Plastic pollution reflects not only an environmental problem but also a profound human right crisis and violations, affecting millions of waste workers in the world. In this article labor rights, health hazards, and gender discrimination will be examined. Drawing on recent research and study cases from India, Africa and other Asian countries, which are victims of Waste Colonialism, this article argues for urgent policy reforms that recognize waste pickers’ contributions, protect their rights, and ensure gender-responsive safeguards.

The invisible Workforce behind Waste Recycling

The workforce of an estimated 34 million waste pickers who manually collect, sort, and process recyclable materials, including plastics, under very exploitative conditions. These informal works are predominantly from marginalized and ethnic minorities that perform essential environmental services (O'Hare, P. A. G., & Nøklebye, E. 2024). They handle toxic plastic waste without adequate protection, earn minimal wages, and face systematic discrimination and violence. Women, who constitute a significant proportion of this workforce, experience additional layers of vulnerability including sexual harassment, reproductive health hazards, and gender-based wage discrimination (Chikarmane, P. 2012).

Studies estimate that informal recyclers recover between 50-80% of recyclable materials in cities across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, contributing significantly to municipal waste management systems without formal recognition or compensation (Wilson, D. C., Velis, C., & Cheeseman, C. 2006). The majority of waste pickers operate in legal grey zones, unrecognized as workers by the authorities. As a result, they are excluded from minimum wage protections and employment standards. No access to formal contracts, security or complaint procedures (Schenck, C. J 2016).

One of the biggest physical issues is also the absence of personal protective equipment, where many field research surveys consistently find nearly zero usage of these equipment among informal waste pickers. Studies in Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Ghana report that 80-90% lack basic protective equipment such as gloves, boots, masks or clothing. The reasons mostly being that they are more expensive than the daily earnings, no institutional mechanisms that provide free equipment and the lack of training on occupational health risks and on protective measures (Hasan, M. 2025).

Beyond physical problems, mental health and psychosocial harms are experiences that waste pickers are dealing with constantly, profoundly impacting their mental health. Stigmatization and exclusion are part of the discrimination, humiliation, and social isolation that results in chronic stress, anxiety, and depression (Uddin, S. M. N. 2018). Economic insecurity is an additional factor that comes with unpredictable income, lack of savings, and vulnerability to the job market (Gutberlet, J. 2017). 

Due to the stigmatization of their occupation, waste pickers are seen as “dirty”, “polluted” and socially inferior, while also in many contexts, they are associated with historically marginalized groups of people (Hayami, Y. 2006). 

Gender-based Violence and Wage Gaps

Within these researches and studies there is another aspect of the darker side when being a waste picker and that is being a woman in this occupation. Women constitute 40-60% of the global waste picking workforce, yet they face distinct discrimination compared to male workers. Women waste pickers consistently earn 20-40% less than men for the equivalent or even more working hours. They are assigned to lover-value materials such as plastic or organic waste, while men control access to higher value waste like metals and electronics. Additionally, they face discrimination from middlemen and scrap dealers who offer lower wages to women (Kabeer, N. 2013). 

Women waste pickers experience widespread sexual harassment and violence that take place nearly every aspect of their work and daily lives. At the workplace, they are victims to constant verbal abuse such as catcalling, sexual comments, and degrading remarks from male waste pickers, scrap dealers, municipal workers, and members of the public (Kabeer, N. 2015). Physical harassment is also very common with reports of unwanted touching, groping and sexual assault particularly during night shifts when women are most vulnerable (Baruah, B. 2010). Additionally, in many cases sexual exploitation occurs, when scrap dealers, middlemen, or supervisors demand sexual favors in exchange for fair process, access to materials, or continued employment (Chen, M. A. 2012). 

Beyond these horrific experiences, women waste pickers are also victims of physical violence, theft, and intimidation. They face beating, assault, and even rape at the hands of male competitors, criminal members, and police officers (Tacoli, C. 2015). Theft of their collected materials and extortion, often perpetrated by law enforcement or local gangs (Satterthwaite, D. 2004). Moreover, despite the high prevalence of such violence, very few women report incidents due to the stigmas, fear of retaliation, and deep mistrust in authorities who are sometimes the perpetrators themselves, and then combined with the absence of accessible legal or support services (Grown, C. 2005). 

Conclusion 

As a conclusion we are addressing this crisis and require moving beyond narrow approaches to waste management toward a socially restorative vision of circular economies. This includes valuing care and environmental work, not just profit, distribution benefits and burdens equitably, centring the marginalized communities knowledge and agency. 

Waste workers have long practiced circular economy principles with minimal resources. Instead of exploiting, displacing and humiliating them, we should recognize, support, and learn from their experiences. The evidence presented in this short article demonstrates to us how discrimination leads to further crises both in the environment around us but also in human lives as well and their dignity. What remains is political will and moral commitment to justice.