The Semantics of Garbage and the organization of the recyclers: Implementation challenges for establishing recycling cooperatives in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The rise of environmentalism and the opportunities for profiting from waste have changed the way society sees recyclers’ work from something dirty and nasty (negative semantics) to a much more positive view (positive semantics), such as people doing good for the environment and saving resources. How have the semantics of garbage affected the organizations (cooperatives) of recycling workers? On the one hand, this change has facilitated their organization and brought public support to the cooperatives, as recyclers had struggled to be accepted by society and by governments. On the other hand, the positive semantics have led cooperatives to face much fiercer competition from private recycling firms, especially in the profitable “high end” waste, making recyclers’ lives and their collective organization harder. This study analyzes the public interventions in three cooperatives in the city of Rio de Janeiro in order to understand the main obstacles recyclers have faced to organize themselves and how those obstacles evolved over time due to semantic changes. The article concludes that a more positive semantics of garbage may be necessary, but not a sufficient condition to improve the well-being of recyclers, as positive semantics can also bring negative effects, particularly in their incomes.