Title: Improving operations performance in waste pickers organisations using governance tools

Authors: José Carlos Martins Ramalho; Juliana Pardinho Tackla; Sarina Francisca de Assis Lessa; Luciana Harue Yamane; Roquemar de Lima Baldam; Renato Ribeiro Siman

Addresses: Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 514 Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 514 Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 514 Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 514 Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil ' Department of Production Engineering, Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (IFES), 1729 Avenida Vitória, 29040-780, Vitória, ES, Brazil ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 514 Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 29075-910, Vitória, ES, Brazil

Abstract: Waste pickers organisations (WPO) divert recyclable materials from landfills, adding value to the waste, while creating employment, and thus having great social importance. Unfortunately, they have very low efficiency, because of dysfunctions that impede their economic sustainability. By using an exploratory survey, data were collected to perform an organisation strategy study, using the following tools: business model canvas, current reality tree and a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) matrix. This resulted in a better understanding of the business, the problems that cause the low efficiency, but also the opportunities that can be used to invert this trend. Moreover, the methodology described in this paper is innovative, as a frequency analysis based on the SWOT matrices of 62 WPOs was compiled. This can be applied to any group of WPOs, especially in developing countries, to identify and understand possible dysfunctions that may affect their operation.

Keywords: waste pickers organisations; WPOs; municipal solid waste; waste collection; recyclable materials; governance tools.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2024.136959

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2024 Vol.33 No.2, pp.194 - 216

Received: 17 Aug 2020
Accepted: 08 Jul 2021
Published online: 01 Mar 2024 *

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