Lithuanian dumps’ waste pickers are poorly studied group in our population. Therefore in the dissertation presented research is the first study of waste pickers as a social group in Lithuania. The research, introduced in this work, was devoted to explore way of life of people working in Kariotiškės dump in the context of waste pickers mode of life. The paper reveals nature of waste picking as a social phenomenon, deals with the historical, economic and social context. On the grounds of visual ethnographic study, carried out in 2006-2008, empirically is reconstructed way of life of people working in Kariotiškės dump. It addresses the following issues: work and earnings, the daily life and household, leisure, social organization, health and mortality, adjustment to the closure of dump. Thesis discloses way of life links between people working in Kariotiškės dump and other countries waste pickers and concludes that both Lithuanian and other countries waste pickers’ way of life is not a random set of patterns of daily life, but an expression of a specific waste pickers’ subculture. / Lietuvos sąvartynuose dirbantys atliekų rinkėjai yra menkai tyrinėta mūsų visuomenės grupė. Tad šioje disertacijoje pristatomas tyrimas yra pirmas atliekų rinkėjų kaip visuomenės grupės tyrimas Lietuvoje. Disertacijoje pristatomu tyrimu buvo siekiama ištirti Kariotiškių sąvartyne dirbančių žmonių gyvenimo būdą atliekų rinkėjų gyvensenos kontekste. Darbe atskleidžiama atliekų rinkimo kaip socialinio fenomeno prigimtis, aptariamas istorinis, ekonominis ir socialinis jo kontekstas. 2006-2008 m. atlikto vizualinės etnografijos tyrimo pagrindu empiriškai rekonstruojama Kariotiškių sąvartyne dirbančių žmonių gyvensena. Nagrinėjami tokie jos aspektai: darbas ir uždarbis, kasdienis gyvenimas ir buitis, laisvalaikis, socialinė organizacija, sveikata ir mirtingumas, prisitaikymas prie sąvartyno uždarymo. Disertacijoje atskleidžiamos Kariotiškių sąvartyne dirbančių žmonių ir kitų šalių atliekų rinkėjų gyvensenos sąsajos ir prieinama išvados, kad tiek Lietuvos, tiek kitų šalių atliekų rinkėjų gyvensena yra ne atsitiktinis kasdienio gyvenimo įpročių rinkinys, o specifinės atliekų rinkėjų subkultūros raiška.

abstract: The handling of waste encompasses the following processes: recycling, collection, treatment, and disposal. It is crucial to provide a cost-effective waste management system that improves public health and reduces environmental risks. In developing countries, proper handling of solid and hazardous wastes remain severely limited in urban cities if the industries and hospitals producing it do not take responsibility. Recycling and reusing of 12% of total waste in Phnom Penh is an active industry in Cambodia, driven by an informal network of waste pickers, collectors, and buyers. This thesis examines the environmental situation of solid and hazardous wastes in Phnom Penh. The socio-economic background of waste pickers and their current practices for handling solid and hazardous wastes will be mainly discussed in order to understand health and sanitation impacts and risks for disposal of solid and hazardous waste by these informal waste pickers. Surveys and interviews with the following sources are conducted: waste pickers, community members, observation at local dumpsites, governmental officials, and other non-government organization agencies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This thesis reports the external and internal factors that hinder safety and cost-effective management for disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. Multiple literature reviews are assessed in regards to the health effects, economic, and social impacts in developing countries. Evidentially, after attending several training and environmental awareness-raising programs, waste pickers expressed concerns about their health and the environment. Instead of receiving support, waste pickers are under economic pressure to use improper tools for waste picking, to stop working, get access to health care/service, to change their career, and prevent contact to limit serious communicable diseases and disability. As a result, the government and other related government agencies have made an effort to establish sanitation handling, treatment, and disposal systems by closing the old dumpsite. Due to limited entrepreneurship and business experience after training, most waste pickers cannot initiate micro business or find new jobs and then resume their waste picking. In conclusion, this thesis proposed that there are alternative technologies and management methods that will allow waste pickers to maintain employment while minimizing hazardous waste. Some examples of alternatives for waste pickers are establishing a material recovery center and alternative higher income occupation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.Tech Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology 2012

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-11-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:03:59Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_cp_dr_rcla.pdf: 803250 bytes, checksum: d7f3c2fc5b36ec5b0640f07b1af9999a (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi o de mensurar o efeito das coletas informal e cooperativada de materiais recicláveis existentes em Santa Gertrudes e conhecer o destino do lixo doméstico produzido pelos moradores. O trabalho buscou, também, desenvolver um modo não convencional de executar a medição, valendo-se, para isso, de um universo amostral de resíduos recicláveis recolhidos das calçadas de 360 domicílios, bem como de um mesmo número de entrevistas com moradores da cidade. Mas até chegar à exposição dos números obtidos por ocasião de ambos os procedimentos, foi apresentado o histórico das duas formas de coleta de materiais recicláveis de Santa Gertrudes e a maneira como funcionam. Dados e informações diversos sobre a produção, coleta e destinação do lixo comum no Município foram igualmente expostos. Os trabalhos executados foram válidos na medida em que permitiram aferir o total de resíduos recicláveis desviados e não desviados do montante de lixo doméstico, identificar problemas e propor soluções em relação ao trabalho dos catadores e ao modo como a questão do lixo domiciliar é administrada na cidade, além de a técnica de aferição utilizada constituir-se procedimento inovador / This research, aims on measuring the effect of informal and cooperative collection of recyclable materials in Santa Gertrudes on the destiny of domestic wastes produced by the dwellers. A non conventional way of executing the measurement was also attempted. To achieve this objective, samples of recyclable residues collected on the sidewalks of 360 houses were used and 360 interviews with city dwellers were made. The history of the informal and cooperative collection and the working of waste-pickers were also studied to arrive at the data used in the tabulation of the results. Data and different information about the production, collection and destination of wastes produced in the city were also studied and several procedures to solve the problems were suggested. The results were positive because it was possible to know the total of recyclable residues deviated and not deviated from the total of domestic wastes, to identify the problems of waste-pickers, to analyze the city management of domestic wastes, and to find innovative solutions

O presente trabalho busca, a partir do referencial teórico-metodológico da análise crítica do discurso, examinar as mensagens passadas pela campanha governamental \"Separe o lixo e acerte na lata\". Esta campanha foi realizada pelo Ministério do Meio Ambiente em parceria com o Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Fome, no ano de 2011, no bojo da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos e tem como principal objetivo educar e preparar a população para o descarte correto do lixo doméstico, tendo em vista que a política previa uma alteração na gestão dos resíduos dentro dos municípios até o ano de 2013. O corpus da pesquisa foi composto pelas peças publicitárias da campanha, em um total de dez - entre cartazes, vídeos e sposts de rádio - pelo briefing de comunicação utilizado pela agência publicitária para a elaboração das peças e pelas entrevistas com seis técnicos que estavam na época envolvidos com a campanha. Tendo esse material em mãos, buscamos entendê-la em sua profundidade, partindo do pressuposto de que não há neutralidade nos discursos, sendo todos eles atravessados por interesses e vieses. A análise realizada suscitou discussões interessantes sobre o caráter da educação ambiental praticada pelo governo; sobre o modelo de reciclagem dentro da sociedade capitalista; e também sobre a forma como se abordou a questão dos catadores de material reciclável e suas precárias condições de trabalho dentro da nossa sociedade. / The present work seeks, from the theoretical-methodological framework of the critical analysis of the discourse, to analyze the message passed by the government campaign \"Separate the trash and hit the can\". This campaign was carried out by the Ministry of the Environment in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger in 2011, within the framework of the National Solid Waste Policy and its main objective is to educate and prepare the population for the correct disposal of household waste, considering that the policy foresees a change in waste management within the municipalities until the year 2013. The corpus of the research was composed by the advertising pieces of the campaign, in a total of ten - among posters, videos and sposts of radio - by the communication briefing used by the advertising agency to prepare the pieces and by the interviews with six technicians who were involved in the campaign at the time. With this material in hand, we seek to understand the campaign in its depth, starting from the assumption that there is no neutrality in the speeches, all of them being crossed by interests and biases. The analysis made interesting discussions about the nature of environmental education practiced by the government; about the model of recycling within capitalist society; and also about how the issue of waste pickers and their precarious working conditions within our society was addressed.

No Brasil, a gestão e destinação de resíduos sólidos são problemáticas e podem ter grandes melhoras com o cumprimento das diretrizes da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS). Esta Política aponta para os princípios da Gestão Integrada de Resíduos (GIR), que indica diversificação no tratamento e disposição final como última alternativa. Uma ferramenta importante na GIR é a reciclagem, que no Brasil se estruturou com base no trabalho do catador, fragilizado na Cadeia Produtiva de reciclagem, não possuindo profissionalização equiparada com os outros membros. Verificada a situação de responsabilidade delegada aos catadores no futuro da Gestão de Resíduos sólidos e sua condição atual, no contexto de uma associação de catadores, constatou-se que os agentes se consideram em posição desigual dentro da Cadeia, e apresentam a necessidade de melhorar a comercialização e percebe-se esta Cadeia de Reciclagem comprometida neste ponto. Isto se verificou porque a estrutura da associação era limitada em vários aspectos. A PNRS atribui grande importância aos catadores, que aqui não dariam conta de coletar os resíduos, isto pela necessária melhora da gestão. Há também o fato de que alguns materiais não são de interesse do catador, considerados inviáveis. A reciclagem de certos materiais não ocorrerá naturalmente, sendo necessário algum tipo de intervenção. / In Brazil, management and solid waste disposal are problematic and can have major improvements to compliance with the guidelines of the Brazilian National Policy (PNRS), that points to the principles of the Integrated Waste Management (GIR), which indicates waste treatment and disposal diversification and final disposal as the last alternative. An important tool in the GIR is recycling, which in Brazil is structured based on the work of the waste picker, weakened actor within the Recycling Production Chain, which has no professional capability as the other members. Verifying the situation regarding the responsible delegated to the waste pickers in the future of the solid waste management, and its current condition, in a waste pickers association, It was found that the collectors consider themselves in an unequal position within the chain, and have need of commercial relations improvement. Upon the lack of equivalent professionalism of the waste picker with the other levels, it is clear that the recycling chain is committed at this point. This occurred because the structure of the association was limited in several respects. The PNRS assigns great importance to the collector, that here were not going to collect all the waste, because there is necessary improved in management. There is also the fact that there are some materials that they do not work for its non-viability. It was found that the recycling of certain materials will not occur naturally, requiring some type of intervention.

Magister Artium - MA / A widespread phenomenon on dumpsites in the developing world, subsistence waste picking is also a common practice at the city-owned Coastal Park Landfill (CPL) in Muizenberg. Poor unemployed people from the townships of Capricorn, Vrygrond and Hillview, situated at the foot of the tip ―skarrel for scrap‖ every day. The word skarreling is an Afrikaans term meaning to rummage or scrabble, scuttle or scurry. Thus, if one talks of ―skarreling for scrap‖, it generally refers to poor people trying to eke out a living by looking for recyclables in the waste that can be put to personal use or turned into money. In the two decades since the transition to democracy, South Africa and the City of Cape Town (CCT) have formulated a number of framework and subordinate policies which express their commitment to sustainable development (SD). SD aims to achieve a balance between its three components, economic, environmental and social sustainability. Thus, SD is not only about increased economic efficiency and stability, while at the same time reducing pollution and handling natural resources more thoughtfully; it is also about promoting social equity by reducing poverty and empowering the poor. This study is guided by the assumption that waste pickers in developing countries play an important part in recycling efforts, and that recycling in turn is an integral component of SD, which is the guiding principle of South African policy-making. In an ideal scenario – as implicitly promised by the policies on SD – the management of solid waste should pursue the economic and environmental goals of SD by promoting recycling and should be aligned with the goal of creating sustainable livelihoods. However, the reality in the CCT is a different one. Landfill skarreling in the CCT, and particularly at CPL, is accompanied by conflict and a criminalisation of the skarrelaars. The CCT decided to phase out landfill salvaging in 2008, and subsequently has put a lot of effort into keeping skarrelaars away from its landfills. The implications of this decision – job losses for poor people and a potential increase in crime – have not been thought through. There is thus a dysfunctional triangular relationship around waste recycling in the CCT, leading to tensions between (1) the City‘s commitment to SD; (2) 5 its approach towards recycling (as part of solid waste management) in policy and practice; and (3) the livelihoods of the poor in adjacent townships. In the CCT the goals of SD are undermined by the City‘s recycling strategies, with adverse effects for the livelihoods of the people who live off skarreling. There are several causes for this disjuncture between policy and reality. The first has to do with ignorance on the side of the policymakers. They seem to be badly informed about the extent and nature of skarreling, perhaps assuming that this activity is performed only by a few people who need quick cash for drugs. The second cause can be attributed to the neoliberal macro-policies pursued in South Africa, as well as to the global competition between cities for investment. This neoliberal urbanism leads cities like Cape Town to re-imagine themselves as ―world (-class) cities‖, in which poor waste pickers are perceived as a disturbing factor. In the CCT, this goes hand in hand with an approach reminiscent of the apartheid mindset, which saw the need to control poor, black (and potentially unruly) people. The dissertation therefore focuses on the core themes of sustainable development, (urban) neoliberalism, and informality in combination with a case study of the informal waste pickers at the chosen landfill site. Writing from a political studies angle, this study is framed as a policy critique: it argues that the policies around SWM ignore South African realities, and that the SD policies and their implementation lack coherence. Moreover, the conflict between the skarrelaars and the CCT at the CPL is rooted in inadequate national and local legislation which does not acknowledge the role of informal waste pickers in SWM and aims at excluding rather than including them. If waste pickers were supported in their recycling efforts in both policy and practice, this would be a win-win situation for the state/city (economic benefits and less crime), the skarrelaars (regular employment and incomes) and the environment (less waste buried on landfills). The case study is primarily designed as a qualitative study, but also includes quantitative elements as it attempts a first quantification of the extent and nature of skarreling at the CPL site, one of only three operating dumpsites in Cape Town. The aim on the one hand is to estimate the contribution of the skarrelaars to waste reduction (and therefore to sustainability) in the City, especially since the waste they collect is not buried on the landfill, thereby prolonging the operational life span of the landfill. The other aim is to assess the role of the skarrelaars as an economic factor in the township, in particular the question of how important the incomes generated from skarreling are for their individual livelihoods and for the community as a whole.

South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. The majority of the economically active, but unemployed people enter the informal economic sector, as a means to make ends meet. Waste recycling falls into this informal sector. On average South Africa recovers about 52 percent of all recoverable paper and 26 percent of all recoverable plastic per annum. These figures are low when compared with developed countries where up to 90 percent of recoverable paper is recovered. As recycling creates job and income generating opportunities, it thus has a vital role to play in poverty alleviation. The research examines the role of subsistence waste pickers in the recycling industry in South Africa. The research was qualitative and exploratory in nature. Data for this study was gathered through 30 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the recycling industry. In total, informal waste pickers provide at least 84 percent of all recyclable materials in Johannesburg through merchants, recyclers and producers of recyclable material in Johannesburg. Informal waste pickers bring considerable socio-economic benefits to countries around the globe, providing work for the unskilled, providing a constant supply of secondary raw materials to the local manufacturing industries and significantly reducing the quantity of waste to landfill sites. However, the research will show that even in the best situations, waste pickers suffer ergonomic problems due to the physically taxing nature of their job, as well as psychological and social disadvantages stemming from their low social status. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

