♻️💚 This #InternationalWastePickersDay 2026 we unite in Dandora, Kenia, for Dignity, Safety & Recognition. From testimonies to a solidarity march ✊🏽 No just transition or circular economy without waste pickers 🌍✨ #JustTransition #WastePickers

We welcome the election of Julio Cordano of Chile as Chair of the INC for the Global Plastics Treaty 🌍♻️ For waste pickers and other workers in the informal economy, this is a key moment to push for recognition, rights, and a truly just transition ✊🏽🔥 Recycling without waste pickers is garbage 💚♻️

Informality affects 6 in 10 workers worldwide. ✊🌍 Watch this TV interview (Portuguese) with Severino Lima Jr., President of IAWP, on why organizing informal workers is key to rights, democracy, and a just future of work.

From the streets to the city’s arteries 🚇✊ The faces of Bengaluru’s waste picker leaders — Indumathi, Krishna, Mansoor, and many more from Thyajya Shramika Sangha — are now visible in metro train coaches and bus stands across the city. Visibility is power. Recognition is political. ♻️💚

At the invitation of our partner WIEGO, the International Alliance of Waste Pickers is represented by Maddie, Rachel & Harouna at a 2-day workshop in Nairobi on landfill closures ♻️⚠️ Standing up for waste pickers’ livelihoods ✊

Ho Chi Minh City, January 2026 A collective embrace turned into a shared moment of struggle, care, and strategy. Office Bearers, Subcommittee Chairs, and IAWP staff came together to reflect, debate, learn, and realign our work — always keeping waste pickers and worker-led organizing at the center.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met and welcomed IAWP leaders Severino Lima Jr. and Maditlhare Koena at #ExpoCatadores2025, reaffirming the central role of waste pickers in the just transition and the circular economy — from Brazil to the world. ♻️🌍

♻️ Waste pickers are ready to lead organic waste management — but they need justice: stable contracts, segregation at source, strong laws, and real investment. The models exist. Now we scale them. #IAWP #WastePickers #JustTransition

🔥 COP30 changed the game: Workers in informal employment — 58% of the world’s workforce — gained historic recognition in climate decisions. Now the fight moves to financing and implementation. 👉 Full statement here: www.bit.ly/IAWPforCop30

📌 Exploring Inclusive Climate Governance through the Global Ethical Stocktake 📅 19-11 // 12:30 – 13:30 // Resilience Hub Pavilion – Blue Zone 🤝 Severino Lima Jr., President of the IAWP, will represent waste pickers and highlight their essential role in climate mitigation.

Waste pickers are already cutting methane, reducing CO₂ and building circular economies — yet we still receive almost no direct climate finance. Nothing about us, without us. 🔗 bit.ly/IAWPCOP30

📣 People Driving the Circular Economy ♻️ At today’s session on integrating waste pickers into aluminium recycling, we highlight their key role in keeping global recycling rates high — yet they remain excluded from climate finance and policy spaces. 🗓 13 Nov • 16:30–17:30 EST 📍 Belém, Brazil

🌍💚 At #COP30, waste pickers & allies call to fund people, not incinerators. Zero waste systems — composting, reuse, recycling — are fast & affordable ways to cut methane & create jobs. 📍 Belém | 🕔 Nov 11, 5PM BRT 🔗 Watch live: unfccc.int/cop30/schedule #IAWP #GAIA #ZeroWaste

🌎♻️ IAWP Delegation at COP30 – Belém, Brazil 🌿 Representing decades of grassroots organization and climate leadership, this team brings the voice of millions of waste pickers to the global stage.

🇲🇱 Women leading change in Mali! The Minister for Women, Children & Families gathered civil society leaders to address the national crisis. 💪🏾 The Malian Association of Waste Sorters (AMTDDO) — an affiliate of the IAWP — joined with 15+ women raising their voices for resilience & solidarity.

🌿♻️ Belém opens its 1st public composting system with waste pickers — just before #COP30! Waste pickers from MNCR, IAWP, & Red Lacre will join the opening + panel “The COP30 Legacy for Waste Pickers.” 🗓️ Nov 9 | 9:30–17h | Belém (PA) 📍 CONCAVES HQ

🌍 Tomorrow is a historic day! Waste pickers & other Popular Movements meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, continuing Francis’s legacy for #LandHousingWork. IAWP will be represented by President Severino Lima Jr 🇧🇷 joining global grassroots leaders. 🗓️ Oct 23 | 4 PM Rome 📍 Paul VI Hall

