Informal Waste Management: Shifting the Focus from Problem to Potential

Informal waste management, or scavenging, is widespread in many developing countries, but the concept has not been studied in great detail. Here, field-work conducted in Kingston, Jamaica, and Bandung, Indonesia, are combined with case studies gleaned from the literature to examine informal waste management systems in terms of four elements: technical aspects, socio-cultural aspects, organization, and the socio-political context. It is argued that these systems should be viewed as having potential, especially scavenger systems with a high level of organization that have a higher likelihood of becoming part of formal waste management. Most importantly, these informal systems are well adapted to local situations where expensive systems and technology are inappropriate.