Analysis of the strategies for incorporating the informal waste collectors' into formalized systems: Engineering management perspective

Waste is now considered a valuable resource and the waste management call is shifting from waste disposal to waste utilization and resource management. In order to achieve the call for waste utilization, a number of players are involved in the waste management arena. This study analyses the strategies for incorporating the informal waste collectors (IWCs) into a formalized systems. A number of studies suggesting the integration of the informal waste collectors into formalized systems were analyzed. The study provides evidence that in most developing economies, waste recovery is performed by the informal waste sector (IWS) and that there is need to integrate the IWS into formalized systems. Suggested strategies attributing an engineering management approach are identified. Further, the studies indicate that, there is need for an empirical research on the strategies for integrating the informal waste collectors into formalized systems from an informal waste collector's perspective.