Foto: Alex Cardoso, MNCR.
The Estrutural dumpsite in Brazil’s national capital region receives 70,000 tons of waste per month. Of those, three percent are recycled, thanks to an army of 2,500 waste pickers that work there, receiving annual wages of the equivalent of 250 USD. These waste pickers work on the dump without any protective equipment and face bodily injuries as well as death. About 1,700 of these waste pickers are registered, and more than 1,500 are organized in five cooperatives. These cooperatives lack equipment and the waste pickers there work in precarious conditions. CENTCOOP, MNCR’s legal entity, signed an agreement with the federal and district government to bring dignity to the waste pickers’ work, and construct warehouses and provide equipment. But the district government has not advanced on its agreement to build the warehouses. In response, the waste pickers closed down the dumpsite and blocked the entry of trucks. Read the article (in Portuguese) and watch a video that shows the situation at the Estrutural dump. See the complete article in Portuguese
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