Simpson Michael, Oduro-Appiah Kwaku, Gunsilius Ellen, Dias Sonia Maria, Scheinberg Anne
Resource Management and Administration Program, Environmental Studies Department, Antioch University, New England, Keene, NH, USA.
Water and Sanitation Department, School of Physical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Waste Manag Res. 2025 Jun;43(6):850-896. doi: 10.1177/0734242X241280076. Epub 2024 Nov 19.
This article offers a reflective retrospective of the literature and practice on the 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 who share a commitment to improving waste and recycling practices at the boundary of formal and informal systems.
本文对该领域的文献和实践进行了反思性回顾。作者们齐聚一堂，分享我们在正规固体废物部门与非正规回收者及经营者之间的交叉领域的经验和知识。我们共同探讨了这一论述的起源、现状，以及作为从业者，我们认为它将走向何方。我们分享了对废物和回收领域的理解，以及其中非正规性的运作方式。这次回顾涵盖了近40年的研究、实践、倡导、行动、写作和干预。主要的故事情节是公共和私营固体废物管理部门及服务提供商如何在回收（“（私营）价值链”）和废物管理（“（公共）服务链”）方面与非正规经营者建立联系。反复出现的主题是，积极参与的学术研究和实践如何与非正规经营者及工人的地位相互作用、改变并改善其地位，并在服务链和价值链中都带来积极成果。在本次回顾所涵盖的整个时期内，各方的观点和框架多年来发生了很大变化，而非正规回收者和非正规废物收集服务提供商的经济活动基本保持不变。虽然我们参考了科学文献和操作文件，但我们无意撰写一篇科学论文。相反，我们效仿该特刊的其他作者，将自己称为致力于改善正规和非正规系统边界处的废物及回收实践的人。
