This is an inspiring story from Ethiopia on an innovative women-only business that is gathering plastic waste so that it can be transformed into new products. It is not only targeting the enormous global problem of plastic pollution but also empowering dozens of women from low-income households with skills and employment opportunities.

This initiative reminds me of the words of Tanya Yanuyanurua, from the Pacific Recycling Foundation in Fiji who spoke at the ISLANDS webinar on Women’s Leadership in SIDS on Waste Management last month. She said - “There is dignity in all people and value in recycling. We do not regard any individual or group as ‘Informal Waste Pickers’ anymore but as ‘Collection Pillars of Recycling.”