Tunisia: SWEEP- Net / ANGed | Project launch: Structural integration of the informal sector into the municipal waste management

Waste produced in Tunisia contains up to 24 % recyclable materials (paper, plastic , glass, metals , ... ) . About 8000 informal scavengers earn their living in Tunisia by collecting these materials and selling them to intermediaries or directly to recyclers.

The informal sector in Tunisia is not organized and the waste pickersoften work in precarious conditions. The institutions responsible for waste management in Tunisia (ANGed the DGCPL and municipalities) often do not have direct or official relations with informal pickers despite the fact that they contribute significantly to the recycling sector in Tunisia. Scavengers are often discriminated by the Tunisian society.Cultural-social attributions lead to social isolation.

International actors and ANGed have started initiatives in this area and have already achieved some results in improving the living and working conditions of the informal waste sector, but not to a sufficient extent.

To achieve a (partial) formalization of the informal waste sector, dialogue between all actors at national and local level is required.

In this sense, a workshop was held on Wednesday, April 29 2014 in Tunis to launch the project " Structural integration of the informal sector into the municipal waste management in Tunisia."

By integrating the informal sector into the municiipal waste management the project aims at improving theworking and living conditions of the informal sector, to generate income opportunities and financial resources. At the same time, the effectiveness of waste management at the local level is to increase.

The partners to this project are mainly the State Secretariat for Sustainable Development via its subordinate agency ANGed and the two pilot municipalities La Marsa and Ettadhamen/ Mnihla. Other partners, among them the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministries of Youth, Sports, Women and Family, NGOs active in the informal waste sector in Tunisia, microfinance institutions in Tunisia and other international donors, will contribute to certain activities during the implementation phase.