Nohra Padilla has had a long history of experience with waste picking, as she started the occupation from an early age to help her family. With the pass of years, she became one of the main leaders of waste pickers from Bogotá, growing the Association of Recyclers of Bogotá (ARB) into an organization of more than 3,000 informal recyclers and the National Association of Recyclers in Colombia (ANR), with 12,000 members into strong institutions that revolutionized the infrastructure of waste management nationwide. In 2011, Padilla managed to lead a law that prohibits contracts for waste management that do not offer jobs for informal pickers and had them be recognized as a part of the recycling and waste process in Colombia. Even amongst threats to her well-being, Padilla has achieved great improvements for sustainability and waste management in her country. Photo Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize
