Lockdown pushed waste pickers to near-starvation, says report
Trash pickers’ incomes decimated as recycling facilities shut and demand for reusable materials declines
20 April 2021 - 19:15
Hundreds of thousands of waste pickers and their families have been pushed to the brink of starvation under SA’s Covid-19 lockdown.
A report by the World Wide Fund for Nature SA, International Union for Conservation of Nature and the department of environment, forestry & fisheries shows how the lockdown, which saw recycling facilities across the country shut in levels 4 and 5, placed “unprecedented” and “devastating” pressure on SA’s 215,000 waste collectors. ..
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