Geographer leads $1 million Brazilian recycling project

by Valerie Shore

Gutberlet

A University of Victoria geographer is the Canadian leader of a $1 million international development project to help build community-based, sustainable recycling programs in Brazil.

The project is one of 11 international aid projects recently funded by the Canadian International Development Agency through its University Partnerships in Cooperation and Development (UPCD) program. The program promotes knowledge partnerships between Canadian universities and higher education organizations in developing countries.

Recycling micro-enterprise near São Paulo showing an employee separating various types of plastic.

In the six-year project, UVic social geographer Dr. Jutta Gutberlet will work with the Centro Universitário Fundação Santo André and other Brazilian partners to organize and train informal recycling collectors and cooperatives in four municipalities, including São Paulo, one of the world’s largest cities.

Informal recyclers are individuals or unorganized groups who make a living out of separating recyclables out of waste. In North America, the activity is known as binning, or dumpster diving. There are currently an estimated 200,000 informal recyclers in Brazil.

"Informal recycling is a very wide-spread activity in poor countries," says Gutberlet, who grew up in São Paulo and has more than 15 years of research experience on socio-economic and development issues in Latin America.

The four municipalities involved in the project are home to about 12 million people and have varying degrees of recycling activity and support from local governments. Up to 90 per cent of waste still ends up in landfills. "Burying waste in landfills or incinerating it, is not a sustainable solution," says Gutberlet. "We have to learn to avoid waste and recycle our resources."

In some areas, neighbourhood associations and cooperatives are emerging to tackle the problem. The project team will build on established contacts with these groups, governments and NGOs to help organize and strengthen the recycling sector. Training programs aimed at government officials and the wider community will deal with topics such as responsible consumption, efficient recycling, waste management, and participatory decision-making.

"More inclusive policy-making is critical," says Gutberlet. "Right now, government policies are still very much elaborated by a top-down approach with little participation by, but large impacts on, local groups."

The project will also address unhealthy working conditions and gender issues. "Women are involved in collecting and separating waste but there is no attention being given to their specific needs in terms of health, jobs and child care," says Gutberlet. "By empowering all recyclers we hope to increase incomes, generate more jobs, and improve the environment and quality of life for everyone."

Gutberlet will involve as many graduate students in the project as the budget allows, both at UVic and in Brazil. She’ll also draw on the expertise of UVic researchers in geography, business, psychology, computer science, environmental studies, indigenous governance, and conflict resolution.

A specific goal of the project is to build partnerships and exchange knowledge with other municipalities in Brazil, South America —and even Canada.

"There are similar problems of social exclusion and poverty here in Canada, and they’re becoming visible, especially in the big cities like Vancouver," says Gutberlet. "Governments everywhere should be looking for creative solutions to deal with these issues."

The UPCD program is administered by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Since 1994, the program has funded 129 international partnerships valued at $295 million.