Workers who handle waste and recyclables support the health of our communities, economies, and the environment at the expense of their own health and wellbeing. On a daily basis, they may be exposed to hazardous materials, such as household cleaners, pesticides, and medical waste. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightens these health risks, particularly to informal waste pickers who collect the recyclable materials that we throw in the trash.
As we at Verité take stock of COVID-19’s many implications for employers and supply chain actors, we particularly want to emphasize the importance of the high-level principles that companies should promote in their own operations and supply chains.
Companies don’t doubt they have to play a role in solving social, labor, and environmental problems in their supply chains: But how? What works? Definitive answers are needed on what socially and environmentally safe business looks like. The Fair Trade Society, a new global membership organization, is proud to announce the launch of the Journal of Fair Trade.
Why Businesses Are Nothing Without Strong Human Rights | Article on the World Economic Forum website: Business has an interest and responsibility to support human rights defenders and civic freedoms.
The findings reported in a new white paper from Gap Inc. and Verité, Employing Workers’ Sense of Value as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to Drive Facility Improvement in Social Responsibility, demonstrate that taking a worker-centric approach to sustainable supplier performance improvement can be mutually beneficial to both workers and management.
