垃圾危机背后的隐形经济：非正规回收体系如何重塑循环产业

IncollaborationwithAccentureScalingTraceabilityInnovation

to

Unlock

theValueofInformalWasteManagementW

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25Images:Unsplash,

PexelsContentsForeword

3Executivesummary

4Introduction51

Waste

management

inemergingcountries61.1Thechallengeswaste

managementsystemsface71.2.

Unlockingthevalueofinformal

infrastructure101.3.

PCRfeedstockasa

leverfor

change112

Traceability

innovationtoenable

responsiblysourcedwaste132.1.Newdevelopments

intraceability

innovations142.2.Real-worldapplications152.3.

Apracticalguidetochoosing

innovationsfordecision-makers193

Lookingahead:achievingscale,fast22Contributors25Endnotes

26ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement2Understanding

howtoscale

innovationoftenfeels

elusive

inthe

moment.Whatsucceeds

inoneregion

mayfalter

inanother,which

iswhydiverseperspectivesareessential.Traceability,

in

particular,

thrivesoncross-borderexchangeand

depends

onnetworksofpartnerscomingtogethertotest,

adapt

and

learn.Thiswhitepaper

is

proofofthevalueofdoingjustthat.

It

makesclearthat

innovationatscaleis

notanaspirationforthefuture:

it

is

happeningnow,across

industriesand

regions,

powered

bya

diversityofperspectivesandthe

collectivewill

ofthe

ecosystemtoact.John

DuttonHead,

Uplink,World

Economic

ForumTraceabilitywill

beacornerstoneofthe

transitiontowardsadata-drivencirculareconomy.

But

laying

itsfoundations

requiresthecouragetoacttogether

inacoordinatedway.TheGlobal

PlasticActionPartnership

hasoverseenthe

progressthatcomes

when

partnersstepuptotakeownership.

Whentheiractionssynchronize,

itcreatesdeep

and

long-

lastingtransformation.Thiswillingnesstoshare

responsibilitydriveschangeandunderpinsthecommunitythat

created

this

report.

Instanding

uptogether,wetookanother

steptowards

responsiblysourcedwaste

materials

and

uncovered

newopportunities.

I

hopethisspirit

ofcollaborationcontinuestoguide

our

efforts.ClemenceSchmidDirector,Global

PlasticAction

Partnership,World

Economic

ForumHowwesource,traceand

managewasteresponsibly

iscentraltothefutureof

circularity,climateactionandcorporate

responsibility.Thisis

notjustaquestionofhow

we

track

waste

butalso

itsaccountability,

human

rights,environmental

impactand

returnon

investment.Ifweaddressthese

prioritiesthroughemergingtechnologies,suchasdigital

product

passports,blockchainandAI-drivenanalytics,wecan

gainaccessto

new,transformativesolutions.Thiswhitepaper

highlights

howthese

innovationsareadvancing

inemerging

marketstodayand

invites

collectiveactiontoacceleratethesystemic

change

still

required.WesleySpindlerManaging

Director,Sustainability,AccentureAneffectivetransitionto

moresustainableandresilient

industriescannot

leaveanyone

behind,evenwhenthechange

needed

issosignificantthat

it

requiresthe‘leapfrogging’ofintermediate

andoutdatedmodels.Early-stage

innovationscansupportthistransition,

butthey

requirecollaboration,

investmentandtrust.Whensociety

invests

in

ideasasa

collective,

economic

modelscansurgeforward,not

onlybecoming

more

resilient

butalso

positively

impactingallwhodepend

onthem.Pedro

GomezHead,

IndustryAgenda,World

Economic

ForumScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagementForewordScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement3Novemberefficiencies,

revenuegains,

brandtrust-building,

investorappealand

risk

mitigation.Toachievethosegoals,this

paper

presents:Real-worldexamplesoftraceabilityinnovationsactivetodayfromAI-drivenfrauddetectionto

