We can only succeed in creating a future for mankind and our environment if people take responsibility for protecting their environment. Particularly in the developing world, there is often a lack of functioning waste disposal systems, and people are often unaware of the negative impact careless waste disposal can have on health and the ecosystem. Plastic bags are handed out for free on every street corner and waste is just dumped anywhere at legal or illegal landfill sites. Children can be seen playing in the rubbish while the hungry scavenge for any leftovers they can use. Meanwhile, poisonous gases contaminate whole districts, putting people’s lives in danger. The fact that many people have no means of protecting themselves against harmful substances being disposed of in the immediate vicinity of their homes also causes significant health and environmental damage. Particularly for the poorest people in our society, waste is gradually destroying livelihoods – and our planet, too. We want to put a stop to this destruction.
It is precisely the people most affected by the major side-effects of the global waste industry that could benefit most from new jobs created by avoiding, collecting, processing and re-using so-called ‘rubbish’.
The more people can re-use waste and turn it into a resource, the more effectively we will be able to close the product cycles for plastics or electrical waste. Help wants to engage in this forum to encourage participatory, innovative solutions that can help people in need.
As a humanitarian organisation, this is the first time we have been involved in recycling processes across entire regions. However, we do have experience of developing a range of recycling initiatives for people in poverty. Our projects give these people an income and raise their awareness of issues surrounding waste prevention and recycling. We compliment this kind of small-scale economic assistance by offering training on subjects including business planning, accountancy and more.
As far as waste prevention is concerned, we are also working to reduce the amount of packaging used as part of emergency aid operations, which often involve distributing individual goods at short notice. Over the last year, approaches to recycling have become a much more important cross-cutting issue for our organisation. To reflect this, all new draft programmes in our Livelihood division are now assessed to see whether they can incorporate recycling initiatives. We are also developing a capital campaign aimed at attracting donors for waste reuse and recycling schemes in Indonesia, Iraq and West Africa.