These women represent a largely unacknowledged segment of the global plastics value chain. Informal waste pickers, many of whom are women, are responsible for recovering an estimated 60% of post-consumer plastic globally. Despite this, they work under precarious conditions—lacking protections, formal recognition, and fair compensation. For women, the risks are often multiplied by gender-specific challenges, including harassment, unequal pay, and the added burden of domestic responsibilities.
The production doesn’t just tell their stories; it’s structured to initiate dialogue. Following the performance, UNEA attendees and other guests are invited to interact with the performers, offering a rare moment where policy audiences engage directly with those living the consequences of environmental governance gaps. The format invites participants to consider practical solutions—and rethink how informal labor can be meaningfully integrated into systems built for sustainability and circularity.
Wanawake Bomba grew out of a four-day workshop in Kisumu facilitated by the University of Portsmouth’s Revolution Plastics Institute, in collaboration with local organizers, researchers, and Nairobi-based performance group Social Justice Centre Travelling Theatre. Unlike conventional advocacy methods, the piece was co-created with the women waste pickers, ensuring that every scene draws directly from their lived experience.
Structured in three acts, the performance begins by depicting the daily work of collecting household waste and the dangers of navigating dumpsites. It captures not only the physical challenges but also the social dynamics—including exploitation, wage inequality, and systemic exclusion. In its final act, the story envisions an all-female cooperative model, suggesting how community organization and mutual support can create safer, more equitable working environments.
The broader intent is strategic: to influence how policymakers—and businesses—view the role of informal workers in the global plastic economy. For companies engaging with recycled content, EPR schemes, or ESG-linked sourcing strategies, the message is clear. Without accounting for the informal labor infrastructure that underpins plastic recovery, even the most well-intentioned sustainability plans risk falling short.
As pressure grows on businesses to demonstrate responsible supply chain practices, especially in plastics and packaging, formal inclusion of waste pickers is becoming both a human rights issue and a market imperative. Backing the project are organizations such as Empower Grassroots Organisation, Kisumu Waste Pickers Welfare Association, and the Social Justice Centre Travelling Theatre, with endorsements from UN and environmental justice groups including Grid-Arendal and the Centre for Environmental Justice and Development.