blockchain-anchoredchainofcustodysystemsdemonstratingtechnicalandsocialviabilityacrossdiversecontexts.A

practical

evaluation

framework

with

10guidingquestionstohelp

decision-makersassesstheir

mostappropriatesolutionsfortracingwaste

intoandoutofthe

informal

sector.Aroadmapforachievingscale.Asincrementalchangestrugglesto

keep

pacewiththesurge

inwaste,this

roadmapexplores

shareddigital

infrastructureasa

leapfrog

idea

toacceleratetransformation.Movingtowardsgreaterscale

requires

improvedcoordinationandcollaboration.Wecall

ongovernments,

industry,

innovatorsandcivilsociety

tocollaborate

inshapingtheshared

language

and

common

infrastructure

neededsothattransparency

extendsto

both

materialsand

people.Withoutthiscollaboration,theessentialoverhaul

ofwaste

managementsystemswill

remain

incomplete,unsightedtothefullscopeofwhat

is

required

and

contributingto

misguided

long-term

investments.Theworldfacesanescalatingwaste

crisis,withemergingeconomies

bearingthe

heaviest

burden.

Rapid

urbanization,

limited

infrastructureandinsufficientfinancing

have

leftwaste

unmanaged,creatingsevere

health,environmentalandeconomic

consequences.In

parallel,avast

but

undervalued

informalwastesystem

recoversanestimated88

milliontonnes

of

recyclablesannually,exceedingformalcollectionin

Europeacrosssimilar

categories.1

However,this

contribution

remains

largely

invisibleduetoa

lackof

traceabilityand

recognition.Amaturingwaveoftraceability

innovationsistransformingthis

landscape.

Digitaltools,blockchain

platforms,AIanalyticsandemerging

businessesaredemonstratingthatcapturingverifiable

materialandlabourdatafromthefirst

pointofinformalwastecollection

onwards

isfeasible.By

makingthecontributionsofinformal

wasteworkersvisible,traceability

providesamap

foreffective

policy,

investmentandcorporateactiontowardssolvingthewastecrisis.Suchvisibilityalso

unlocksstrategic

insightsthatarecriticalforbusinessescurrentlyconfrontinga

majorchallenge:as

manyas60%admitthat

lack

of

supply

chain

visibility

isasignificant

risk-management

issue.2

Traceabilitythat

includesthe

informalstepsof

supplychainsoffersa

compelling

mix

ofcostExecutivesummaryGreatercollaboration

is

keytoensuringtraceability

innovationcantacklethewaste

crisisat

scale.ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement4Theglobalwastecrisis

is

mostacute

in

emerging

countries,wherewastegeneration

isgrowingmorequicklythanexisting

infrastructurecan

keep

pacewith.

In

many

regions,there

isayawninggap

betweengenerationand

infrastructure,with

low-incomecountries

burningordumpingan

estimated

93%ofwaste

intheenvironment.3Withinthiscrisis

liesa

mostly

unseen

bysolution.Acrossemerging

markets,anextensive

informalwaste

management

infrastructure

isoperatingatremarkablescale.

