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Around the world, millions of people make a living though recovering and selling recyclable materials from waste. Whilst these activities are predominantly found in low and middle income countries, the informal recycling sector (IRS) also has a notable presence in high income countries. Over the last few decades, attention has been drawn to the fact that informal recycling is an important component of solid waste management systems - particularly in the Global South.

There is a huge amount of diversity in terms of the different actors that make up the IRS and the activities that they undertake. For example, the IRS might include: autonomous individuals who act independently to pick out recyclable waste from street bins or from litter; individuals or groups working to recover recyclables from open dumpsites or unmanaged landfills; associations of recyclers who have united to seek improvement in their working conditions; and legally registered cooperative groups of recyclers engaging with local authorities and formally contracting out their services.