The pickers, especially the ones on the streets, live in extreme poverty, which causes us great concern. The company is conducting an In April, in order to generate income, pickers resorted to the emergency assistance offered by the federal government, but Freitas points out that many pickers have no Internet access, and suggested that citizens offer to help pickers register for this assistance. The Structural dump in Brasilia, Brazil, was the largest Latin American open-air dump until its closure in 2018. Edson Freitas, president of the Recyclers Association of Rio de Janeiro (Despite their importance, waste pickers face extremely adverse conditions, exacerbated during the pandemic. Many of them have no access to information or the conditions to access the benefits or the assistance offered by the government.”Now, there may be even greater challenges ahead in receiving this assistance, as President Jair Bolsonaro On the other hand, the state government of Rio de Janeiro Meanwhile, various solidarity movements have organized to support pickers during the pandemic. She also added that most pickers live in precarious sanitation conditions and have limited access to health services.In the city of Rio de Janeiro, cooperatives are authorized to work while following the recommendation to use protective gear and exempting workers from the risk group—Batista highlights an aggravating factor in the situation of the pickers in general.
Even receiving basic income assistance is hampered, since often these workers have no means of accessing it, such as mobile phones and access to the Internet, in order to request, track, and receive the benefit.During the pandemic, those who continue collecting waste are facing an untenable situation. United States Environmental Protection Agency.
According to Freitas, “even in normal times, the materials are very dirty and often contaminated, sometimes even with medical waste.” As citizens are not used to properly disposing of these items, “during this pandemic many of the materials are potentially contaminated with the virus, since it survives for a few days on such materials.”For pickers, exposure to the virus is aggravated by certain factors. As the recycling industries have stopped buying, the prices have dropped by 50% on average, discouraging the collection of various materials,” explains Freitas, stressing that some deposits and cooperatives have also closed as they are unable to store large volumes of materials.Aside from the economic issue, there is a great concern for the health of the pickers. Waste picking activities are supported by government. Oliveira is one of more than 200,000 independent catadores, or waste pickers, in Brazil, a country that now registers “waste picker” as an official occupation. The collection of recyclable material in Brazil is largely from waste pickers. Their organizations are stepping up to help and to advocate for them. Three rubbish-pickers explain how they scrape a living there

Businesses in Brazil are taking a lead role in organizing recycling collection in the country's major cities.The collection of recyclable material in Brazil is largely from A national program, named Integrated Solid Waste and Carbon Finance Project, is developing strategies for incorporating waste pickers into local In Brazil, the main materials for reprocessing are In 2006, Brazil recycled 3.9 million tons, or 45 percent, of the In 2005, the country managed to recycle an incredible 96 percent of the In Brazil, just 5% of drink cans are made of steel.57% of the 260,000 tonnes of used tires estimated to be thrown away each year in Brazil were sent to cement ovens in Brazil.An average of 17.5% of all rigid and film plastic is recycled each year in Brazil.Ribeiro, H., Besen, G. R., Günther, W. R., Jacobi, P., and Demajorovic. Jonathan Watts: Rio de Janeiro’s Gramacho waste tip – the setting for new film Trash – is a toxic, dangerous home to 5,000 people. With the closure of industries, the buyers of recyclable materials have either stopped buying or are paying prices that are well below standard.

“Pickers are paid for the material but not for their service. On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro is Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill, where men and women sift through garbage for a living. 2005. Waste pickers provide essential services and face specific risks in this pandemic--from handling contaminated materials to losing essential daily earnings when governments order work stoppages and tell people to stay home. Ana Santos, coordinator of “They’re individuals who depend on and earn a living from the sale of these recyclable materials and have no other source of income to support themselves and their families,” says Freitas.There is special concern for homeless waste pickers, who have a harder time than those who are members of recycling cooperatives to access programs or institutions that are organizing support.