An intimate look at the city's underground sustainable system.
Take a stroll down any street in Buenos Aires and you will surely pass many beautiful buildings, locals enjoying themselves at sidewalk cafes, and vendors selling fresh flowers and the daily newspaper. But every now and then you will see people jumping out of garbage bins, stacking piles of cardboard as high as three meters onto crudely made carts. Across the street there might be some young boys pulling three shopping carts at a time, while weaving in and out of the busy traffic. On another corner, you see a family of four, with small children, separating trash from various garbage bags. No, these people are not scavenging for food and valuables in these grubby conditions; in fact they are the city’s unique recycling system. They call themselves cartoneros, and they have a very interesting history here in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Every night thousands of cartoneros come from the outskirts of town into
the heart of the city to collect plastic, metal, cardboard and other
recyclable materials. They work tirelessly throughout the night and into
the early morning. They use homemade rolling carts, shopping trolleys,
and buggy trailers for transport. Some of them lost their jobs during
the economic crisis, others are struggling families or undocumented
migrants. For each kilogram of cardboard collected they earn about 2
cents, and on a good night they can make the equivalent of US$15.
About 20 years ago this practice was illegal, but since the recession of
2001 the government has allowed them to operate in peace. Starting out
from their desolate shantytowns they end up in the upscale neighborhoods
of Buenos Aires, sifting through tons of garbage. Their efforts are not
only essential for their own survival, but they also greatly contribute
to the sustainability of the city. Currently there is no formal
recycling system in place for such materials, and cartoneros are the
only people willing to separate trash from recyclables. This struggle is
played out every day on the streets of Buenos Aires - tourists flash
their cameras and locals are busy with their daily routines, all unaware
of the cartoneros around them and the great service they provide for
the city.
