Dow assists in several relief efforts for waste pickers globally

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact people around the world, including those working in waste and recycling. Many countries have deemed those businesses essential, but that doesn’t mean they all have access to the personal protective equipment (PPE) and other resources they need. That’s where Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, Midland, Michigan, has stepped in to help.

Using its global resources, coupled with many partnerships, Dow was able to secure PPE and other forms of aid for some of the 15-20 million waste pickers and sorters worldwide. 

“It’s heartbreaking what is needed to keep these people employed, what is needed to keep these people safe,” says Haley Lowry, Dow’s sustainability director.

Lowry says waste pickers play an important role in the circular economy, but in many countries, especially impoverished ones, access to the correct protection isn’t always available. “Especially in [a] developing country, I think that’s the area where they become more marginalized.”

COVID-19 can spread in a few ways, such as by touching contaminated materials. Since many employees in places such as Haiti and South America don’t have as much access to PPE or the ability to practice social distancing and take off work, Lowry says, helping them find other resources is important to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Vivien Luk is the executive director of Work, a nonprofit headquartered in Los Angeles that helps people in poverty in Haiti find work. Luk says access to PPE is critical because many waste pickers don’t have the option to take off work, or they won’t be able to feed their families. “Because it’s a high-touch situation, a high-touch job, there is a lot of risk of spread, there is a lot of fear about what COVID-19 is,” Luk says.

When Work realized some help may be needed to provide PPE or education about cleanliness and prevention, that’s when Dow stepped in to help by setting up a fund for donations for employees in Haiti. Luk says that fund was up and running in just about a week this May, providing necessary masks, gloves and education for Haitian waste pickers.

“They really are the unsung heroes of the economy, of the supply chain and the environment,” Luk says of Dow’s efforts. “They’ve worked quietly for many years, trying to find how to do this work better, how to collect higher volumes.”