Inclusive Recycling in Waste Picker Cooperatives in Brazil: Impacts of COVID-19 Comparative Analysis 2020-2021

By Sonia M. Dias, Ricardo Abussafy, Juliana Gonçalves on March 04, 2022

See related brief.

Key Points:

• Cooperatives were able to quickly implement COVID-19 protocols in the sorting sheds, thus achieving greater credibility with public officers and greater security for cooperative members.
• The survey showed a significant increase in the number of suspected as well as confirmed cases of COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases declared in the survey had increased 40 per cent compared to the 2020 poll.
• The vaccination rate among waste pickers in this sample reached 78 per cent.
• Reported coping actions included capacity-building courses on COVID-19 protocols and fundraising campaigns for strengthening waste pickers’ work.
• Cooperatives acted as a cushion against the impact of economic crises for waste pickers as many organizations had access to support including from the reverse logistics systems in place in Brazil.
• All surveyed cooperatives take part in reverse logistics programmes. This could have been a determining factor in their more positive adaptive responses during the first half of 2021, since industries have developed several programmes to support cooperatives in the pandemic.