A dissertação aborda as interações intersetoriais para a formulação das políticas públicas federais de apoio aos catadores de materiais recicláveis a partir da atuação do Comitê Interministerial para Inclusão Social e Econômica dos Catadores de Materiais Reutilizáveis e Recicláveis (CIISC) entre os anos de 2008 e 2014. A análise destaca a secretaria executiva desse comitê, bem como um importante membro, o Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (MTE) através de sua Secretaria Nacional de Economia Solidária (Senaes). Para tanto, foi realizada uma reconstituição histórica do CIISC entre 2003 e 2015 com base em análise documental (legislação e relatórios governamentais), na literatura existente e nas entrevistas com gestores públicos realizadas no âmbito desta pesquisa. Assim, a dissertação busca compreender as influências das interações entre os diferentes órgãos e entidades do governo federal que integraram o CIISC, sobre as políticas públicas federais de apoio aos catadores e, nesse sentido, foram investigadas tanto a coordenação desse comitê por sua secretaria executiva, quanto as relações de colaboração, de indiferença e de oposição que perpassaram sua existência. Observa-se que, em meio à coordenação e às demais interações, tem destaque o papel de gestores públicos cuja atuação enquanto ativistas burocráticos foi extremamente importante para a coordenação intersetorial na formulação das políticas de apoio aos catadores. São então tratadas as dimensões em que se observam as articulações intersetoriais, bem como são traçados os limites dessas articulações nas políticas públicas federais de apoio aos catadores de materiais recicláveis. Observou-se que existem algumas políticas de apoio aos catadores que, embora relativamente isoladas entre si, foram internamente formuladas, financiadas e executadas de maneira articulada, de modo que, embora não seja possível descrevê-las em termos de um sistema, tampouco é adequado tratá-las como algo pontual a despeito de suas fragilidades / This dissertation discusses inter-sectoral interactions in the formulation of policies by the federal government to support waste pickers occurring in the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Social and Economic Inclusion of Waste Pickers (CIISC) between 2008 and 2014. This analysis highlights the executive secretariat of this committee, as well as an important member: the Labor and Employment Ministry (MTE) that acted through its National Secretariat of Solidarity Economy (Senaes). In this respect, we made a historical reconstitution of CIISC from 2003 to 2015 based in documental analysis (legislation and government reports), in the related literature and in interviews with public managers made in the course of this research. Thus, this dissertation seeks comprehending influences and interactions between different federal agencies and entities that took part in CIISC, on federal public policies in support of waste pickers. In this regard, we analyzed both the coordination of this committee by its executive secretariat and its relations of collaboration, indifference and opposition that permeated its existence. We found that, in the midst of coordination and other interactions, the role of public managers was central, whose performance as bureaucratic activists was crucial for the inter-sectoral coordination in the formulation of policy to support waste pickers. It is then analyzed the different dimensions of this inter-sectoral articulations, as well as it is traced its limits in the formulations of federal policies of support to waste pickers. We found that exists some policies in support of waste pickers that, although relatively isolated, were internally formulated, financed and executed in an articulated manner, such that, despite not being capable of being described as a system, it is inadequate of being treated as punctual in spite of it frailties

A dissertação aborda as interações intersetoriais para a formulação das políticas públicas federais de apoio aos catadores de materiais recicláveis a partir da atuação do Comitê Interministerial para Inclusão Social e Econômica dos Catadores de Materiais Reutilizáveis e Recicláveis (CIISC) entre os anos de 2008 e 2014. A análise destaca a secretaria executiva desse comitê, bem como um importante membro, o Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (MTE) através de sua Secretaria Nacional de Economia Solidária (Senaes). Para tanto, foi realizada uma reconstituição histórica do CIISC entre 2003 e 2015 com base em análise documental (legislação e relatórios governamentais), na literatura existente e nas entrevistas com gestores públicos realizadas no âmbito desta pesquisa. Assim, a dissertação busca compreender as influências das interações entre os diferentes órgãos e entidades do governo federal que integraram o CIISC, sobre as políticas públicas federais de apoio aos catadores e, nesse sentido, foram investigadas tanto a coordenação desse comitê por sua secretaria executiva, quanto as relações de colaboração, de indiferença e de oposição que perpassaram sua existência. Observa-se que, em meio à coordenação e às demais interações, tem destaque o papel de gestores públicos cuja atuação enquanto ativistas burocráticos foi extremamente importante para a