O catador e a máquina: transferência de tecnologia e reprojeto em centrais mecanizadas de triagem

Abstract

The urban complex in modernity, combined with population growth, especially in big cities, places numerous challenges that government officials should be able to answer. One such problem is the issue of waste, which is exacerbated by consumerism, decreasing rate of utilization and the linear economy (extraction of non-renewable natural resources, transfer / production, use and disposal), striking and structural characteristics of the current economic system. In Brazil, a new regulatory framework for municipal solid waste (MSW) management, establishes, among other guidelines: 1) the management of all solid waste suitable for reuse, recycling and treatment, recommending environmentally sound disposal of residues exclusively; 2) the prioritization of recyclable materials pickers (catadores) and their organizations as main agents of integrated MSW management systems, thus recognizing the importance of these actors, who are the protagonists in practice effective recycling in the country. This desired scenario is far removed from the reality of most Brazilian cities today, and to the big cities even more, due to the very high waste generation in these contexts. Several foreign technologies are presented as a solution to the problem of scale, creating replication trends, buoyed on the belief in the universality of models and technologies. This is the case of the recent implementation of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) of MSW in São Paulo-SP, analyzed in this dissertation. We tried here to investigate the main elements that influence the good and the bad functioning of this strategy for MSW management. We also analyzed the main problems encountered in the operation of these plants and the process of redesign (or design by using) played by collectors and other workers involved, in order to solve them or at least minimize them. Thereby, we aimed with this work to establish benchmarks , theoretical and empirical bases, from practical experiences that could guide studies on management alternatives capable of dealing simultaneously with the growing scale of the amount of waste generated in cities and socioeconomic inclusion of catadores