CIWM helps launch Waste & Recycling Modern Slavery Protocol - FMJ

Abstract

To mark this year's anti-slavery day, which took place on 18 October, the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management hosted a webinar on behalf of the Indirect Procurement Human Rights Forum to launch the brand-new IPHR Waste & Recycling Modern Slavery Protocol. In July 2021 CIWM and ESA announced a joint commitment to tackle slavery, forced labour and human trafficking across the industry. Since the launch, CIWM has been supporting a number of organisations and initiatives to reduce the risk of modern slavery across its membership base and the wider sector. The IHPR Modern Slavery Protocol is a voluntary agreement and public pledge of commitment of organisations to work collaboratively to tackle modern slavery and prevent exploitation or abuse of workers. Slavery experts put estimates of actual victims of modern slavery in the UK at around 100,000 people. In 2018, it was reported that two thirds of victims of modern slavery had been placed within the waste and recycling sector at some point during their period of exploitation. The six-page protocol sets out how organisations in the sector will take action to protect vulnerable and exploited workers and help build understanding of risks and embed responsible practices to improve standards.