Estimatessuggestthatwastepickers

recover

morethan88

milliontonnesofrecyclablesannually–avolumefarexceedingthe76

milliontonnesofequivalentcategoriescollected

formallyacross

Europe.4

For

plastic,thecritical

role

ofthe

informalcollectionsector

isrecognizedas

one

ofeightsystemic

interventionscentraltoachieving

a

meaningful

reduction

in

plastic

pollution.5However,thiscontribution

remains

mostly

unseen

by

policy-makersandglobalsupplychains

duetoacriticalgap

in

traceability.This

invisibilityperpetuatesthe

marginalizationofinformalworkers

while

preventingthe

integrationofthese

recycling

networks

intoformalvaluechains.Amaturingwaveoftraceabilityinnovationsoffers

the

potentialtobridgethisgap.Thesesolutions

capture

verifiabledatafromthefirstpointofwaste

collection

onwards,givingvisibilityofboth

materialflows

and

workingconditions.Thisdatacan

helpenabletheformalizationandfinancial

inclusionofworkers6

and

isanessential

puzzle

piece

inachievingend-to-end

traceability,fromwastecollectiontorecyclingandthemanufactureof

new

products.Thetasknow

istoscalethese

innovations

beyond

acountryorsupply

chain.The

sector

needstoexplorethechallengesand

opportunities

ofworkingcollaborativelyasanecosystem

to

share

intelligencethatcan

precipitatesystemschange.Becauseonlytogethercanwe

illuminatethe

entire

system,

understandwhereweareatand

moveforwardwithclarity.This

paperstarts

byexaminingthe

magnitudeofthewastecrisis

inemergingcountries

and

thecontributionofinformalworkerstotackling

it.Wethenshowcasegenuineexamplesoftraceabilityinnovationsactivetoday,sharinga

practical

guide

to

helpdecision-makersevaluatethe

bestoptions

for

implementation.

Finally,weoutlinea

pathwayfor

scale,

includinganopportunityto

leapfrogtowards

systemschange.For

corporate

buyersseekingverified

recycledcontent,

recyclerswantingto

levelthe

playingfieldthroughtransparentsourcing,

policy-makers

designing

effective

incentives

andenforcement

mechanisms,

NGOsworkingonlabour

and

human

rights

and

investors

evaluatingopportunities

inthisemerging

space,thispaper

offers

insights

intowhat

is

possibletodayanda

roadmapforwhat

could

be

achievedtomorrow.Whileeachstakeholder

brings

distinctmotivations,everyonecommittedto

genuinechange

needsthetransparencythattraceability

systems

can

provide.The

question

is

no

longerifinformalworkersshould

be

integrated

intotraceabilitysystems,

buthoweffectivelythisintegration

can

beachieved

inajust

and

cost-

effectiveway.IntroductionIt

istimeto

illuminatethe

pathfromfragmented

informalwastecollectionto

integrated,traceablesupplychains.ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement5Wastemanagement

in

emergingcountriesTraceability

innovationcan

unlockcrucial

informalcapacityand

helpclosethe

waste

management

infrastructuregap.The

mostcost-effectiveapproachtoaddressingthewastecrisis

inemerging

countries

istominimizewastegeneration.

However,whileeffective

upstreamstrategiesarevital,they

must

be

accompanied

by

urgentactiontoestablish

robust

downstream

infrastructure.7Amidthecrisis,avast

informal

infrastructure

is

alreadyoperating,

largely

unseen–

newanalysismakesclearjust

howsignificantthissector’s

contributiontotacklingthis

issuealready

is.Alongsidethis,a

numberoftraceability

innovations

are

becomingavailablethatcantranslatetheinvisiblecontributionsofinformalworkers

into

verifiabledata,

helpingto

underpineffective

investment,

policyandcorporateaction.ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement61exponential

increase

infinancialcommitmentsthat

matchesthescaleofthe

problem.14Inemerging

markets,governmentsfacecompeting

prioritiesfor

resourceswhich

limittheirabilitytodeliveressentialwaste

managementservices.15Asa

result,an

increasing

numberof

countriesareadoptingorconsidering

extended

producerresponsibility

(EPR)

policyframeworksthatreallocate

partofthefinancialor

operationalresponsibilityforwaste

managementto

producers.

