Buenos Aires Recycling

The cartoneros of BA are the people who make recycling happen. After the economic crisis, unemployed people, generally from the outskirts of the city, began coming into the city and digging through trash to find cardboard and other recyclables. Men, women and children transport their finds in a large cart, supported on their back and then sell them to be reused. As with any other business, there is a long chain of middlemen capturing the bulk of the profit selling the recyclables back to businesses, and the cartoneros, who walk around the city all night, are still struggling.

The people of one community, who were among the first to be unemployed after the 2001 crisis, successfully petitioned the government to provide them with a train to get to and from the city each night. Their community even has a daycare center at night run by volunteers, many of whom were once cartoneros themselves.

The government's attempts at setting up a recycling program have repeatedly failed. Co-ops comprised of cartoneros are now officially registered with the government and provide the city's recycling service.

It seems to actually be a fairly good system, since it provides "employment" to the unemployed and actually gets the recycling done. It also decreases the responsibility of the individual citizen, since many are too lazy to actually recycle. The cartoneros were so successful in their means of survival, that the government employed their system. They are still being exploited, but they are getting by. A photo documentation can be found here: http://www.worldpress.org/photo_essays/cartoneros/

The photos above are from the Recoleta Cemetary, the only quiet place in the city we have found so far. The cemetary is full of elaborate tombs, including that of Eva Peron and family, Che Guevara's family, and many other famous Argentines.

Hasta Luego