📢 We’re hiring! 🌎♻️ The International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) is looking for a Research Coordinator to lead global studies on waste pickers’ rights, livelihoods & climate justice. 🗓️ Apply by Oct 31, 2025 🔗 bit.ly/3WRag0g #IAWP #WastePickers #Hiring #JustTransition #GlobalSouth

🌎♻️ Waste pickers from Brazil, Latin America & Africa gather in Belém for the Pre-COP 30 Waste Pickers’ Meeting to build solidarity & ensure our voices shape the climate agenda. Together we’re paving a just path to #COP30. #IAWP #MNCR #ClimateJustice #PreCOP30

🌎 North American Waste Pickers Exchange 🇨🇦 Reclaimers from across the continent met in Vancouver to share strategies, strengthen reclaimer-led recycling, and push for fair handling fees & dignified work ✊♻️ Together we build justice from the ground up. 💚 #WastePickers #IAWP

Thousands of reclaimers keep Johannesburg clean — now their livelihoods are at risk. Stand with them. ✊ Sign the call to stop the landfill crisis 👇

♻️🇮🇹 In Italy, 60,000 reuse workers rescue 200,000+ tons from waste every year — but remain invisible. ✊🏽 Their dignity can’t wait. ⚖️ The International Alliance of Waste Pickers may take the fight to the European Court of Human Rights. Read here (italian): www.ecodallecitta.it/riutilizzo-i...

At the 2025 UN Responsible Business & Human Rights Forum in Bangkok, IAWP VP Sushila Sable amplified the voices of 40M waste pickers 🌍. She urged brands & govts to ensure a #JustTransition: recognition, protection & fair pay for those keeping recycling supply chains alive ♻️✊🏾

🌍✊🏾 From Accra to the world: waste picker leaders stand united, organized, and ready to fight for recognition, dignity, and rights. ♻️💪🏾 Together, we are building a global movement for justice and a circular economy that includes us all. 🌱✨

📢 NOW LIVE at #UNRBHR2025! ♻️✊ From marginalized to recognized: Responsible sourcing pathways and a just transition for workers in material production and recycling supply chains Link: undp.zoom.us/j/86332512561 Hear worker voices & solutions to protect 40M waste pickers & 49M homeworkers.

🌍♻️ Historic milestone in Accra! Over 50 leaders from 17 orgs in 11 African countries gathered for the 1st Africa Regional Meeting of Waste Picker Leaders, building solidarity, advancing gender equity & demanding recognition in the circular economy. ✊🌱 #IAWP #WastePickers

🇧🇷✨ At the IAWP African Regional Meeting, H.E. Mariana Madeira, Ambassador of Brazil to Ghana, and Deputy Head of Mission Alexandre de Pádua Ramos Souto, celebrated Brazil’s Independence Week by honoring waste pickers’ fight for the environment. 🌍♻️ #IAWP #WastePickers

🌍✨ At the African Regional Meeting, Amadou Mbodj of Fundación Avina highlighted waste pickers’ vital role in inclusive recycling & shared Avina’s commitment to strengthening leadership, resilience & recognition across Africa. 🙌♻️ #WastePickers #IAWP

📢 Sept 17 | 14:45-15:45 at #UNRBHRF2025 40M waste pickers & 49M homeworkers keep global recycling & production running—but remain invisible & unprotected. Join us to explore how brands, govts & media can fund a #JustTransition & recognize workers as essential, not expendable. #WastePickers

✊ In Argentina, FACCyR’s El Amanecer de los Cartoneros is on hunger strike after transport rights were cut. We stand in solidarity with them and call for international support to amplify their struggle.

♻️🌍 Despite months of pressure, governments failed to deliver the binding and ambitious treaty needed to stop plastic pollution. 💪 But the fight is not over. Waste pickers will keep demanding dignity, visibility, and a binding commitment to a Just Transition.

Thanks to @ienearth.bsky.social, @globalrec.bsky.social, @acat_akaction, @portarthurcan, and @ypanpt/@cymgunep, who worked with #justtransitionalliance to write this collective response, and thanks to EnviroNews Nigeria for publishing this article: www.environewsnigeria.com/plastics-tre...

INC5.2 ends with no Plastics Treaty — a blow to 40M waste pickers fighting plastic pollution. We demand binding Just Transition, recognition, & plastic caps. Member states must fix this process — people & planet can’t wait. #PlasticsTreaty #IAWP Read our press release: www.bit.ly/INC52IAWP

🌍 From Geneva at the #PlasticsTreaty negotiations, waste pickers are making it clear: financing is key to justice. Severino Lima Jr., president of the IAWP, says it loud and clear. #WastePickers #JustTransition #CircularEconomy #EnvironmentalJustice #IAWP #PlasticsTreaty #ClimateJustice

♻️🌍 From Bangalore to Dhaka, IAWP delegates Indumathi and Kulsum Begum turn waste into livelihood, and invisibility into power. At UN #PlasticsTreaty talks, they demand dignity, rights, and a Just Transition for 40M waste pickers. Report by Ravleen Kaur for The Migration Story.