For

plasticwaste

management,the

BusinessCoalitionforaGlobal

PlasticsTreaty

reinforced

this

momentum,

releasingastatementfollowing

the

INC-5.2

negotiations

inGeneva

inwhichit

reiteratedthecallfor

harmonized

regulation,

including

EPR

policies.16Whilethese

policyshiftssignal

important

progress,

thesituation

insome

regions

underscores

howfar

there

istogo.Asshown

in

Figure

1,Sub-Saharan

AfricaandCentralandSouth

Asia

have

the

highest

proportionsofuncontrolledwaste:justover80%

in

Sub-SaharanAfricaandjust

under80%

inCentral

andSouthAsia.Developingcomprehensivewaste

management

systems

inemerging

markets

isacriticalinfrastructurechallengeforthecomingdecade,

settocostanestimated

$680

billion.8

Alreadytoday,

between400,000and

1

million

peopledie

everyyearfromdiseases

linkedto

mismanaged

waste.9

Clearconnectionsexist

between

poorwaste

managementanddrinkingwater

pollution,

soil

pollution,greenhousegasemissions,

airpollution,environmentaldegradation,

biodiversity

lossand

more.10

In2020,

it

isestimated

that

the

costoftheseexternalitiestosocietyamounted

to

morethan$361

billion.11

Addressingthiscrisis

is

notsolelyanenvironmental

imperative,

it

is

also

a

social,economicand

public

health

necessity.However,currentfinancing

levelsfallwellshortofmeetingthischallenge.

In2021,

developmentfundingforsolidwaste

management

reached$1.8

billion,12

and

in2024,another$1.8

billion

of

private

investmentwasdirectedtowardsplasticwastesolutionsacrossAsia,Oceania,

LatinAmericaand

Africa.13

Whilethesefiguresdo

not

representthe

full

pictureoffinancingflows,theydo

indicatethe

scaleofthefundinggap.

Bridging

itwill

require

anNorthAmericaCentralAmericaandtheCaribbean

SouthAmericaNorthern

EuropeWestern

EuropeSouthern

EuropeEastern

EuropeWestAsiaand

NorthAfricaSub-SaharanAfricaCentralandSouthAsiaEastandSouth-EastAsiaOceania1Australiaand

NewZealand1.1The

challenges

waste

management

systems

faceFIGURE1Regional

distribution

of

municipal

solid

waste

destinations(2020)

Recycling●

LandfillingWaste-to-energyUncontrolled1.

Does

not

include

Australia

or

New

Zealand.Source:

United

Nations

Environment

Programme(2024).170%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement7GlobalplasticcyclesHowever,someofthosequalities,especially

combinedwith

poordisposal

mechanisms,arealsocausing

graveharms:

health-relatedeconomic

lossesfrom

plasticaloneare

calculatedtoexceed$1.5trillionannually.These

impactsfall

disproportionatelyupon

low-incomeandat-riskpopulations.

The

Minderoo–MonacoCommissionfoundthatcurrentpatternsofplastic

production,

useanddisposal

harm

human

and

planetary

healthateverystageofthe

plastic

lifecycle.23Source:

Houssini,

K.,

Li,J.,&Tan,Q.

(2025).19Globalannual

productionofplasticgrewfrom

2

Mt

in

1950

to

between40020

and47521

Mtin

2022.The

rapid

growthofplastic

isfuelled

by

itsdesirable

properties:

lightweight,strong,

highly

mouldable,

impermeableto

liquids,

resistantto

physicalandchemicaldegradationand

low

cost.22The

high

proportionofuncontrolledwaste

inthese

regions

indicatesthatwaste

iseither

notcollected

atallor,

ifcollected,

isopenly

dumped

or

burned

at

itsfinaldestination.Theconsequencesofthis

mismanagementarevisibleandfar-reaching:wasteaccumulatesacross

roadsides,openfieldsand

natural

landscapes,flows

into

rivers,seasandoceans,and

piles

up

near

people’s

homesor

in

informaldumpsiteswhere

it

is

eventuallyburned,allofwhichcreatesdamaging

pollution

and

environmentaldestruction.18Building&

construction14.02Automotive11.33Electrical&

electronics18.23Household

&13.39Agriculture14.71158

Mtwas

usedfor

packaging.

