From Global Discards to Local Struggles

This panel, From Global Discards to Local Struggles, examines how global and local systems externalize waste, shifting environmental burdens onto marginalized communities in the Global South and forcing informal workers to navigate precarious conditions. Focusing on the Philippines, the discussion explores how gaps in waste governance are filled by entrepreneurial and community-based initiatives, while critiquing emerging policies that often exclude informal labor and reinforce inequalities. Centering the voices of informal waste workers, the panel invites diverse stakeholders to engage in cross-sector dialogue on environmental justice, power, and sustainable futures in waste management.

Supported by Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asian Studies , SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium , CCNY Sustainability in the Urban Environment Graduate Program, and The UKAI Initiative by Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts