Integrating Rizal Provincial Landfill’s Informal Waste Sector in Municipal Solid Waste Management: A Critical Evaluation

Abstract

Ecological Solid Waste Management is a term used to describe the way of handling waste to reduce its amount to the barest minimum and recovering discarded materials for reuse, recycling, or composting. The legitimate stakeholders in SWM include the household, institutional and commercial establishments, and local governments at the municipal/city/barangay levels. One stakeholder often overlooked but equally important is the Informal Waste Sector (IWS) which largely contributes to the success and efficiency of SWM. This sector includes scavengers, waste pickers, itinerant waste buyers, jumpers, garbage crew or paleros, and middlemen or traders. They are considered the most vulnerable group in Municipal SWM. Due to low incomes, health and safety risks, social exclusion and stigmatization, there have been efforts to formalize their work by integrating them into the SWM system. This study is an attempt to evaluate the degree or level of integration present in the Municipality of Rodriguez, Rizal, in terms of Capacity Development, Human Security and Social Inclusion. It aims to find out the real working and living conditions of its IWS within the adopted National Framework Plan for the Informal Waste Sector. This is an explanatory and evaluative research, following a development approach and employing qualitative methods.