Kentsel Sürdürülebilirliğin Gizli Aktörleri: İstanbul’daki Atık Toplayıcıları

Geçkili Karaman P., Şalgamcıoğlu M. E.

SUSTAINABILITY, cilt.17, sa.14, ss.6236, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 17 Sayı: 14
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3390/su17146236
  • Dergi Adı: SUSTAINABILITY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Aerospace Database, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, CAB Abstracts, Communication Abstracts, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Geobase, INSPEC, Metadex, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.6236
  • İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Unbalanced population growth, especially in developing countries, has exacerbated the waste problem. This issue is alleviated by waste pickers who play a vital role in recycling, the city’s circular economy, and sustainability strategies. The article aims to create an alternative form of communication by analyzing the daily lives and work patterns of waste pickers through various instruments, contributing to urban sustainability policies. Most studies on waste pickers have focused on broader trends and have not explored the lives of waste pickers in-depth. As a result, effective communication has not been established, and practical solutions have not been developed. This study directly addresses this gap and examines the daily lives and work practices of waste pickers in the metropolis of Istanbul, using ethnographic and grounded theory methodologies. It analyzes these findings with the MAXQDA program and proposes alternative solutions. The methodology generated verbal and spatial data from waste pickers, which were organized using an extensive coding system and, as a result, categorized under four selective codes. Through diagrams created from the theoretical codes used in the coding process, the narratives of waste pickers and their spatial production and usage were correlated, enabling a thorough analysis of waste pickers. This code model presents a challenging reevaluation of the traditional approach to urban sustainability in local systems by recognizing waste pickers as often overlooked yet essential actors and agents of sustainability in the city.