Plastic waste pickers struggle for survival amidst perils and prejudice

By Peter Elias

Dar es Salaam. For some people, searching for daily bread can be their path to the grave.
The narratives of plastic waste pickers unveil the perilous nature of their lives as they strive to earn a living through their activities along the streets of cities. People do not trust them. In most cases, they are regarded as thieves hiding under the umbrella of waste collectors. However, despite this skepticism, their role remains crucial in preserving the cleanliness of the streets.
Plastic waste collectors have experienced severe beatings from the people who accuse them of stealing properties, even when there is no proof, and some of them have.
Tragically, some of their peers have lost their lives, while others bear severe injuries solely due to societal prejudices rooted in their less-than-tidy appearance.
Mr Hamis Chinongo, a plastic waste collector in Kimara Temboni, says that no one trusts them wherever they pass. He says that people are not willing to accept the fact that they are doing their job just like others.
He notes that he was once beaten in the streets because a woman suspected him of having stolen her bucket a short while before he passed. He tried to prove that he was innocent, but no one listened.
“We are facing serious security issues in this job. I was nearly killed. Fortunately, one man stopped them from beating me. Honestly, I didn’t steal her bucked, but someone who passed before me did; I ended up being punished,” he says.
Mr Omary Yasin, another plastic waste collector, says that some people believe that anyone collecting garbage is a thief just by looking at him. Unfortunately, he says, some street leaders in the local governments are not fairly handling the matters when they are presented to them.
“I admit that some of us are thieves and we know them. And they are the ones who do not carry big bundles of plastic bottles like we do. They just carry a few to deceive people, but they use the same sack to hide stolen things,” he notes.
“We normally put the plastic waste in mosquito nets because they are transparent; anything inside it can be seen, which clears doubts,” says Mr Yasin, adding that they need appreciation for what they do.
On his part, Mr Gabriel Mpela says that there are some streets they do not pass at all because of past incidents of torture and killings of their colleagues. He adds that they opt to collect plastic bottles along the road to be safe.
“I witnessed the death of one of my friends, who was beaten and died a day later. He was collecting plastic waste before a woman screamed that he had stolen her clothes. They searched, but they couldn’t find them, yet they went on beating him to death,” he narrates.

Women are also not safe in this business; they face the same life-threatening challenges as men. They are beaten and harassed when they are doing their job, even when they did not do anything wrong. Tanzania grapples with the widespread issue of inadequate garbage collection.
Insufficient investment in sanitation services has resulted in scattered piles of waste across the streets. Nonetheless, the emergence of plastic waste recycling presents new prospects for individual waste collectors. But the rise in plastic recycling has offered a respite to individual waste pickers.