Assessing the functional relationship between the formal and informal waste systems: A case-study in Catalonia (Spain)

Highlights

• Local informal waste systems are impacted by international conditions.

• Formal and informal waste systems are interdependent.

• Economic and environmental impacts of the informal recycling sector are underestimated.

• Policy approaches to waste pickers in Catalonia exclude recognition and inclusion.

• Local municipalities can adapt to waste pickers to reach recycling objectives.

Abstract

The present study draws from data collected with informal recyclers in the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. The purpose of the investigation is to determine the relationship between the formal and informal recycling sectors in Catalonia and determine how each of their activities impacts the other. From the case study in the city of Granollers, it was determined that from the spring of 2018 to the fall of 2019, the informal recyclers had the potential to collect roughly 44% of the cardboard in their geographical area, helping to meet the environmental goals of the region, but receiving no recognition for their work nor acknowledgement regarding their role in the waste management system. This investigation also analyzed the economic relationship between the formal and informal systems, and the effects that international events, such as China’s National Sword policy, had on that relationship. It was determined that the embeddedness of waste systems and global waste markets affect not only the formal system, but their relationship with the informal system as well.

Introduction

The phenomenon of the informal recycling sector is widespread, providing an income to millions of people worldwide (Medina, 2010, Scheinberg et al., 2016, Bonnet et al., 2019). Informal recyclers have created extensive supply and transportation networks that create a significant impact on overall municipal solid waste programming (Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata, 2012). Though not always the case, informal recycling is usually conducted by the most vulnerable and/or marginalized social groups as a means of survival (Medina, 2000, Wilson et al., 2006, Gutberlet, 2010, Scheinberg et al., 2016, Ezeah et al., 2013, Aparcana, 2017). Wilson and co-workers point out that many informal recyclers may not be able to enter formal sector employment due to factors such as lack of education, physical disability, or legal status, and that they are often exploited and underpaid for the materials they collect, especially in those markets where only one buyer exists (Wilson et al., 2006). These same factors have also historically contributed to poor inclusion/integration of waste pickers into formal waste management organizations around the world (Velis et al., 2012). However, in the last few decades, additional research has demonstrated the marked impact that the informal recycling sector can have on municipalities and nations reaching their recycling and environmental goals; and therefore, many governments and NGOs have advocated for inclusion of the informal sector into the formal recycling system (Wilson et al., 2006, Gutberlet, 2010, Ezeah et al., 2013, Davis and Garb, 2015, Aparcana, 2017).

Though a substantial amount of documentation exists regarding informal recyclers in the global south, a growing amount of informal recycling takes place in the north, which until recently, has not been adequately acknowledged or studied (Scheinberg et al., 2016, Wittmer and Parizeau, 2016). According to Scheinberg et al. (2016), there are possibly millions of informal workers participating in waste management systems in Europe alone.

The informal recycling sector has existed in Europe for many years, with the Catalan merchants, or “drapaire,” appearing in the 18th century in Catalonia (Spain), and references to “rag-and-bone” picking in waste management articles materializing during the 19th century (Fernández, 2015, Scheinberg et al., 2016). The implementation of integrated waste management systems by municipalities in the last several decades (following European directives) led to the professionalization of the sector (Wilson et al., 2006, Scheinberg et al., 2016), leaving little room for the informal sector. This transition caused many of the previous informal recyclers to become middle-men who now operate legal private operations, often specializing in one or two materials. However, in the last ten years, the informal recycling sector has re-emerged, offering a way of life to new social groups (Porras, 2016). Most of today’s informal recyclers are immigrants who, either because of their lack of citizenship status or their situation of social exclusion, cannot depend on the formal labor sector and, thus, turn to informal recycling for economic income. The 21st century drapaire are now known colloquially as “waste pickers,” or in Catalonia, as the “chatarrero,” called thus for their collection of “chatarra” (or scrap metal).

The objective of this article is to demonstrate that, on a local level, although the formal and informal recycling sectors of Catalonia are separate, and at times in conflict with each other, they are also symbiotic and function through an interdependent relationship that has consequences for the institutions overseeing waste management. All the while, local waste systems are embedded in global international flows of people and materials that, in turn, impact the functioning of and the relationship between formal and informal systems.

Formal and informal waste sectors have a strong level of interdependence albeit unbalanced. Grounded in the proposals of Scheinberg et al., 2016, Davis and Garb, 2015, our case study defines these mutual relationships from the theoretical assumption that formal and informal waste sectors are interdependent in the sense that the rules that govern one affect the other. However, this relationship is not symmetrical and the capacity of formal waste institutions to control and manage the informal waste sector presents numerous challenges.

The formal recycling sector includes the waste management systems organized at various territorial levels (local, regional, national and European). It can be modified and improved via public policies, and numerous political and formal social institutions exist to manage the execution of these systems. In contrast, the informal sector is not designed by political institutions specializing in waste management, but instead, determined by social, economic and political dynamics inserted in international flows (of migrants, materials, prices, etc.) that exceed the formal sector’s management capacity.

The informal sector is made up of different types of actors. Scheinberg et al. (2016) identify 5 types of informal occupations in Europe related to waste management: waste pickers, itinerant waste buyers/collectors, small dealers/small junk shops, second-hand operators, and swill collectors and herders). Informality is not absolute, instead there is a gradation inside the informal sector (Davis and Garb, 2015) between the completely informal activities and businesses outside any formal arrangements and the businesses that are registered and pay taxes but obtain inputs from undocumented sources on a cash basis. In our case study, we identified interactions between waste pickers and itinerant waste buyers/collectors; however, in this paper we have focused primarily on the experiences of the first while not neglecting the importance that the second’s role may play.

In our investigation, we intend to highlight the interdependence and conflict between the formal and informal recycling sectors within the context of global geopolitical dynamics-- which include immigration laws, international trade agreements and economic restructuring policies--and the unique challenges that these dynamics produce for waste management at the local level. The global context greatly complicates the relationships between the two sectors at a local level, and in our investigations, resulted in perceived threats by local waste management institutions who, instead of attempting to create policies of inclusion to integrate and work symbiotically with waste pickers, more often sought police and social services to cope with their perceived problems.

Davis and Garb (2015) identify a continuum of the degree of integration of the informal sector, ranging from (i) those advocating a prohibition of informal recycling, (ii) those ignoring their existence, (iii) those where the sector is recognized but pressed to conform to and compete with the formal sector, and (iv) those attempting to integrate the strengths of the informal sector with those of the formal. The authors of this paper advocate for this last approach, even though this has not been witnessed in policies throughout Europe, nor was it observed in our study.

In short, although both sectors are interdependent, the informal sector is subject to numerous unpredictable factors and embedded in international flows, which limits the ability of formal waste management institutions to control them. Therefore, the informal sector influences the formal sector in a more unpredictable way, which forces those institutions to improvise, or under conditions of great uncertainty, seriously compromise the efficiency of the service. In line with our theoretical referents (Scheinberg et al., 2016, Davis and Garb, 2015), we argue that better knowledge of the logistics to which the informal sector is subjected, recognition of its potentialities, and strategies of collaboration and/or progressive integration of both sectors, would contribute to building a fairer, more efficient and sustainable waste management system.