Scavengers or Informal waste picker also known as (Baban Bola) in Hausa language play a significant role in saving the environment from water and air pollution through collection of various waste from trash dump centre for recycling in the environment.
Scavengers sometimes buy these items as domestic waste at a minimal amount and resell them to depot collectors, who take them to local smelting mill, where they are melted and formed into different items, including household appliances such as spoons, chairs and plates among others.
Scavengers collect, either from the streets, dump sites or landfills, re-usable and recyclable material that can be reincorporated into the economy’s production process. Despite the benefits that they generate to society, waste pickers are ignored when waste management policies are formulated.
Waste –pickers in some part of Africa,usally collect plastic Bags ,plastic bottled,Cane,iron,and other meterials for their daily survival,which they also sales to some few companies for recycling
The greatest challenge is that lack of companies for recycling,as some of them have to travel them to a far away company for recycling
Solid waste arising from human activity has become a major environmental problem causing extensive pollution, which threatens human health
Scavengers often live either on or beside landfills in order to await the arrival of waste filled trucks. They sort the waste with their bare hands, sticks or simple hooks.
The role of waste pickers in developing country cities is essential for both environmental and economic reasons.
It is difficult to quantify the total contribution of the informal sector to urban waste management.
Recycling of solid wastes reduces air and water pollution, saves energy, reduces waste from industrial processes compared with the use of virgin materials, and in many cases reduces imports of raw materials
Scavenging reduces the amount of waste that needs to be collected, transported, and disposed of, which translates into savings to local governments and extends the life of dumps/landfills
Research has shown that most of them used their hand for collecting those trash from dirty environment
The authorities in many developing countries do not fully realize the
social, economic and environmental benefits of the recycling activities carried out by scavengers. Consequently, scavenging is either prosecuted or in the best case ignored when designing SWM policies and plans
The informal waste pickers in Nigeria and some part of Africa need support of some materials for collecting trash from dump centre,so as to save them from diseases and other jams
