Abstract
The article discusses the emergence of recyclable materials collectors within the institutional and legal domain, based on the political organization of the category and the creation of an unprecedented regulatory framework for the solid waste management in the country, with the sanction of the National Solid Waste Policy. Based on fieldwork carried out in the neighborhood of Jardim Gramacho, in Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, the article presents the case of the local garbage dump closure and describes the organization and negotiations of collectors, focusing on the leaders activity and their search for the creation of labor and income alternatives for local collectors. The narrative addresses the collectors political action in the context of the execution of public policies focused on the social inclusion of the category, pointing out divergences, cleavages and conflicts related to the collectors heterogeneity and difficulties related to the exercise of representation by the leaders. The aim is to highlight the contradictions and paradoxes that emerge from the implementation of measures induced by the new waste regulatory framework, pointing out the dissonant effects between the government policies conception and their practical execution in specific contexts.
Keywords:
collectors; cooperativism; formalization; solid waste