“He was seen as trash in the eyes of society.”

COP30: Collector recalls Lola’s advice and the discrimination he suffered in his role: ‘He was seen as rubbish’:

Necessity prompted Jonas da Silva to start working on the streets. He was unemployed, needed to bring a living home, and decided to start collecting recyclables in Belém about 20 years ago. “It was bad. People were looking at us with discrimination, and wouldn’t let us touch them. It was as if the art collector was an addict, and society considered him rubbish.” Since then, a lot has changed: “Today, there is care.” He continued in the region, changed directions after the advice of President Lula, and now his cooperative is one of those selected to work at the 30th COP.

Jonas started out on his own, meeting groups of collectors along the way and then founded Concaves, legalizing the work of the people involved. Currently, there are 35 people participating. One of them, for example, is Maria Iracema, 63, who lived on the street, started collecting recyclables to escape hunger and was one of the first to join the group led by Jonas.

Each of them receives roughly a minimum wage, but the amount varies depending on the month, as it indicates the number of items the cooperative can cover and the projects it is involved in – and this total is divided among the group members.

In the beginning, it was a matter of survival. Jonas did not think much about the environmental issues surrounding his work. What changed his direction in the region, he says, was a meeting he held with President Lula. It all happened in 2010, when Jonas was selected to participate in the International Collectors’ Meeting, in São Paulo, during the second presidential term of the Workers’ Party member, and was able to have a conversation with him.

“There, the president said: ‘Jonas, go back to studying.’ Then I said: ‘But, Mr. President, I am not old enough.’ He replied: ‘There is no such thing as too old. Look how I’m here, boss. Who would have thought that a metal worker would be president?” So I actually followed his advice. A year later, I started going to college and graduated in environmental management.

Jonas speaks with gratitude about the creation of the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS), aimed at waste pickers, which is an essential part of Brazil’s recycling mechanism – a necessary interface for waste management in cities and because they are historically characterized by providing opportunities for new beginnings in life. He asserts: “They saved citizens whom the world had forgotten.”

Currently, Jonas is one of the coordinators of Concaves, which is chaired by Deborah Paya. The company works with environmental education, selective collection, sorting and proper disposal of solid waste. Now, it is also starting a new sector focusing on biodegradable materials, which will work with organic waste from the city.

Recognition at COP30

Concaves is one of the four cooperatives that are part of the Coleta Mais programme, by Itaipu Parquetec, which will provide services for COP30, in partnership with the city of Belém and the federal government. Ten people from each cooperative are allocated to work in Parque da Cidade and carry out the entire process, from collection at collection points distributed across Zona Azul and Zona Verde to separating the items and sending them for sale. The work also extends to other points of the conference, where parallel events are taking place.

In just two days of the climate summit, which took place on Thursday the 6th and Friday the 7th, in the run-up to the Blue Zone COP, Concaves told the report it had already collected an average of one and a half tonnes of recyclable materials. All these materials go to the cooperative’s warehouses. It is expected that 5 tons will be collected by the end of the COP.

For Jonas, it is extremely gratifying to see appreciation for the group’s work, which has been dedicated diligently for many years, under the sun and the rain. “It is very important to recognize the collector as an environmental manager who takes care of the city as mayor. He is interested in collecting materials, generating income, putting them back into the cycle, and stopping the pollution of the rivers, the city and the landfills,” he told the report.

The holding of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém is another milestone in changing the lives of these workers in the region, the art collector believes. “It provides other opportunities and opens doors for everyone.”

However, the vision comes more from external projects than from the municipal administration of Belém, they point out. “The general director of the municipality also needs to do this and employ cooperatives instead of large companies that do not offer the same service as us, and do not have the same quality,” criticizes the collector.

the land Contact Belém City Council seeking a position on this issue and clarification of how recyclable collection works in the city. The space remains open and will be updated if you return.

Extended work

In this first week of COP30, Concaves also receives BotoH₂, a small vessel powered entirely by clean energy, combining green hydrogen and solar energy in its propulsion system, which took Itaipu Parquetec about ten years to create – with financing from Itaipu Binacional.

The equipment will be used by the cooperative to carry out selective collection on Compo Island, about a ten-minute boat ride from Belém. landDuring the COP30 coverage, she visited the area and spoke with riverside residents about the effects of the lack of drinking water and also what has changed there due to the climate crisis and tourism that has become predatory on the island. In this context, there is an urgent need to expand garbage collection there.

The boat will be on display at Píer Porto Futuro, part of the COP30 cultural circuit, and is expected to be actively used only after the 21st, towards the end of the conference.

*Reporter Beatriz Araujo traveled to Belem with support from ClimaInfo.

A resident of a riverside community near Belém describes the lack of drinking water: “I actually drank from the river”: