AN INVISIBLE OCCUPATION? A STUDY OF HANDCART WASTE PICKERS, CITIZENSHIP, AND SOCIO-PRODUCTIVE INCLUSION IN CURITIBA

INTRODUCTION: Solid waste management is a major socio-environmental challenge in Brazilian cities. Handcart waste pickers collect, sort, and transfer recyclable materials, reducing waste sent for final disposal and promoting material circularity. Despite this contribution, they continue to face social invisibility, precarious working conditions, and limited institutional recognition. Examining public perceptions of their work can reveal gaps between acknowledgment of their environmental contribution and their social and professional recognition. AIMS: To analyze how residents of Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region perceive handcart waste pickers’ work, professional recognition, socio-environmental contribution, working conditions, and citizenship, thereby informing public policies for their socioeconomic and productive inclusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional study using a mixed-methods approach was conducted with 164 residents of Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region. Participants were recruited through in-person outreach in community and university settings and through social media. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising 28 questions on respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics and their perceptions of waste pickers’ work dynamics, occupational health, citizenship, socio-environmental contribution, and institutional relations. Closed-ended responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while open-ended responses underwent thematic categorization. Participation was voluntary, with anonymity and confidentiality ensured RESULTS: Participants recognized handcart waste pickers’ contributions to solid waste reduction, recyclable material recovery, the circular economy, and natural resource conservation. However, they perceived that this environmental contribution has not translated into social appreciation, labor protection, or institutional recognition. The main problems identified included prejudice, social invisibility, economic instability, inadequate work equipment, occupational hazards, limited access to education, and insufficient public policies. Proposed measures included payment for urban environmental services, modernization of work equipment, formal recognition of the occupation, and stronger social protection and socioeconomic inclusion policies. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: Residents recognized the socio-environmental contribution of handcart waste pickers but perceived persistent conditions that constrain their professional recognition, social protection, and citizenship. These findings represent the views of the surveyed population and therefore do not reveal how waste pickers understand their own professional identity and citizenship, a dimension requiring direct investigation with these workers. The findings indicate the need to connect environmental recognition of their work with public policies for professional recognition, labor protection, and socioeconomic and productive inclusion.

KEYWORDS: Handcart waste pickers; Social perception; Solid waste management; Socioeconomic and productive inclusion; Circular economy; Citizenship.