Le rôle des « Berbechas » en Tunisie : Le pilier marginalisé de l’économie circulaire ?
In Tunisia, informal waste pickers known as Berbechas play a central role in the waste recovery and recycling chain, yet remain excluded from institutional waste management frameworks. In a context shaped by international pressures to modernize public services, this article examines how public polic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Éditions en environnement VertigO
2024-12-01
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| Series: | VertigO |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/48747 |
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| Summary: | In Tunisia, informal waste pickers known as Berbechas play a central role in the waste recovery and recycling chain, yet remain excluded from institutional waste management frameworks. In a context shaped by international pressures to modernize public services, this article examines how public policies contribute to their marginalization and explores the challenges and implications of potentially formalizing their work. The primary research question guiding this study is: to what extent can the formalization of waste pickers offer a fair and effective pathway for both their socio-economic recognition and for improving Tunisia’s waste management system? Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in Greater Tunis (including interviews with waste pickers, intermediary collectors, and institutional actors, along with periods of participant observation), the findings highlight the structural contribution of Berbechas to urban recycling, while exposing their institutional invisibility. Attempts at formalization, mostly driven by NGOs, face numerous legal, institutional, and social barriers, and often fail to align with the expectations and lived realities of waste pickers. The article argues that formalization should not be seen as a universal or technical fix. It must instead be understood as a political process, co-constructed with those concerned, and supported by broader institutional reforms. Without this, formalization risks deepening the very forms of exclusion it seeks to address. |
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| ISSN: | 1492-8442 |