CBRL Projects

Participatory Sustainable Waste Management

The purpose of this CIDA funded UPCD Tier II project is to increase effectiveness, safety and income generation of informal and organized waste recycling in four municipalities of Santo André, Diadema, São Paulo and Ribeirão Pires, Brazil. This will be achieved through capacity building, strengthening organizational structures, increasing awareness and adding value to the transformation of recyclables. In the long term, the project aims to improve the urban environment of the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo. For more detailed and up-to-date information regarding the PSWM website, please visit the Participatory Sustainable Waste Management website, a knowledge-hub for innovative projects dedicated to more sustainable lifestyles suited to the needs and wants of current and future generations.

Why do we need participatory sustainable waste management?

Consumption-oriented lifestyles and wasteful, unsustainable packaging practices transferred continuously from rich to poor countries are responsible for the generation of widespread municipal waste problems. Within today’s burgeoning cities, this undesirable waste often ends up in the hands of the least powerful communities. But what should these communities do with this waste?

Participatory sustainable waste management (PSWM) presents on option available for dealing with safe and non-contaminating waste; in this case, solid recyclable waste, which can be used as a rich resource for income-generation. By collecting recyclable material, communities are able to boost their personal incomes while also contributing to a more healthy and sustainable local environment. As a response to poverty and the increasing value of recyclables, the number of people involved in such ‘waste picking’ is growing in many cities across the globe, particularly in large metropolitan areas such as São Paulo and Vancouver.

The purpose of PSWM is to help expand participatory processes and to improve the organization of recyclers. This will be done through capacity building, strengthening organizational structures, increasing awareness, adding value to recyclables by increasing the effectiveness and the safety during the collection, separation, stocking and collective sale of recyclables. In the long term, PSWM aims to improve the urban environment in this area through participatory waste management.

PSWM projects help structure, organize and strengthen cooperatives, associations and community groups involved in recycling, by training, generation of knowledge and exchange of experiences on cooperativism, micro-credit and the practice of solidary economy. PSWM helps to increase responsible consumption and to reduce the generation of waste.

What does participatory sustainable waste management mean?

Participatory waste management puts people in control of their urban environment. People need to make their own choices about how to develop a sustainable way of living that suits their needs. To achieve this, the PSWM project focuses on the following aspects.

Putting people and their knowledge first:
The project involves local people in urban planning by connecting them with formal, public sector decision-making processes. It is the local community that knows the local environment; it is their knowledge that will help build sustainable waste management. Through the project, marginalized people are influencing the authorities about waste management choices and are contributing to local waste management through collective waste collection. This ensures that the waste collection techniques and strategies are suited to their environment, needs and preferences.

Involving people in the decisions that affect their community:
Policy-makers need to be aware of the impact that their decisions have on marginalized and resource-poor communities. Waste management policies have a powerful affect on communities. With the involvement of the community, it is possible to ensure that policies take into account the local environment. By empowering communities through collective commercialization and helping to voice the collective concerns of the community, the project facilitates inclusive waste management policy.

Helping people take control of their environment:
By putting people and their knowledge first, and by involving them in policy decisions, the local communities gain control over their environment. The only way of ensuring that the community benefits from waste management, rather than suffer from the detrimental environmental affects of poor management, is to provide opportunities for them to participate in waste management itself. This includes the practical side of waste collection as well as influencing policy. The citizens need a say in how their community is managed; the PSWM project helps them develop opportunities to have their say.

The six intended outcomes of the project are:
1) Increased capacity at the lead partner and at the other member institutions of the Management Committee (MC) to provide training and technical support to 30 municipal technicians and leaders of informal recycling groups and cooperatives;
2) The development and implementation of a sustainable educational program at the technical applied level;
3) Increased collaboration among MC participants, other governmental and non-governmental institutions, other Brazilian cities (São Carlos, Salto, Itú, Belo Horizonte, Londrina) and on the international level with groups on integrated solid waste management (Buenos Aires, Montevideo);
4) Increased capacity and institutional strengthening of government agencies, partners and others who benefited from the project on co-management and increased capacity to discuss public policies on solid waste management;
5) Improved selective waste collection strategies and techniques identified and implemented as part of the municipal waste management plans;
6) Increased capacity of the members of the MC to participate in local and international project management leading to new partnerships and at least two new projects proposed by the Executive Committee on the thematic topics covered by the project.