By HeapNews
The President of the Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos State (ASWOL), Comrade Friday Oku, has urged world leaders to recognise and protect waste pickers, describing them as “the unsung heroes of climate action and circular economy sustainability.”
Oku, who represented Nigeria at the Fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements in Vatican City, told delegates, including Pope Leo XIV, that informal waste workers remain excluded from policies and benefits despite their crucial contribution to recycling and environmental protection.
“Without waste pickers, there is no circular economy. We are the backbone of recycling, yet we are criminalised, displaced and forgotten,” Oku said. “We need dignified work, affordable housing and inclusion in national waste policies.”
He lamented that many waste pickers across Africa, particularly in Nigeria, have lost their livelihoods due to automation and exclusion from formal waste management systems. “Many of our members have been displaced from dumpsites and left without homes, jobs or social protection,” he said.
Oku also decried harassment by law enforcement agencies and called for government support to integrate the sector through access to material recovery facilities (MRFs) and safer working conditions.
He thanked the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) and the Vatican for providing the platform to amplify grassroots voices, pledging ASWOL’s continued solidarity with informal workers globally.
Addressing delegates, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed that “Land, Housing and Work are sacred rights,” calling for global action to defend human dignity amid rising technological and economic exclusion.
The Pope hailed popular movements as “champions of humanity and poets of solidarity,” adding that the Church “will remain a poor Church for the poor, one that reaches out, runs risks, and walks courageously with the people.”
The four-day global meeting, held from Oct. 21–24 at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, brought together delegates from every continent under the theme “Land, Housing and Work” to strengthen solidarity among grassroots movements advancing justice, inclusion and sustainability.