Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025)
Research

Debilitating Domestic Duties: Precariousness of Female Waste Pickers in Indonesia

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  • Rachma Lutfiny Putri,
  • Freek Colombijn
Rachma Lutfiny Putri
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Freek Colombijn
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3197/whpww.63857928646675
Categories

Published 2025-01-23

Keywords

  • Waste Picking,
  • Gender,
  • Social Reproduction,
  • Circular Economy,
  • Femininity,
  • Masculinity
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Rachma Lutfiny Putri, & Colombijn, F. (2025). Debilitating Domestic Duties: Precariousness of Female Waste Pickers in Indonesia. Worldwide Waste, 8(1), Art. 1. https://doi.org/10.3197/whpww.63857928646675

Copyright (c) 2025 Rachma Lutfiny Putri, Freek Colombijn

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Gender differences in the work of female and male waste pickers have often been overlooked. In this article we want to show that for waste pickers in Indonesia there are remarkable similarities between female and male waste pickers. At first sight, there is practically no division of tasks between female and male waste pickers. Nevertheless, the domestic chores of women, gendered differences in stigmatisation, and possible societal expectations about the compatibility of waste picking with femininity do seriously hamper their work as waste pickers. A better understanding of how waste picking is done is important because the activity is one step in recycle chains in the Global South. The article also warns against the generic use of the term ‘waste picker’ without carefully distinguishing between their different roles in the municipal waste management assemblage.

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