Fair Circularity Initiative

📢 The Fair Circularity Initiative has released its 2024 Progress Report. https://lnkd.in/eRDUsuVJ Launched in November 2022, the FCI brings businesses together around a shared goal: to ensure the human rights of workers within the informal waste sector are respected and their critical role in circular value chains is recognized. All FCI members participate in developing stakeholder engagement, influencing public policy and narrative, and impacting supply chains. The 2024 Progress Report provides updates on the progress made by members respectively and collectively.

"As the world’s leaders meet in Ottawa for the current round of negotiations, the alliance’s challenge is to ensure commitments to waste pickers make it into the final text. [...] South Africa’s approach to waste picker integration demonstrates how they can be protected. [...] Companies that committed themselves to waste picker integration by signing the Fair Circularity Initiative Principles should push South African industry to meet its legal requirements to pay and integrate waste pickers." #INC4 #PlasticsTreaty The Conversation Africa International Alliance of Waste Pickers

As negotiations continue towards an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution at #INC4 this week, the Fair Circularity Initiative joins with others calling for a “red thread of social justice” throughout the #PlasticsTreaty. Ensuring a Just Transition means ending plastic pollution through a human rights lens, including capacity building, financing, and national implementation plans that ensure workers – formal and informal – are not left behind. Tearfund PepsiCo Nestlé Unilever The Coca-Cola Company Tetra Pak

Published on 27th March by the Fair Circularity Initiative and Systemiq, the study ‘A Living Income for the Informal Waste Sector’ includes deep-dives into current incomes in locations of Brazil, Ghana and India and how they compare to a living income. Key findings: 1️⃣ In all three locations, waste pickers generally fall short of earning a living income with implications on human rights, food insecurity and access to decent housing. 2️⃣ Income levels vary depending on local contexts, emphasising the need for tailored solutions to improve waste picker earnings. 3️⃣ In surveys where regulation - especially EPR - enabled waste pickers to engage with waste systems, incomes saw an important increase. Explore the cases studies and the recommendations for #plastictreaty negotiators, local policy makers and businesses to ensure a #justtransition for the informal waste sector. https://lnkd.in/eSUezdrW https://lnkd.in/eyjuxhqi #LivingIncome #WasteWorkers #plasticstreaty #justtransition #INC4

📢 Launching today: A new study, "A Living Income for the Informal Waste Sector" published by the Fair Circularity Initiative and Systemiq presents a framework for assessing living incomes for waste pickers towards a just transition. Why it matters: ** Around 19-24 million individuals globally depend on waste work, approx. 0.5-1% of the global workforce. ** Around 60% of global plastic collected for recycling is from the informal waste sector. ** Yet despite their vital contribution informal waste workers are underpaid, marginalised and vulnerable. 👉Explore the study to understand: > What is a Living Income and how to assess it for informal waste pickers? > How do the current earnings of informal waste pickers in locations of Brazil, Ghana and India compare to a living income? > In the context of the global #plasticstreaty, what actions can governments and companies do to move towards ensuring a living income for informal waste pickers? The study was developed by the Fair Circularity Initiative and Systemiq in collaboration with an Advisory Group including the Alliance of Indian Waste Pickers and WIEGO - Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing, Tearfund, The Circulate Initiative, and the University of Leeds. ▶ Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eSUezdrW #LivingIncome #WasteWorkers #plasticstreaty #justtransition #INC4

📢 Join us for a webinar on March 27th, co-hosted by the Fair Circularity Initiative (FCI) and Systemiq Ltd. to mark the release of a new study to inform #plasticstreaty negotiations on how to assess and move towards a living income. Titled "A Living Income for the Informal Waste Sector", the study offers practical insights for assessing and moving towards a living income within waste value chains. It was developed in collaboration with an Advisory Group including the International Alliance of Waste Pickers and WIEGO - Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), Tearfund, The Circulate Initiative, and the University of Leeds. 🌍 Learn about the methodology behind estimating a living income and discover how it can support efforts towards a just transition for waste pickers through the UN treaty on plastic pollution. Hear from representatives of FCI and Systemiq as they present key findings, followed by insights and recommendations from members of the Advisory Group. 🔍 Whether you're a #policymaker shaping global plastic treaty negotiations, a company involved in the plastics value chain, or an NGO/academic working on waste sector issues, we hope you can join us! 🗓️ Date: March 27th 🕑 Time: 2-3pm CET / 1-2 pm GMT 👉 Register now to secure your spot! https://lnkd.in/eGbRSnnw #LivingIncome #WasteWorkers #plasticstreaty #justtransition