60% of working women in the world are trapped in the precarious jobs offered by the informal economy. In Ecuador, many of them are dedicated to collecting plastics in the streets, an invisible and precarious job that barely allows them to earn between five and six dollars a day (four and five euros), insufficient amounts to cover the basic needs of their families. .
Despite the importance of their work for domestic support and the positive environmental impact they generate, these workers still do not receive adequate social or economic recognition.
Work and inequality
With a gender inequality index close to 40%Ecuadorian working women not only face economic precariousness but also marked gender inequality, both barriers that they must overcome to access decent work and opportunities for growth.
However, these women have shown a great capacity for organization and empowerment, creating and leading associations and cooperatives with those who seek to improve their living conditions.
Triple Impact Women
The plastic collectors generate a triple impact —economic, social and environmental— that has not been made visible or valued.
In Ecuadorare generated every year more than 14,000 tons of solid wasteof which only 6% is recycled. In the Andean mountains, 70% of the people dedicated to this work they are women.
Despite the economic and environmental importance of the work carried out by Ecuadorian women plastic waste collectors, it continues to be underestimated. If they stopped carrying out this activity, cities would face serious pollution and public health problems. But, on the other hand, since it is an informal job, it neither reflects the real costs of waste management nor do they have the salaries and working conditions that correspond to them.
The institutional response
The Organic Law of Inclusive Circular Economy and his General Regulations They represent progress towards more sustainable waste management. However, they are insufficient to improve the working conditions of plastic collectors in Ecuador.
Therefore, the design and development of public policies that address gender inequality, economic precariousness and environmental care is essential. Local governments play a crucial role in integrating these workers into a formal system, which offers them better working conditions and dignified recognition for their work.
Without a collective commitment of those who make up the local ecosystem (citizens, experts and governments), it will be difficult to transform this reality and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda 2030.
In this context, educational institutions must take on the task of raising awareness in society, generating studies that make the reality of these women visible and proposing more inclusive and fair labor, social and environmental policies.
Where to move forward?
Recognizing, making visible, giving voice and heart to the work of women plastic collectors is essential to combat poverty, reduce gender inequality and promote recycling in Ecuador. The International Labor Organization estimates that more than 740 million women in the world they face precarious working conditions.
It is time to give them the recognition they deserve, and effectively address the challenges of poverty, inequality and sustainability that still persist in Ecuador and many other parts of the world.
We cannot forget that, this year, the Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to researchers Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for his studies on how the strength of institutions influences the economic prosperity of countries. From their work it is deduced that having committed and professional public institutions generates lower levels of informality and higher levels of well-being in the countries.
