Resource recovery from waste by Roma in the Balkans: A case study from Zavidovici (BiH).
Roma communities represent the main involved actors in the informal activities in the Balkan regions, especially because the state does not formally recognize them as formal inhabitants. The Roma community in Zavidovici, despite being resident since the beginning of the 20th century, is still considered a marginalized and vulnerable group. They are actively involved in and dependent on the informal solid waste sector. Waste collection is a 'family business', a kind of self-employment and the main source of income for households. Informal recyclers have a central role in the solid waste management system and they recover a significant amount of materials, especially iron, copper, brass, lead and exhausted batteries. Despite the negative fluctuations of the raw material prices, because of the international economic crisis, informal recyclers remain dependent on the waste recycling sector. They are crucial actors in the value chain of recyclables: though they cannot access the final buyers of recyclables, they provide more than 50% of the market to the middle dealers in the Zenica-Doboj Canton. This research activity consists of a deep socio-economic analysis of the informal recyclers' community living in Zavidovici city. In particular, this paper describes the composition and welfare status of informal recyclers' households, the role of informal recyclers in waste collection, the geographical coverage and the related pattern of waste picking, types, volumes and price fluctuations of recyclable materials, and the middle dealers involved in the informal recycling system.
Department DICATAM, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy mentore.vaccari@unibs.it.
Mentore
M
Vaccari
Department DICATAM, University of Brescia, via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
Andrea
A
Perteghella
D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D000070100:Informal Sector; D059027:Recycling / Q000191:economics; D006178:Romani People; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D018505:Waste Management / Q000191:economics
D062611:Solid Waste
Bosnia-Herzegovina; Roma community; informal recycling; socio-economic analysis; waste recovery