Education and training: Key solution to self-management and economic sustainability of waste pickers organisations

Abstract

Being a waste picker is not considered a profession in the eyes of society. One reason is that it does not require professional qualifications or training. Thus, most waste pickers are individuals who had difficulty entering the labour market, mainly due to low education levels. As members of waste pickers organisations (WPOs), they have difficulties in practicing self-management and, consequently, in maintaining the WPO’s economic sustainability. This is a barrier to waste pickers’ inclusion in the integrated solid waste management, but it can be overcome with investment in their education and professional training. However, it is not clear how this can be accomplished. This article presents guidelines for the education and training of organised waste pickers. These guidelines were developed based on socioeconomic information with a focus on education and training collected from interviews with waste pickers (n = 215) of 24 Brazilian WPOs. The potentials and vulnerabilities of this socioeconomic profile allowed the elaboration of the main following guidelines: the classroom must be the WPO itself; a mentor is needed to conduct the education and training programme using a non-formal teaching and learning method; the content should be defined collectively, based on the knowledge of the organisation’s members and the daily WPO’s issues. In addition to isolated actions, these guidelines should be included in public policy programmes.