🌍♻️ Waste pickers at the #PlasticsTreaty talks in Geneva: recognition isn’t enough — we need a mandatory Just Transition. 💬 “Without waste pickers, the treaty fails.” 💬 “Recognition is justice.” 💬 “We turn waste into livelihood.” #JustTransition #WastePickers #CircularEconomy

The Plastic Treaty Coalition — a powerful alliance of civil society organizations from around the world, united in the fight for a future free from plastic pollution. Together, we are shaping the treaty our planet and communities deserve. 🌍✊ #JustTransition #PlasticsTreaty #EnvironmentalJustice

Before a crowd of Indigenous Peoples, waste pickers, unionized workers, environmental defenders & activists, John Chweya — IAWP delegate — sent a clear message: we cannot accept a Global Plastics Treaty that leaves vulnerable communities behind. 🌍✊ #WastePickers #ClimateJustice #JustTransition

📢 Press Conference – Without Waste Pickers, Just Transition Fails 🗓 Aug 14 | 14:00–14:45 CEST 📍 UNEP site, Geneva – Room XXVII We recover 60% of plastics going for recycling. We demand the #PlasticsTreaty include a binding Just Transition — recognition, rights & justice for 40M workers worldwide.

We are waste pickers — not by chance, but by choice. ✊♻️ This name carries our work, our history, and 50 years of organizing for recognition and justice. Led by Maditlhare Koena, Treasurer of the IAWP, we call on governments everywhere: respect our name, respect our struggle.

🌍♻️ Meet the IAWP delegation at #INC52! From every continent, Waste pickers unite to ensure our voices are heard in the fight for a just & binding #PlasticsTreaty. We lead the #JustTransition from linear to circular, defending rights, protecting communities & our planet. ✊

The IAWP delegates have something to say: A Just Transition is Non-Negotiable! ♻️✊🌍 #JustTransition #NoWastePickersNoJustice #IAWP

📸 Maditlhare Koena Treasure, Treasurer of the IAWP, meeting with Minister Dion George of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) alongside civil society associations. Without Waste Pickers, There is No Just Transition! ✊

Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, Executive Secretary of the INC on Plastic Pollution 🌎, salutes IAWP waste pickers ♻️ for their unwavering commitment and vital role in the fight against plastic pollution 🛡️. Without Waste Pickers, there is No Just Transition! ✊

📢🌍 On day 5 of #INC52 in Geneva, civil society staged a silent protest over the lack of progress in the #PlasticsTreaty. 💰 interests still outweigh human rights ✊ and 🌱 protection. ⏳ Time is running out. #ClimateJustice #EndPlasticPollution

Beyond negotiations, building alliances. ♻️🌍 IAWP delegation met with Brazil’s Ambassador in Geneva, Tovar da Silva Nunes, and UNEP’s Inger Andersen to discuss the #PlasticsTreaty, the role of waste pickers, and financing a just, inclusive transition. #WastePickers #JustTransition #CircularEconomy

Change is built from the ground up. The International Alliance of Waste Pickers gathers during INC-5.2 — strategizing, organizing, and making sure frontline voices are heard in the fight for a just ⚖️ and binding plastics treaty. 📸: Kiara Worth, IISD.

From Colombia to Geneva, Silvio Ruiz Grisales — waste pickers leader and part of the IAWP delegation — calls for action. Let’s send strength and solidarity to the International Alliance of Waste Pickers as they fight for a just and ambitious plastics treaty! 💪🌍♻️ #WastePickers #PlasticsTreaty

✊🏾 The voices of those most affected by the plastics crisis must lead the way. 📍 INC 5.2 Press Conference 🗓 Friday, Aug 8 | 11:30–12:15 CEST 📌 Building E, Room XXVII (Media Event Space) ONU - Geneva.

“No inclusion without power.” 🌍✊ Indigenous Peoples, ♻️ waste pickers & 👷‍♀️ unionized workers demand a binding #PlasticsTreaty rooted in justice, rights & real solutions. We face the crisis daily — we must lead the response. #INC52 #JustTransition #IAWP #EnvironmentalJustice 👉 Read our press release: