4 October 2010, Quezon City. As government representatives converge in Tianjin, China for a crucial week-long climate meeting starting today, an environmental health and justice alliance urged negotiators from the Philippines and elsewhere to acknowledge the huge climate and livelihood benefits of recycling, and to recognize and respect informal recyclers. The Tianjin climate change conference is the last leg of negotiations before the final summit in Cancun, Mexico in November 2010.

Frontline Communities and Teamsters Demand Clean Air, Good Jobs and Justice Detroit, Michigan, U.S., June 27, 2010 – Environmental justice advocates from across the U.S., the Teamsters Union, and neighborhood residents marched together this morning to the world’s largest waste incinerator to demand its closure. Representatives of Detroit’s pollution-impacted communities and their allies from across the country united to press the city’s Mayor for a just transition from burning waste to building resiliency in the face of ill-health, a crumbling economy, and the global climate crisis.

Teamsters, environmental justice groups demand smarter, cleaner options

Copenhagen, 7 December 2009 – Fifteen million people worldwide make a living from waste picking. They collect, sort, clean and in some cases, process these recyclables, returning them to industry as an inexpensive and low-carbon raw material. Wastepickers are incredibly efficient recyclers – and can achieve recycling rates higher than 80%. Their recycling work reduces emissions up to 25 times more than incineration does. Wastepickers significantly reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions through recycling rates, and could further reduce emissions given proper support.