Q&A: Waste pickers want to play a part in the circular transition

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As Kenya advances its circular economy ambitions, Solomon Njoroge, chairperson of the Nairobi Recycler Waste Welfare Association, says waste pickers must be formally recognised as essential workers and integrated into policy frameworks if the transition is to be truly just and inclusive.

• According to Mr Njoroge, most policies and private sector interventions exclude the very people who have sustained Kenya’s waste ecosystem for decades, undermining livelihoods while shifting value to formal actors with more resources and influence.

• In an interview, he argues that recognition, integration and fair compensation are critical to ensuring that circularity doesn't leave behind those who made it possible in the first place - the waste pickers.

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In your view, how has the role of waste pickers in Nairobi, and perhaps more broadly across Kenya, changed over the past decade? 

Solomon Njoroge: The lives of the waste pickers have not improved and they are worsening, depending on where you are. In Kenya, when it comes to waste, there is this aspect of territories and where there are territories, there is ownership and cartelism. So, few waste pickers have prospered because they normally change and become cartels because everything is being politicised. And when that happens, you will see different groups organising and if you are not part of them, it means you will be oppressed. Things have not changed because we still have women waste pickers, older and younger, and upcoming waste pickers. Most of them, if you ask, even the upcoming waste pickers, why did you become a waste picker? Most of them will tell you there are no jobs, or it's a quick job, because becoming a waste picker, you don't need any qualification. All you need to know is the valuables, where to get them or how to get them and even that is not easy. Things have become worse. 

Let’s talk about the current realities, what are some of the biggest challenges waste pickers in Nairobi are facing today? 

Solomon Njoroge: There are different challenges for the waste pickers in Nairobi, and most of all is the issue of price, which is not reasonable, especially since we have so many aggregators who have different prices, and they keep changing, mostly dropping, not going up. I’ve been pushing for a system where the prices of valuables, not just plastics but all materials, are gazetted, like what we see in banks or Forex Bureaus, where you can track how the dollar or euro changes. It should be transparent. But because of a lot of cartel activity and oppression, the prices have remained invisible. There’s no transparency in pricing. As a result, waste pickers often don’t know the actual value of what they collect. Even when they’re being exploited, they don’t realise it. Since waste pickers have few alternatives when it comes to selling, this has allowed many to take advantage of them, especially aggregators, middlemen and even private companies and recyclers. 

Also, we have two categories of waste pickers: those in the landfills and those in the streets. They both also face different challenges. The ones in the landfill are affected by sorting at source, which has made it hard for them to earn a living. When waste is sorted at source, it means fewer valuables are coming to the landfill. Personally, it made me realise there’s no point in even talking about valuables anymore. These days, where do you get them? We are no longer collecting from households. We're just roaming the streets with sacks. There was a time we used to sort waste. Now, we are searching. We used to sort what we were collecting. These days, we're digging through dumpsites, trying to find something, because most waste is recovered at source. Now, waste pickers have nowhere to turn for income. 

There are also long-standing health concerns. Waste pickers lack health insurance cover. And even if someone is registered for health insurance, they still struggle to pay the monthly premium, which is very difficult for them. There are other health concerns too, based on the environment and working conditions, many are working without protective gear, exposing them to risk of injuries. 

Another challenge is in policymaking. Where there might be opportunities for improvement, waste pickers are often brought in or invited to meetings only after decisions have already been made. We’re invited just to rubber-stamp what’s already been discussed. When asked whether they involved waste pickers, they’ll often show photos, maybe of me attending a meeting, to give the impression we were part of the process. They’ll show our photos to prove they “involved” us. But we’re not being heard. Waste pickers are treated as tokens, not partners, as just another project to everyone, used for publicity, ignored in policy. 

How do you think these challenges can best be addressed to support waste pickers more effectively? 

Solomon Njoroge: Three things: recognition, integration, and a service fee. Because of limited resources and lack of machinery, waste pickers remain poor. You see private companies or even individuals taking over jobs that used to belong to waste pickers—like the private waste collectors—because they have trucks and can afford the permits required to operate. Most waste pickers have lost their jobs. Even in household garbage collection, some have been pushed out because they can't meet the requirements set by the county government. So, many have returned to the streets. I think it's high time for waste pickers to be recognised and compensated for the work they’ve done for decades, without recognition, without integration, and without any form of service fee. 

Recognition also applies to healthcare. Many waste pickers are attacked by dogs in communities. When they go to hospitals, they’re delayed or mistreated because of how they look, maybe they’re dirty, or simply judged based on their appearance. Waste pickers have a right to proper healthcare, food and shelter. Yet many of them sleep in landfills, in the streets, under bridges, no one cares about them. This has caused deep stigmatisation. And I believe the government can do something. The government and private companies alike know what waste pickers go through. I believe it's time for compensation and real recognition. That can change everything. 

You've mentioned the issue of sorting waste at source. From your perspective, what would a fair balance look like, one that reduces waste going to landfill, while still protecting the livelihoods of waste pickers? 

Solomon Njoroge: I don’t deny that we need change in our country and in our laws. We want to change and we are proud of what is happening. But still, waste pickers' lives are not being improved. There needs to be a just transition. For instance, in dumpsites waste pickers are being evicted by being tear gassed, and chased away. No dialogue, no people to come and talk to them. Waste pickers were also not involved in the creation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme. So there has to be a just transition in every move that is made against waste pickers.  

For now, we have collaborated with the Danish government on a research on the social economic status of the waste pickers and also their development. And we are going to have different training, both vocational and business because we need to be empowered. There needs to be trained capacity building and other forms of training and when there are things which are coming like changes, there has to be a just transition. 

Looking ahead, as chairperson, what’s your vision for strengthening the future of waste pickers in Nairobi? 

Solomon Njoroge: My priority is unity. We are not the only organisation in Nairobi. There are so many of them. And anybody can say they are representing waste pickers and work with any company, organisation or even the government. But when you have a collective voice, which is my vision, we can get what is ours. We can recover what is ours. But if we are not united as waste pickers, we will continue to suffer. Because in most cases, we have been politically used. But we are non-political as Nairobi Recycler Waste Welfare Association. Sometimes you will see some of our members, because we work with organised groups and informal groups, some will be used. But sometimes, because of hunger, we just allow whoever wants to do what he wants to do. So, unity is my vision for the waste pickers.