Turkey's recyclable collectors in need of help more than ever amid COVID-19 ban

Serkan Alan / DUVAR

In fight with the coronavirus among the precautions taken by the Ankara Municipality last month included the banning of recyclable collectors who work long hours picking through the trash searching for reusable materials. Following the ban of the occupation, the Ankara Municipality has started disinfecting the areas in which the collectors live, while providing them with three hot meals a day and rent and utility support. 

In Istanbul, and Ankara and Turkey's other major cities, thousands of collectors roam the streets day and night pulling large wheeled carts and collecting paper, plastic, metal and other recyclable products from the trash which they then sell on a weighted basis. It is one of the riskiest jobs in the country, as the collectors move through busy traffic with their heavy carts and rummage through garbage bins potentially containing bio-hazardous materials.

In recent years, many of the collector jobs in Istanbul have been taken by Syrian and Afghan refugees, a sore subject for the older Turkish collectors. 

“In the daily life of paper collectors, it is possible for them to become carriers and transmitters of the virus, so this sort of decision was taken. The extent of the financial support will become clear in the upcoming days,” said Recycling Workers' Association Chair Dinçer Mendillioğlu. 

“For the purpose of the food support, we conducted a survey and determined that there are around 4000 recyclable collectors in Ankara,” Mendillioğlu said, adding that based on the fact that schools, stores, restaurants and banks had closed and stopped throwing out recyclable products, and that not much was coming from residential buildings, the collectors were not left with much work anyway.  

“During a period when they are unable to do their job and are staying at home, the assistance from the Ankara Municipality was very progressive and meaningful,” Mendillioğlu said. 

“At this stage, a great responsibility has fallen upon the municipality. All paper collectors who are unable to afford their electric and water bills need to be supported. Food assistance can be provided and these people's lives can be made easier for awhile with this support. On the other hand, these people need to have health checks in order to prevent the spread the illness to the streets,” Mendillioğlu added.

Most of the collectors work under the table for very low wages in difficult conditions, and have faced crackdowns from the authorities in the past. Mendillioğlu said that one possible solution would be mobilizing the Ministry of Environment and City and planning to create a more formal recycling system and establish firms that could hire the collectors.