 This is a study on inclusive urban waste systems where we're looking at the role of informal waste workers in promoting a circular economy, particularly their role in recycling plastics. As a result of COVID-19, because many people have faced economic hardship, many more people have started collecting waste for recycling as a way of generating additional income. The waste workers get their materials either from sorting directly through bins, public bins, private bins, or they buy materials from households or shops. Of the 34 informal waste workers we interviewed, they collected on average 190 kilos of plastic per week, as well as other materials like glass, cardboard and paper. One of the big problems is they lack space to store the materials when they collect them. So this means that they have no leeway in terms of waiting for prices to rise, for example. So they have no bargaining power in terms of the prices they get for recycling materials. Very few of the workers we interviewed have any health and safety equipment like gloves. This is quite concerning given that they're dealing with potentially hazardous or toxic materials, but because they would have to pay for these materials out of their own pockets and eat into their profits, they don't see this as a priority. We should also ensure that there is more regulation of the recycling sector. For example, if there were minimum prices for plastics materials, then this could help to guarantee their income. The informal waste workers we interviewed make a huge contribution to waste management in the city. All the waste that they collect for recycling doesn't go to landfill, doesn't need to be collected by the municipality and therefore represents a big cost saving to the municipality. It also means that the waste that gets recycled doesn't leak out of the waste management system and potentially go into rivers or oceans or other natural environments. So that contribution is really essential to cleaner cities.