coordenação intersetorial na formulação das políticas de apoio aos catadores. São então tratadas as dimensões em que se observam as articulações intersetoriais, bem como são traçados os limites dessas articulações nas políticas públicas federais de apoio aos catadores de materiais recicláveis. Observou-se que existem algumas políticas de apoio aos catadores que, embora relativamente isoladas entre si, foram internamente formuladas, financiadas e executadas de maneira articulada, de modo que, embora não seja possível descrevê-las em termos de um sistema, tampouco é adequado tratá-las como algo pontual a despeito de suas fragilidades / This dissertation discusses inter-sectoral interactions in the formulation of policies by the federal government to support waste pickers occurring in the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Social and Economic Inclusion of Waste Pickers (CIISC) between 2008 and 2014. This analysis highlights the executive secretariat of this committee, as well as an important member: the Labor and Employment Ministry (MTE) that acted through its National Secretariat of Solidarity Economy (Senaes). In this respect, we made a historical reconstitution of CIISC from 2003 to 2015 based in documental analysis (legislation and government reports), in the related literature and in interviews with public managers made in the course of this research. Thus, this dissertation seeks comprehending influences and interactions between different federal agencies and entities that took part in CIISC, on federal public policies in support of waste pickers. In this regard, we analyzed both the coordination of this committee by its executive secretariat and its relations of collaboration, indifference and opposition that permeated its existence. We found that, in the midst of coordination and other interactions, the role of public managers was central, whose performance as bureaucratic activists was crucial for the inter-sectoral coordination in the formulation of policy to support waste pickers. It is then analyzed the different dimensions of this inter-sectoral articulations, as well as it is traced its limits in the formulations of federal policies of support to waste pickers. We found that exists some policies in support of waste pickers that, although relatively isolated, were internally formulated, financed and executed in an articulated manner, such that, despite not being capable of being described as a system, it is inadequate of being treated as punctual in spite of it frailties

Orientador: Fadel David Antonio Tuma Filho / Banca: Vânia Rubia Farias Vlach / Banca: Mário de Biasi / Banca: Ana Tereza Caceres Cortez / Banca: Eneas Rente Ferreira / Resumo: O objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi o de mensurar o efeito das coletas informal e cooperativada de materiais recicláveis existentes em Santa Gertrudes e conhecer o destino do lixo doméstico produzido pelos moradores. O trabalho buscou, também, desenvolver um modo não convencional de executar a medição, valendo-se, para isso, de um universo amostral de resíduos recicláveis recolhidos das calçadas de 360 domicílios, bem como de um mesmo número de entrevistas com moradores da cidade. Mas até chegar à exposição dos números obtidos por ocasião de ambos os procedimentos, foi apresentado o histórico das duas formas de coleta de materiais recicláveis de Santa Gertrudes e a maneira como funcionam. Dados e informações diversos sobre a produção, coleta e destinação do lixo comum no Município foram igualmente expostos. Os trabalhos executados foram válidos na medida em que permitiram aferir o total de resíduos recicláveis desviados e não desviados do montante de lixo doméstico, identificar problemas e propor soluções em relação ao trabalho dos catadores e ao modo como a questão do lixo domiciliar é administrada na cidade, além de a técnica de aferição utilizada constituir-se procedimento inovador / Abstract: This research, aims on measuring the effect of informal and cooperative collection of recyclable materials in Santa Gertrudes on the destiny of domestic wastes produced by the dwellers. A non conventional way of executing the measurement was also attempted. To achieve this objective, samples of recyclable residues collected on the sidewalks of 360 houses were used and 360 interviews with city dwellers were made. The history of the informal and cooperative collection and the working of waste-pickers were also studied to arrive at the data used in the tabulation of the results. Data and different information about the production, collection and destination of wastes produced in the city were also studied and several procedures to solve the problems were suggested. The results were positive because it was possible to know the total of recyclable residues deviated and not deviated from the total of domestic wastes, to identify the problems of waste-pickers, to analyze the city management of domestic wastes, and to find innovative solutions / Doutor