As the global population approaches 8 billion next month and resource use intensifies, so does global waste. Estimates suggest that by 2025, the world’s cities will produce 2.2 billion tonnes of waste every year, more than three times the amount produced in 2009.
Meanwhile, global e-waste production is on track to reach 120 million tonnes per year by 2050 if current trends continue.
Poorly managed waste is threatening human and planetary health, with around 2.8 per cent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originating from the waste and wastewater sector. Yet proper waste management remains a significant challenge for countries and cities around the world.
Experts say that acknowledging the links between gender inequality and waste management will be key to creating a more sustainable and equitable waste sector.
Ahead of International E-Waste Day on 14 October, we spoke to Takehiro Nakamura, Head of the International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), about the challenges of gender inequality in waste management.
How does gender inequality play out in waste management?
Takehiro Nakamura (TN): The gendered division of labour in the waste management sector reflects traditional stereotypes of male and female roles in everyday life, which means it often goes unnoticed because it simply mirrors what is seen elsewhere.
This is the “gender and waste nexus”, which refers to the gender inequalities in waste management that reinforce and even justify gender inequalities in society at large. Changing attitudes about gender norms through awareness-raising campaigns, training, and research to collect sex and gender-disaggregated data are crucial to addressing gender inequality in the waste sector.
How does waste affect women?
TN: In many societies, women are traditionally responsible for managing household waste as part of their daily chores, meaning they have greater engagement with domestic waste management and waste management services.
In the wider informal waste management sector, women are primarily found in the lower tier, working in waste picking and separating at landfill sites. At the same time, men dominate the higher-income and decision-making roles, whether as truck drivers, scrap dealers, repair shop workers, or in buying and reselling recyclables. This, again, reflects the gendered division of labour in society but also means that women are often excluded when waste management activities are formalized, missing out on protections and benefits, such as social security or higher wages.
As the waste sector modernizes and applies new technologies that may require greater education and training, it is essential that women are included in this process.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted women in the waste sector?
TN: In many developing nations, waste management is predominately informal, with low wages and no protection against harm to workers’ health. This becomes especially dangerous when litter pickers are faced with the improper disposal of products such as masks or gloves that can carry viruses.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a huge increase in the use, and therefore disposal, of PPE (personal protective equipment) by both medical professionals and the general public. Women working in the informal waste sector are therefore at risk, but they are also at risk in the household where they are more likely to manage domestic waste as part of housework and where lack of information means healthcare waste is rarely segregated from general waste.
What opportunities are there for women as agents of change in waste management?
TN: As the primary users of waste management services at the household level and being engaged in various types of work in the waste sector, women have both knowledge and expertise, whose recognition can lead to more efficient, effective, sustainable, and fair waste management operations.
One area where women can take an immediate leadership role is in the minimization and separation of household waste, but men also need to become involved and take on a greater—and eventually equal—share of household responsibility for domestic waste management. This strategy can help reduce overall waste through reduction of waste, as well as recycling and composting.
It is also essential to promote and support women's voices, women’s leadership, and women’s agency in waste management.
What is UNEP doing to ensure women working in waste management systems are empowered today, and in the future?
TN: UNEP is playing a leading role in scientific research and as a convenor on gender and waste, producing factsheets, reports, and informative videos and conducting training, webinars, and other events.
UNEP’s ground-breaking 2019 report, ‘Gender and waste nexus: Experiences from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal’—and the subsequent video series, ‘Gender and Waste Nexus’—provides a detailed analysis of how gender inequalities and norms are embedded in almost all aspects of waste management, as well as policy suggestions to craft a more gender-responsive waste management sector.
In addition, UNEP’s Osaka-based IETC is developing a series of simple, accessible, and informative fact sheets focusing on healthcare waste, e-waste, and plastic waste, that will soon be publicly available.
For more information, contact Takehiro Nakamura, takehiro.nakamura@un.org
To fight the pervasive impact of pollution on society, UNEP launched #BeatPollution, a strategy for rapid, large-scale and coordinated action against air, land and water pollution. The strategy highlights the impact of pollution on climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and human health. Through science-based messaging, the campaign showcases how transitioning to a pollution-free planet is vital for future generations.
