A Women’s International Center will honor the waste picker Maria Monica da Silva with the Living Legacy Prize on February 22, for her work promoting environmental justice and support of inclusive recycling in São Paulo, Brazil; Monica was nominated for the prize by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and by Other Worlds Are Possible.
As of 14 January, Gustavo Petro was still the mayor of Bogotá. But only for 10 days. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
The 6th Latin American Assembly of Waste Pickers was held in São Paulo, on December 17 and 18th of 2013. Reunited in solidarity with our brothers and sister “recyclers” and 33 delegates from 15 countries and members of Red Lacre, we have had the opportunity to come together to dialogue, debate, and share experiences.
The 6th Latin American Assembly of Waste Pickers was held in São Paulo, on December 17 and 18th of 2013. Reunited in solidarity with our brothers and sister “recyclers” and 33 delegates from 15 countries and members of Red Lacre, we have had the opportunity to come together to dialogue, debate, and share experiences.
The documentary “La Basura de Hoy, el Tesoro de Mañana” includes moving testimonies from Bolivian waste pickers. The film aims to bring consciousness to the struggles, necessities and support that waste pickers, often not valued for their contributions, need as they struggle to bring dignity to the important social work they do.
We invite concerned groups and individuals across the globe to support a petition by Bogota’s informal recyclers (waste pickers) urging Colombia’s Inspector-General, Alejandro Ordóñez, to reverse the decision to oust the democratically-elected Mayor of Bogotá, Gustavo Petro. The ruling against Mayor Petro was based on actions he took against private waste management companies in the process of implementing an inclusive Zero Waste Program in Bogota.
On November 20-21, waste pickers came together in the city of Maracaibo, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, for their 3rd National Conference. The objective of the conference was to begin designing the Waste Pickers’ Plan for recycling collection in municipalities.
At the end of November, the National Movement of Brazilian Waste Pickers organized a week of solidarity with the workers of the Uruguaiana dumpsite, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The waste pickers there have been working in the city for more than 50 years.
SAWPA came together in November to object to the proposal by EnviroServ to construct a waste incineration facility at the Chloorkop waste site, calling on the government to deny EnviroServ permission to build a waste incinerator facility at Chloorkop.
November 8th was the Global Day of Action Against Incineration. More than 25 actions in 14 countries across six continents were held to protest incineration and promote zero waste and socially inclusive alternatives.
On October 26th, organized waste pickers of the Dominican Republic launched their National Movement. Its objective is to demand public policies that are socially inclusive for the thousands of recicladores that work the landfills and streets of the Dominican Republic.
Despite South Africa’s waste management legislation stipulating that incineration be the last resort in waste disposal, approximately 300 waste pickers on the Chloorkop landfill in Kempton Park are set to lose their jobs as a result of Enviroserve’s proposed waste-to-energy incinerator.
Sign the resolution below, as part of Don’t Burn Our Future! Global Day of Action Against Waste Burning and for Zero Waste, November 8, 2013
Entre os dias 24 e 27 de outubro de 2013, em Brasília/DF, aconteceu a 4° Conferência Nacional de Meio Ambiente (CNMA), com representação de cerca de 1200 delegados de todo o País. Considerando as etapas municipais, regionais, estaduais, livres e a nacional, em que somadas, teve a participação histórica de mais de 200 mil pessoas, entre elas mais de 40 mil catadores de materiais recicláveis.
GAIA would like to invite our members and allied groups to join our 13th Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration and for Zero Waste Alternatives on November 8, 2013. The 2013 Global Day of Action on Waste and Incineration will be part of the Global Month of Action on Dirty Energy organized by a coalition of international networks. This Month of Action is a united effort to demand the transformation of our energy systems in favor of sustainable and community-based solutions.
On October 8, the waste pickers’ cooperative Emprendedores Quiaqueños joined the Federación de Cartoneros y Recicladores and presented an action plan in the city of La Quiaca. The actions are being proposed in response to countless promises made by the municipality that have gone unfulfilled, as well as a lack of commitment from public authorities.
In October, the Association of Waste Pickers of Eco Parque Rafey landfill in the Dominican Republic warned about the dangers of a landfill called the Vertedero Municipal de Santiago de los Caballeros. Because of poor management, the landfill frequently catches on fire.
Members of the National Movement of Waste Pickers of Brazil (MNCR) have been pressuring congress members on the Commission for Social Security and the Family to speed up the passage of legislation that would include waste pickers on the list of professionals that benefit from social security.
The Montevideo “Waste Law”, initiated by the municipality in 2004 requires companies that produce waste to develop a waste management plan. The city, now focusing on the recycling aspects of this law, wants the waste pickers to formalize into businesses. The law requires that the organizations that win the public bid contract waste pickers and manage their operations, controlling their work hours and and the neighborhoods in which they collect.
The National Movement of Brazilian Waste Pickers – MNCR/RS, strongly denounces statements made by Fernando Mello, the coordinator of the program that will ban the use of horse-drawn carts by the beginning of 2015. “We want to end informal recycling, as well as other informal livelihoods, that many times operate in inhuman conditions, so that they can work formally and in more lucrative and dignified jobs.”
