要的作用，为城市人口的 0.5%左右提供了生计。然而，与 IRS（拾荒）相关的持续存在的实际和感知问题包括职业和公共健康与安全（H&S）、童工、失控污染、未纳税活动、犯罪和政治勾结。越来越多的尝试将 IRS 作为一个合法的利益相关者和固体废物管理（SWM）的功能部分纳入其中，以更具成本效益的方式进一步提高回收利用率，同时解决负面影响。基于文献回顾和从业者研讨会，我们在这里开发了一个系统框架——或分类法——用于对促进 IRS 融入城市 SWM 系统的可能干预措施进行分类和分析。确定了三个主要接口：IRS 与 SWM 系统之间、材料和价值链之间以及整个社会之间；第四个接口是组织和赋权。为了最大限度地提高成功的潜力，IRS 整合/包容/正式化倡议应平衡考虑所有四个类别，并更加关注它们的相互依存关系，这是成功的核心，包括具体行动，例如 IRS 能够获得分类废物。提出了一种新颖的快速评估和可视化工具——整合雷达（图表）或 InterRa——旨在说明计划或现有干预措施考虑到了四个类别中的每一个的程度。该工具进一步通过在全球 10 个案例中的应用得到了演示，包括分步指南。
