Abstract

PAIVA, Verónica. Scavenging: An Informal Method of Waste Recovery. Buenos Aires, 2002-2003. Estud. demogr. urbanos [online]. 2006, vol.21, n.1, pp.189-210.  Epub Oct 30, 2019. ISSN 2448-6515.  https://doi.org/10.24201/edu.v21i1.1266.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the issue of the Solid Waste Management in the City of Buenos Aires. This Management is ruled by a very old legislation which forbids the recovery and/or recycling in all the fases of the circuit. In parallel to the Govermental Management, an informal way of collection and recovery of the waste has been developed, carried out by people belonging to the poorest sectors who discovered, in the sale of the recycled waste, a means for surviving. This article outlines the characteristics of this informal circuit of the City of Buenos Aires - the routes, streets, timetables and types of waste - analysing this phenomenon not only as a way of living of the poor but also as an alternative way to a differential collect of the solid waste in the city.

Keywords : environment; urban solid waste; urban poverty.