Rafael Silveira
Brazil has become one of the world leaders in aluminum can recycling, in 2009 for example the country has reached a recycling rate of 98.2% of beverage cans. This fact is advertised with pride by many companies, even Coke has used this data in their campaigns. Aluminum is highly recyclable and can be used again for the same purposes; however, it has to be collected apart from other waste or it has to be separated afterwards. The question is then how Brazil enters the list of one of the leaders in aluminum recycling (together with countries like Australia, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States) when only 32.3% of its cities have a system of selective waste collection [3].
The answer is, unfortunately, a known characteristic of the country, social inequality. In Brazil, many people live in very low life conditions; in bigger cities this problem is evident. This is a consequence of multiple factors, this people usually do not have jobs and have to find alternative ways to have an income; and collecting inorganic waste for reselling it has become one of these alternatives.
Unfortunately, the figure of the recyclable waste collector has become common in the biggest cities of Brazil, they are responsible for most of the recycling occurring in these cities (this video states that 80% of the waste recycling in São Paulo is made by the 20.000 people who live in the city in this way). With a very tough routine of living in the outskirts of the city and spending the whole day pushing a heavy trolley with the material they collect – paper, aluminum and pet bottles – which they can later exchange by money in recycling cooperatives that pay them according to the weight of the material. Others go to waste open air deposits and spend their days there selecting material that can be them sold (recycled).
Many documentaries and TV shows (in Portuguese, it shows their daily routine) have already focused on this topic, however due to current reality in the country, this scenario is unlikely to change in the next years. The work of these people is extremely important for the environment, however, the conditions most of them work in are unhuman and should be improved. Some cities have taken initiatives to improve their working routine as by providing electric trolleys so they do not have to push the weight they had to before, however the problem is much bigger than this.
As says the title of this blog post “while there is inequality in Brazil, we will be the recycling champions”. We expect that in the future this changes, and the country achieves the recycling rates of today by the population and municipalities education and responsibility.