PANORAMA OF THE COOPERATIVES OF WASTE PICKERS OPERATING IN THE E-WASTE SEGMENT IN THE CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Abstract

Waste pickers' organizations are an important link in the reverse waste chain and the promotion of the Circular Economy. In the segment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste), reverse logistics has been endorsed by public policies in Brazil. Thus, this article aims to identify the panorama of performance of the cooperatives of waste pickers in the segment of e-waste in operation in the city of Rio de Janeiro. To this end, the identification of these organizations was sought, subsequent scheduling and technical visit to these locations and analysis of their official documents. The information was organized and compared for an understanding of the general situation of these organizations. Half of the identified cooperatives work specifically with e-waste, which implies variable income over time, while the others that receive common recyclables and e-waste declared a more fixed monthly income, due to the relative stability of the volume of recyclables arriving. All of them had their own fleet to ensure the collection of minimum volumes, and the majority declared to carry out destructive disassembly, without reusing components for resale, which would require more resources from the cooperative. Of the main challenges, the lack of planning the ideal layout for cooperatives, as well as the hazardousness of e-waste, stands out. However, the current process of formalizing cooperatives was emphasized as a strong point in this scenario. The study highlighted the importance of the role of waste pickers in the management of e-waste and for the promotion of the Circular Economy in the city of Rio de Janeiro. However, many challenges have been identified for the most appropriate and effective action of cooperatives in this context.