Recyclers from Belém gain prominence at COP30 by advocating for recycling and climate justice

By Rafaela Collins, from the NINJA Collaborative Coverage at COP30

At 63, Maria Iracema wakes up every day before sunrise. She takes transport to the Concaves warehouse in Belém, puts on her gloves, and begins separating plastics, cardboard, glass, and aluminum. The sound of the presses and the smell of recyclable materials do not intimidate her. On the contrary: they are part of the routine she built after years of hunger and invisibility. “I used to live on the street. I was a waste picker to survive, I ate what I found in the trash, a rotten orange, a banana, anything. Only God knows what we went through,” she recalls.

Today, Iracema is one of the waste pickers responsible for sorting the recyclable materials generated at COP30 in Belém. The cooperative she belongs to was hired to collect and properly dispose of the conference’s waste, which gathers dozens of global leaders. “When I think I’m going to work at an event that talks about climate, I get emotional. I never imagined this. I can’t read or write, but I learned that my work helps the planet,” she says, with a shy smile.

The path here was long. After years of picking on the streets with a handcart, Iracema was invited to join Concaves, which was born as a small group of waste pickers and is now one of the largest Recyclable Materials Valorization Units (UVR) in the North region, with almost 20 years of operation. “In the beginning, I worked until ten at night, without eating, just drinking water. But it gradually got better,” she says. Currently, she earns between R$1,200 to R$1,300 a month, an amount that varies according to the quantity of materials processed and the contracts the cooperative closes, such as the one with COP30, which brought extra relief to more than 200 families indirectly linked to the cooperative.

A widow for six years, Maria lives with a son and two grandchildren. Two other children also followed the same path and now work as waste pickers. “I have faith in God that I will work until the end. And that it will get even better,” she affirms, balancing weariness and the hope of improving her life.

From invisibility to recognition

Maria’s story intersects with that of Jonas da Silva, 45, the founder of Concaves. Like her, Jonas started picking recyclables out of necessity two decades ago, after losing his job. “It was tough. We were treated like trash. People wouldn’t even let us touch their gates,” he recalls.

The turning point came in 2010 when he attended the International Waste Pickers Meeting in São Paulo and had a decisive encounter with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “He looked at me and said, ‘Jonas, go back to studying.’ I replied that I was too old. And he retorted, ‘There’s no such thing as age. Look at me, a metalworker who became president.’ That changed everything. I followed his advice, entered college, and graduated in Environmental Management,” he proudly recounts.

Today, Jonas coordinates Concaves, which brings together 35 workers and is involved in environmental education, selective collection, and waste disposal. He advocates for the recognition of waste pickers as essential environmental agents. “We are the city’s environmental managers. We take care of what belongs to everyone, under the sun and rain. COP30 shows that our work has value.”

The cooperative, which has struggled for years for structure and recognition, is now part of the Coleta Mais program, by Itaipu Parquetec, in partnership with the Belém City Hall and the Federal Government. Forty waste pickers from the four participating cooperatives handle the collection, sorting, and forwarding for recycling of the conference’s waste. In the first two days of the Climate Summit, Concaves collected 1.5 tons of recyclable materials, and the expectation is to exceed 5 tons by the end of COP30.

A legacy that sails through the Amazon

The event also marks the beginning of a new phase for Belém’s waste pickers: the arrival of BotoH₂, the first boat in Latin America 100% powered by green hydrogen, developed by Itaipu Parquetec. The vessel, launched during COP30, will be used by Concaves to carry out selective collection on Combu Island, a riverside community in Belém where tourism has grown, but basic sanitation is still precarious.

“It will be a revolution. We will be able to work on the islands, collect the garbage without harming the environment, and help those who live surrounded by water but without drinking water,” Jonas explains.

In addition to the boat, the Itaipu Parquetec program invests in the renovation and expansion of warehouses, training of cooperative members, and the use of cutting-edge technology, such as the Reciclômetro, a tool that measures the amount of collected waste and the environmental and social impact of the work in real-time. “This is the first time we are treated as part of the solution within a global event. It’s real social inclusion,” affirms Débora Baia, president of Concaves.

Recycling to live and to change the world

For Maria Iracema, participating in COP30 is more than an opportunity for income: it is a symbol of dignity. “Today, people look at us differently. I am no longer that woman from the street. I am a worker who helps the environment.”

Jonas complements: “Every bottle we prevent from ending up in the river is a victory. Recycling is our form of climate justice. The COP is happening inside, but we are doing our part out here.”

At the end of the shift, as the sun sets over the Concaves warehouses, Maria washes her hands, reapplies her lipstick, and smiles. The work is hard, but what she carries is light: the certainty that, even without formal education, she possesses life knowledge and is helping to write a new chapter for the Amazon, a new narrative where those who have always lived on the margins are now part of the solution and an example to be followed.