Just Transition: The Role of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers in the Negotiations of the Global Plastics Treaty

Abstract

The article explores the environmental activism role of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) in the negotiations of the Global Plastics Treaty, highlighting its demands for a just transition and adequate compensation for waste pickers. From a historical-dialectical materialist perspective, it seeks to reveal the dynamics of labor exploitation of these workers and the commodification of environmental externalities. It argues that the inclusion of these workers in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems tends to reinforce the logic of expanded capital reproduction by creating a new market for tradeable “environmental assets”, rooted in the exploitation of waste-picking labor. The article concludes that collective class organization of waste pickers is essential, recognizing them as workers rather than “entrepreneurs” or “business owners.” Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of the international struggle these workers are waging for better working conditions and fair remuneration, asserting that such mobilization must be linked to structural transformations aimed at overcoming the destructive logic of capitalist production.