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LIVING IN THE LANDFILLS
According to the World Bank in its article of 09/20/2018 "Waste: an
updated analysis of the future of Solid Waste management", more than
15 million informal waste collectors in the world (women, children,
the elderly, unemployed or immigrants), continue to live from the
dumps of large cities in unsanitary conditions, lack of social
protection or health insurance and persistent social stigma.
Hundreds of thousands of them (maybe millions), are forced to live in shacks that they have made themselves in the same dumps with the rotten smell, insects and infections that can be caught in these conditions.
The life expectancy of these citizens is about 37 years.
Central and South America, Asia and Africa are the continents where the most people live with these humiliating conditions:
AMERICA
HAITI
09/28/2018.- Some 2,000 people (500 families) survive in the Truitier landfill, north of Cite Soleil in Haiti.
https://elcomercio.pe/mundo/actualidad/haitianos-ganan-vida-hurgando-basura-fotos-noticia-556770
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
01/19/2020.- 5,000 so-called "divers" immerse themselves daily in the waste from the Duquesa landfill in what they consider "their job".
GUATEMALA
05/07/2020.- There are approximately 30,000 people living in the landfill in zone 3.
MEXICO
08/13/2020.- Nezahualcóyotl (State of Mexico), despite COVID-19, around 250 garbage collectors continue to enter the municipal dump every day.
CHILE
08/07/2018.- La Chimba landfill, a sanitary landfill where 170 collectors search the garbage every day to survive and support their family. Thousands of people live in this sector in Chile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJwMGRS4sqI
ARGENTINA
09/03/2018.- 500 families that live looking for food and cardboard in Mar del Plata.
COLOMBIA
10/04/2018.- In the dump of Puerto Carreño 150 people have survived for 2 years. The indigenous people know that they are exposed to malaria, hemorrhagic dengue fever or malnutrition, which can take them to another life.
BOLIVIA
10/19/2018.- The collectors of the K'ara K'ara dump in Cochabamba, although they receive compensatory aid from the administration, make a living scavenging through the garbage.
ECUADOR
03/08/2021.- In Ecuador there are 20 thousand people dedicated to recycling. In the cities of the mountains, 70% are women, almost all without access to social security.
PERU
07/28/2020.- Many families in Peru have no other option than to live there and survive by collecting plastic and cardboard among the waste of the cities.
https://misionessalesianas.org/noticias/emergencia-coronavirus-basurero-peru-2807/
PARAGUAY
08/03/2020.- There are about 500 collectors who collect waste at the Cateura landfill.
https://www.cronica.com.py/2020/08/03/gancheros-laburan-miedo-la-incertidumbre-la-esperanza/
https://www.lanacion.com.py/ojo/2018/09/05/gancheros-de-cateura/
ASIA
INDIA
06/13/2018.- The piles of waste emanate a disgusting odor of particles that infect collectors and neighbors with tuberculosis and dengue fever, some die and are not rescued.
https://www.nytimes.com/es/2018/06/13/india-contaminacion-basura-nueva-delhi/
BANGLADESH
01/07/2020.- Dozens of people select materials to be recycled around several excavators that remove the remains.
PHILIPPINES
09/02/2015.- In Manila 50,000 people live from their recycling without any type of equipment on the millions of tons of waste.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2015/09/01/planeta_futuro/1441098863_253062.html
INDONESIA
10/27/2018.- Some 18,000 families live on the huge garbage dump in the capital Jakarta. In Indonesia there could be up to 5 million garbage collectors with these conditions.
https://www.eldiario.es/theguardian/Decenas-indonesios-vertedero-Sureste-Asiatico_0_829067481.htm
CAMBODIA
11/01/2016.- Outskirts of Phnom Penh, traveling 20 kilometers for 11 hours each day for one euro a day.
TAYLAND
02/05/2017.- There are currently 300 Burmese living in and around the Mae Sot dump, we eat wasted food if it's good enough. We cook, if necessary. We make our living collecting discarded and recyclable materials and selling them.
AFRICA
MADAGASCAR
02/21/2018.- In Antananarivo more than 3,000 people live from the landfill in Ralalitra for less than 65 cents a day.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/02/14/album/1518606102_852615.html#foto_gal_
ETHIOPIA
03/09/2017.- A mountain of garbage collapsed the fetid Repp dump, on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, killing at least 82 people. It could have been worse, hundreds of people live on Repp.
MOZAMBIQUE
02/19/2018.- At least 17 collectors died in Maputo after an avalanche of garbage caused by heavy rains.
https://es.euronews.com/2018/02/19/una-avalancha-de-basura-deja-varios-muertos-en-mozambique
EGYPT
07/28/2018.- "The Garbage City" with a population of 60,000 inhabitants, mostly Coptic Christians, collect the garbage from "Cairo" which they then take home to recycle
https://lasillarota.com/zabbaleen-herederos-ciudad-de-la-basura-egipto/238007.
MOROCCO
07/08/2018.- Dozens of young people, sometimes minors, look in dumps for something to survive, fleeing the despair of their country undermined by poverty and corruption, with the expectation of a better future.
According to ILO data, 152 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are victims of child labor in 2016, half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labor and some 500,000 in landfills in Latin America.
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm
In this article only some dumps are mentioned where we have found news where people live from them, so there are many more that we have not located news by any means of communication.
This article has the purpose of publicly denouncing the abuse and inhumane treatment that these sectors of the population have without any profit motive. If any of the named sources of information does not want it to be included in this information, please let us know by sending an email to Contact.
