La política de gestión diferenciada de residuos para grandes generadores impulsada por la autoridad ambiental de la Provincia de Buenos Aires en el año 2013, auguraba un cambio sustancial en el tratamiento de los residuos sólidos urbanos. Con su entrada en vigencia, los grandes generadores debían gestionar sus propios residuos separándolos en al menos dos fracciones (reciclables y no reciclables) y asumir el costo de su transporte y tratamiento. Dichas normativas buscaban además promover la inclusión social de los recuperadores urbanos habilitando su participación mediante la organización de cooperativas. Desde un enfoque de las políticas públicas como proceso, este trabajo expone análisis iniciales sobre los efectos que dicha política ha venido teniendo sobre actores que la protagonizan.
Knowledge of the circumstances and context that surrounds a studied phenomenon makes its sociological consideration possible. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to imagine the Buenos Aires metropolitan urban network without the presence of the cartoneros, but 10 years ago they were invisible; those who planned public policies on garbage management ignored them. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the twenty-first century they began to be regarded as one of the most important expressions of social exclusion and unemployment as the country fell into one of the deepest crisis of its history. Then, the cartoneros phenomenon was perceived as a novel strategy for the most disadvantaged sectors of society to earn a living. However, the activity of cartoneros and the productive circle that they have created do not constitute a strategy only for the present urban unemployed. Beyond the stressful circumstances of the last century, with varying levels of rejection, recognition or integration, this practice has coexisted with diverse state mechanisms used for the disposal and elimination of garbage and with changing industrial demand for the materials collected. This article provides a historical sketch, starting with cirujas and atorrantes (words applied to the cartoneros) in the neighbourhood of La Rana in Buenos Aires, passes on to cartoneros and botelleros in La Quema, to the urban recuperators (who are now more conspicuous). I attempt to link cartoneros activity with changes in garbage management and underline the antecedents in the vernacular recycling industry. With this in mind, I also describe the general characteristics of the activity and the logistics and strategies used by collectors, owners of storage areas and industries -the three actors that take part in the transformation of garbage into merchandise. Within these historical and structural perspectives (some of them analysed in Spanish publications; Schamber and Suárez, 2007), I will offer some complement to analysis of the cartoneros phenomenon in Buenos Aires.
<p>En la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (CABA), al igual que en otras ciudades del país y la región, la problemática asociada a los recolectores informales<br />de residuos reciclables (usualmente conocidos como “cartoneros”, cardboard pickers) experimentó una profunda transformación durante la primera década del siglo XXI. En muy poco tiempo transitó un sendero en el que pasó de ser algo ignorado, mutó como algo a corregirse (combatirse, reprimirse), hasta finalmente volverse un aspecto insoslayable para las políticas públicas referidas a la gestión de los residuos sólidos urbanos. Este trabajo describe esa transformación y analiza los factores claves que contribuyeron a este aún inconcluso proceso de integración de los actores que inician la industria del reciclaje a la gestión pública de los residuos.</p>
Mots-clés: cartoneros, gestion intégral des déchets, recyclage inclusif, Buenos AiresPalabras claves: cartoneros, gestión integral de residuos, reciclaje inclusivo, Buenos Aires Palavras-chave: cartoneros, gestão integral de resíduos, reciclagem inclusiva, Buenos Aires
Leopoldo José Bartolomé was an Argentinian social anthropologist who earned his PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the United States. He founded the graduate and postgraduate courses in social anthropology at the National University of Misiones, Argentina. His research topics included rural anthropology, development (with an emphasis on dams), and relocations.
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