Mostofthis

packagingwas

incinerated,sentto

landfillor

mismanaged,

ultimatelyending

up

inthe

environment.Withinthewiderglobalwastecrisis,

plastic

waste

is

aparticularconcern.Thegraphic

below

illustratestheglobal

flowsof400

milliontonnes

(Mt)of

plastic

in

2022,

ofwhich30.66textileIProcessFlow

Mt/yj50

Mt10

Mt

口StockScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement88%

Natural

gas5%

Coke2%

Bio44%

Coal40%Petroleum362382.27348.52<

Recycled1%

OthersPlasticpollution

Wastemanagement

Virginresin

production

Feedstocksource

%

Typesof

plastic●Mismanagement

29.60ManufacturingSorting

&

collection

74.75Incineration89.99BOX

1Recycling

37.96●

OTH●

PUR●

PVCPackaging

158.03

PET28,0116,01PE

●Landfill

103.10●

PSUseWaste

6.66Others

37.3120.6957.990.0021.3014.629.7910.72Loss

13.42traded28,0232,0272,05158,0448,03Loss4.24PURPETPSPPOTHPVCPEPP6.25associationorcommunity-basedorganization,thevastmajorityoperateindependently.Theircontribution

is

indispensable,but

daily

realities

are

harsh:

unstableandprecariousearnings,lackoflegalrecognition,littlesocialprotectionandlimitedaccesstosafeworkingconditions.25

NetworkssuchasWomeninInformalEmployment:GlobalizingandOrganizingand

theInternationalAllianceofWastePickers–whichrepresentsmorethan460,000workersin34countries

–arebringingtheseissuestoglobalattention.Thissituation

underscoresa

paradox:

informalsystemsare

both

indispensableand

undervalued.

To

moveforward,thetaskis

not

onlyto

closefinancinggapsandexpandformal

systems

but

alsotofindwaysofunlocking

the

value

already

embedded

in

informal

infrastructure.Intheabsenceofthestructured

and

regulatedsystems

run

by

municipalities,

privatecompaniesorformally

integratedcooperativesthatconstitute

formalwaste

management,

informalworkersstep

intofillthegaps.Anyonecan

participate,

leadingtoa

large

numberofdecentralizedactors

entering

thesystem

independently.Theseworkersoperate

hyper-locally,oftenconstrained

by

howfartheycan

walk,andthesystemorganizes

itselfaround

local

wastesupplyanddemandfrom

recyclers

ratherthancentralized

planningor

investment.Estimatessuggestthat,worldwide,

15to20millionpeopleparticipatein

informalwastemanagement,24

carryingoutactivitiesfromcollection

andtransportationtosortingandprocessing.While

asmallnumberworkaspartofacooperative,ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement9Aggregators

Level

1

Aggregators

Level2KathivakkamTiruvottiyurMadhavaramAmbatturChennaiValasaravakkamOverthe

last

decade,

dataon

informalwastemanagement

has

increasingly

becomeavailable.

One

indicator

ofthis

isthesurge

inwaste

managementandtraceabilitystartupsthatemerged

inthe

early

2010s,

buildingtheirbusiness

modelsaround

digitaltools

andplatformsthattrackwasteflows

and

generating

new

datasetsabout

previously

invisible

informalsystems.Asthesestartups

secured

early-stageventurecapitaland

impact

investment,theyscaledtheir

platformsand

expanded

their

coverage.

Each

new

userand

project

multipliestheamountof

data

collected

on

informalwastepractices–essentialas

growing

regulatory

andcorporate

demands

rapidlyacceleratethe

need

for

granular

data.Thisincreasedbodyof

data

availability

provides

aclearerunderstandingofcollectionvolumesbytheinformalsector,leadingtotheestimatethatwastepickers

recover15%

more

recyclables

by

volumethanthewholeofEurope’sformalcollectionsystem(88million

tonnes

versus76milliontonnes

annually

across

equivalent

categories).26When

materialflowsand

businessactivitiesaremappedgeographically,once-hidden

informalinfrastructure

becomesvisible.An

illustrativeexamplecomesfromChennai,

India,whereKabadiwallaConnect

mappedthecity’snetworkofwasteaggregators–the

intermediarieswhopurchase,sortandconsolidate

recyclablescollected

bywaste

pickers

beforesellingthemonto

larger

processors.Theiranalysis

revealedthestructure,scaleand

reachof

informal

wastecollection

networks.

