Presentation short abstract

This paper examines how changing waste metabolisms and political economies in Global South cities generate environmental conflicts involving waste pickers. A network analysis of 70 EJAtlas cases shows how privatization and incineration marginalise recyclers, who mobilise to defend livelihoods.

Presentation long abstract

Waste pickers play a critical role in urban waste management in the Global South, often serving as the primary agents of recycling. However, they face increasing threats from socio-economic exclusion and environmental injustice. This article examines the drivers of conflicts involving waste pickers in Global South metropolises, using 70 cases from the Environmental Justice Atlas. We analyze how changes in the materiality of waste (e.g., increased waste generation) and the political economy of waste management (e.g., privatization, and incineration) contribute to the marginalization of waste pickers. Our mixed-method approach, combining qualitative coding, network analysis, and system dynamics modeling, reveals that these socio-metabolic reconfigurations result in ecological distribution conflicts. Findings show that privatization and new waste-to-energy technologies intensify competition over waste, leading to its enclosure and the persecution of waste pickers. This shift reflects the increasing value of waste as an opportunity for capital accumulation through dispossession and contamination. Waste pickers, however, often mobilize to defend their livelihoods, forming alliances with residents and NGOs. This article contributes to understanding environmental conflicts by highlighting the co-constitutive relationship between materiality and political economy. It situates waste pickers' struggles within urban environmentalism of the poor.

By foregrounding labour, value and power struggles around urban waste, the article advances political ecology research on socio-metabolic conflicts in rapidly changing cities. It also offers insights for policy debates on inclusive recycling, showing how formalisation agendas often overlook structural inequalities. Our findings contribute to rethinking just, socially grounded waste governance in the Global South.