Waste pickers from Gramacho will receive R$ 21 million.

Agência Brasil - Leaders of waste pickers at the Gramacho Sanitary Landfill, in Duque de Caxias, in Baixada Fluminense, approved the decision of the Rio de Janeiro city hall to pay in a single installment R$ 21 million to 1,5 workers as a way to compensate them for the closure of the landfill, whose date was postponed to May. They met today (17) with representatives of the State Secretariat for the Environment, to formalize the creation of a management council responsible for administering the resources allocated to the professionals.

The money, which will be made available by the city government in May, is part of the Waste Pickers Appreciation Fund and would initially be released in 14 installments of R$ 1,5 million.

According to the president of the Association of Waste Pickers of the Gramacho Landfill, Sebastião Santos, the measure, announced last Monday (16) by the city hall, will give workers a breather to reorganize themselves into new activities, but it needs to be followed by the implementation of sustainability and urban solution projects in the region.

“Since the money will be paid individually, each person will know how to use it to meet their needs. We have taken a big step, which is to value and pay [the waste pickers] for a service they have provided for 30 years, but it can't stop there. It is also necessary to guarantee the urbanization of the neighborhood, the construction of affordable housing, daycare centers, among other things,” he emphasized.

Another waste picker from Gramacho, Roberta Alves, 35, says she is already making plans for how to invest the money she will receive.

“I will invest all of my share of the fund in the block factory that I am setting up with other waste pickers. It is a market with growth potential, and our goal is to reuse construction waste to manufacture bricks and other materials for the sector,” he explained.

According to the state Secretary of the Environment, Carlos Minc, the management council will have one week to define the list of 1,5 waste pickers who will benefit from the fund's resources. He explained that, to withdraw the money, each waste picker will have to open an account at Caixa Econômica Federal, which will be responsible for setting up an advanced post in Gramacho to serve the workers.

Minc added that the council will also monitor the creation of the recycling center that will be set up in the neighborhood to absorb some of the workforce, and the implementation of urbanization projects to revitalize the area.

The Gramacho landfill, which occupies an area of ​​1,3 million square meters on the shores of Guanabara Bay, receives 1.967 tons of waste from the city of Rio and 1.726 tons from neighboring municipalities per day. Considered the largest landfill in Latin America, it began operating in 1976.