content tagged with waste pickers

New regulations trouble Türkiye's informal recycling workers

New regulations trouble Türkiye's informal recycling workers

Türkiye has about 500,000 informal recycling workers who are responsible for around 80 percent of the recycling in the country. The government's attempts to regulate informal waste picking cause some new problems.

7 October 2022 Wouter Massink

Arrested in İstanbul, 3 recycling workers released

Arrested in İstanbul, 3 recycling workers released

Taken into custody and arrested as part of the operations against recycling workers in İstanbul, three recycling workers have been released 24 days later.

29 October 2021

Raid on waste and recycling workers in İstanbul’s Sancaktepe

Raid on waste and recycling workers in İstanbul’s Sancaktepe

A raid was carried out against the workers who make a living as waste paper and plastic pickers. Several refugee workers have been detained to be deported on the grounds that “they came to Turkey illegally.”

Raid on waste collection depots: 200 people detained

‘POLITICIANS SILENT’

Raid on waste collection depots: 200 people detained

Three waste pickers were also arrested on October 5 on the grounds that they joined the protests the other day.

Fire in Syrian waste paper pickers’ house claims three children’s lives

Fire in Syrian waste paper pickers’ house claims three children’s lives

According to the preliminary reports, the fire in Konya province broke out due to the electric heater used for the children upstairs.

Waste Picker Hamza: They Act Like We Don’t Exist on the Streets

Waste Picker Hamza: They Act Like We Don’t Exist on the Streets

Hamza is a waste picker strolling along the streets of İstanbul, collecting waste for a living. “Even our garbage is different than that of the rich,” Hamza says and adds, "No one asks, no one cares about us... They act like we don't exist on the streets."

25 March 2020 Evrim Kepenek

Waste Pickers: We Cannot Make Ends Meet Only with Food Aid

Waste Pickers: We Cannot Make Ends Meet Only with Food Aid

Speaking to bianet in the wake of a ban on waste picking in Ankara amid Covid-19 outbreak, Street Waste Collectors’ Association Chair Kahraman says, “If we don’t work, workers of factories will also lose their jobs. We wait for help from the government.”

24 March 2020 Hikmet Adal