INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WASTE PICKERS

The International Alliance of Waste Pickers is a union of waste picker organizations representing more than 460,000 workers across 34 countries
Supported by Logo WIEGO

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Written by Deia de Brito

May 03, 2013


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Inside the CooperLimpa warehouse. Photo credit: WIEGO.

Inside the CooperLimpa warehouse. Photo credit: WIEGO.

In the beginning of April of this year, officials from the South African Department of the Environment (chemical and waste management branches) were in Brazil and Colombia to learn about inclusive solid waste management. The delegates went straight to the heart of the the Brazilian movement, to its headquarters in São Paulo.

They continued on to Belo Horizonte, where they visited a cooperative and met with members of the Municipal Waste and Citizenship Forum. Their last stop in Brazil was Diadema, in the industrial belt of São Paulo, where they visited a cooperative, learned from waste pickers and city leaders about the city’s participatory waste management model, and also met with the mayor.

Their final stop in Latin America was Colombia, where they met with the Association of Recyclers of Colombia, whose court victory and long struggle has recently resulted in the recyclers being responsible city’s recycling collection and processing and receiving payment as service providers. The learning exchange was facilitated by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). More coming soon about the Diadema visit!