Leveloneaggregators

receive

wastefromavarietyofstakeholders

(includingwaste

pickers,

householdsand

businesses),while

leveltwoaggregatorsconsolidate

materialsfrommultiple

leveloneaggregators,creating

largervolumes

beforesellingto

processorsand

recyclers.

Together,they

handle

130,000tonnesofmaterials,

suchas

paper,

plastic,glassand

metal

annually–

equivalentto25%ofthecity’swaste

generation.27Itisclearthatthedecentralizednature

ofinformalwastemanagementdoesnotdiminish

itsroleasinfrastructure;

itdefines

it.

Handling

88million

tonnes

of

materials

annually

is

notamarginalactivitybuta

large-scale

service

integraltotheproperfunctioningofwaste

managementsystems.Similartwo-layeraggregatorstructures

have

been

documented

in

numerousscientificstudies.29

They

havealso

been

noted

in

multiple

regionsthroughtheWorld

Economic

Forum’straceability

innovation

workinggroup(see

Chapter

2).FIGURE2Geographical

spread

of

informal

sectors

in

Chennai,

India

(2015)ScalingTraceabilityInnovationtoUnlocktheValueofInformalWasteManagement10infrastructureinformalUnlockingSource:

Development

Asia(2024).28valueMadhavaramAmbatturthe1.2ofValasaravakkamTiruvottiyurKathivakkamChennaiEarly

marketshiftsare

underway:

in2023,signatoriesofthe

Ellen

MacArthur

Foundation

sGlobalCommitment

reportedanaverageof

14%PCR

content

intheir

plastic

packaging.Thismarkedthesixth

consecutiveyear

of

growth,though

it

remains

belowthe

collectivetarget

ofa26%

average.34

Interviews

digging

intothis

issuehighlightthe

low

price

ofvirgin

material,

coupledwithfraudulent

claimsthatvirgin

resin

is

recycled,as

keyfactors

underminingfurther

development

of

recycling

systems.

Robust

regulation

is

onlythefirststep;

meaningful

change

depends

oneffective

enforcement.In

response,thecasefortraceable

PCR

material

is

strong,

reinforcing

its

roleasa

leverforchange

intwoways.

First,trusted

materialcan

help

bolsterwaste

management

infrastructure

inemergingcountries

bycreatingstrongereconomic

incentives

forcollection,sortingand

recycling.Second,

itstrengthensthe

businessargumentfortraceability

innovationsthat

include

informalworkers:companiessourcing

PCRatscale

must

beable

to

verifyorigin,qualityandworking

conditionsfromthe

sourceofthat

material,which

inemerging

markets

is

inevitablythe

informalsector.That

businesscaseextends

beyondcompliance.Withtoday

scomplex,dispersedsupply

chainsandopaquesupplier

practices,as

manyas

60%ofbusinessessaythat

lack

ofvisibility

posesasignificant

risk-management

issue.35

Robusttrackingofboth

materialsand

social

conditionsoffersacompelling

mixof

potentialcost

efficiencies,

revenuegains,

brandtrust-building,

investorappeal

and

riskmitigationfor

product

manufacturers.WhenPost-consumerrecycled(PCR)feedstockforplastic

isanexampleofawaste-based

materialstreamwherescalingoftraceabilityinnovations

isincreasingly

prized

by

industry.

PCRfeedstockrefers

toend-of-lifeconsumermaterialsthatare

collected

andreprocessedinto

raw

inputsfeedstockfornewproducts.

Becausemanufacturerspurchasethisrecycledfeedstock,wastegainsa

marketvalue,

shifting

incentivesfromdisposaltorecovery.Growingconcernover

plastic

pollution

has