Women in Waste’s Economic Empowerment Activity: Empowering Women to Reduce Ocean Plastics

Women have vital roles in the waste value chain—from informal waste collectors, street sweepers, local junkshop managers, to community recycling leaders and policy makers—with great potential to increase the amount of plastic waste collected and recycled and to help reduce the amount of plastic reaching the ocean. However, due to gendered structural barriers women usually lack opportunities and resources to realize their full potential in the waste sector and commonly face gender discrimination and even violence.

USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean—the Agency’s global flagship program under the Save our Seas Initiative—centers gender equality in its approach to addressing ocean plastic pollution. Its Women in Waste’s Economic Empowerment (WWEE) activity empowers women to meaningfully participate in the waste sector and receive recognition by local government authorities and their communities for the services they provide. WWEE offers innovative business, personal, and women’s empowerment training combined with a business incubator program that offers mentorship and funding opportunities to help women turn their waste and recycling business ideas into startups or expand their existing enterprises.