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For generations,
freelance “waste pickers” have roamed the garbage dumps
of Colombo, Sri Lanka, looking for fragments of plastic, metal,
anything they could resell to support their families.
“The workers in the garbage sector,
the silage sector were looked down upon as the lowest.
But to make it a decent job,
people are trying to get into this job,
because there is some kind of dignity attached to it.”
With the help of the ILO,
the government began training the "freelancers"
in better methods of garbage collection.
It gave them safety equipment, and taught them
how to do this potentially dangerous job more safely.
“The workers get training from the ILO
about occupational safety and health,
and also about the importance of work.
That improved their sense of dignity
and they also become more productive.”
Wasanthi used to wander through the dump,
picking up garbage to re-sell.
Now, she earns enough money at work
to allow her husband to stay home with the children.
The initiative to train the waste pickers created “green jobs.”
This assembly line sorts out the biodegradable material,
turning garbage into high quality “bio- compost”
which is used to replenish the soil
in the area’s many tea and rubber plantations.
“A lot of the employers are into doing green practices on their own.
We notice that there are green practices happening
in a lot of companies in Sri Lanka.”
Nearly 4,000 of Sri Lanka’s waste pickers have been trained
to sort through waste more efficiently,
while protecting their health, the environment
and supporting their families.
“Yes, we do earn a good living from this work.
But we also feel we contribute to the environment,
when we pick up a coconut shell or a yogurt cup for recycling.”