July 2026: Ground Score Association won a national award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors for its innovative G.L.I.T.T.E.R. program, which creates paid work opportunities for waste pickers to clean Portland’s public spaces. The award included $275,000 to help the program.
March 2026: This article on the reuse platform Upstream explores the work of three organizations that support waste pickers in North America and the challenges they face under different DRS systems.
June 2026: Jesse Winter of the Globe and Mail reported on the Binners Projects’ contracts to provide waste-diversion services along the spectator route to BC Place during the World Cup, and to sort recyclables at the FIFA Fan Festival at Vancouver’s PNE.
June 2026: (Audio) An interview with The Binners' Project Director Sean Miles details how the binners will help FIFA clean up and recycle during the World Cup—and the tournament’s impact on marginalized communities.
June 2025: This Prism article by Gaea Cabico looks at how raising New York’s five-cent deposit on returnable containers could make all the difference for people who rely on a recycling income—and the planet.
July 2026: CBC News visited the Coop les Valoristes in Montreal to report on the the co-op's service to people who collect cans and bottles to redeem. The City of Montreal wanted the co-op to move out by the end of October. (After the story ran, the city gave the co-op additional time and promised to help them relocate.)
April 2026: This Mexican media story (in Spanish) features Josefa Marín, whose work has become key to environmental conservation. Josefa lives and works in New York City at one of the Sure We Can centers, which receive thousands of glass and metal containers brought in by canners/independent recyclers.
This Canary Media article by Maria Gallucci examines how informal waste pickers are filling the big gaps left by formal recycling programs across America. Canners help to keep significant volumes of aluminum out of landfills, in turn reducing the need to produce aluminum from scratch—which is crucial to slashing the endlessly recyclable metal’s carbon emissions.
April 2026 – The large Vancouver health care provider details its environmental initiatives, including a partnership with The Binners’ Project that sorted 67,000 kgs of waste, keeping 80% out of landfills. The work won Buy Social Canada’s 2025 Social Procurement Champion Award.
Montreal’s Cooperative les Valoristes is in the spotlight in this December 2025 Global News Story, which explores how a partnership helped create “The Dignity Bag” to offer ergonomic collecting and increase visibility and respect for these workers.
