The paper is a study of public policies for selective waste collection operationalized by cooperatives of pickers of recyclable materials in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, identifying its perspectives and limits. We contextualize about the Solid Waste National Policy and problematize the situation about cooperatives of pickers. After, we situate the general rules and normative indications of Laws and Decrees, plans and programs created. Next, we highlight general data collected at the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Finally, we present the preliminary results of the field research conducted with the managers of cooperatives. We have noted, finally, that there are public policies that bring instruments that are not perceived in its entirety by the actors involved, which implies in their non-pact and therefore, not in the full use of the advantages induced by the policy.
solid waste national policy; selective waste collection; pickers of recyclable material; cooperatives.