To the Editor.

In December 2019, a new type of coronavirus of zoonotic origin called SARS-CoV-2 was identified, causing the respiratory infection named Covid-19, classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) since March 11, 2020. Brazil was the first country in Latin America to report a Covid-19 case, on February 26, 2020, and to register a death, on March 17, 2020 [1]. Two months later, Brazil ranked second in the world in the number of confirmed cases (614,941) and third in the number of deaths (34,021) [2].

To prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the WHO has recommended territorial social isolation. Following this recommendation, Brazilian Federal Decree 10.282/2020 listed which public services and essential activities should not be interrupted by any means during the pandemic, as dictated by Federal Law 13.979/2020 [3, 4], including waste collection and treatment. This was, however, revoked days later, by Federal Decree 10.329/2020 [5], but, although some services were removed from federal law, states and municipalities could also decide on this topic [6]. With the loss of essential activity status and without adequate economic protection, the subsistence of those who work in this sector, such as waste pickers, became even more difficult [7].

Waste pickers are a professional category recognized by the Brazilian Code of Occupations that plays a significant role in urban cleaning maintenance and in circular economy [8]. Organized by cooperatives or acting autonomously, these professionals work on the front line of the selective collection system in Brazil, responsible for almost 90% of all recycling in the country [9]. Currently, around 800,000 pickers exist in Brazil, 281,000 of them informal workers [10], with an average of 1700 active cooperatives [11]. The work of these pickers contributes to increase the useful life of landfills and reduce the demand for natural resources, as it supplies resources for recycling industries and avoids the use of virgin raw materials. Unfortunately, a large portion (40%) of waste pickers are illiterate [12] and live on the margins of society [8] in Brazil.

Due to the closing of establishments, the risks to which these workers were exposed to, and the lack of technical guidance to work safely, 80% of waste picker organizations halted their activities at the beginning of the pandemic [13]. This generated a significant impact on the recycling industry due to lack of raw materials, as 90% of inputs come from pickers [9]. In this context, this discussion seeks to reflect on the waste picker situation, discussing their main vulnerabilities and the scenario inherent to this category during the pandemic period, not only from an epidemiological perspective, but also concerning public policies associated with their livelihood and quality of life.

Waste pickers are already quite affected by several health problems generated by their work, accentuated by a lack of assistance from the public authorities [14]. Furthermore, they are even more susceptible to contamination due to the fact that the collection and sorting of recyclable materials are handled by several people and that the virus can remain active for days on solid material [15]. Given the possibility of virus transmission through solid waste [14] discarded by those isolated at homes presenting proven or suspicious Covid-19 infection, the need for care has increased. The risk of contamination and the lack of knowledge of how to deal with this waste have led governments to suspend selective collection services, and all generated waste was sent straight to landfills or dumps [16]. This measure, however, has had devastating consequences for recycling industries, which had no materials to work with [17].

The economic situation of waste pickers and cooperatives concerning recyclable material sales has also become worrying, as recycling industries have reduced their consumption by reducing recyclable material purchases [9]. In addition, several activities have been suspended in commercial centers in most Brazilian cities, which has led cooperatives to close their warehouses and autonomous pickers to reduce their activities [18, 19]. Thus, waste pickers have come to depend on financial aid from the government or philanthropic actions to survive [20]. Unfortunately, the value of government aid given to populations with no income is not enough to meet basic family needs in Brazil [21]. To make matters worse, informal waste pickers who work individually or in cooperatives not associated with municipalities were excluded from emergency financial support programs [14].

Because their activities were suspended or restricted, some cooperatives have suffered warehouse looting, losing even more material [22]. Many cooperatives attempted to survive and comply with legality precepts to benefit from tax incentives and government programs that view this activity as a possibility of easing the employment crisis derived from the economic gap. Informal waste pickers are a reality throughout Brazil, and the suspension of selective collection partially avoided contamination risks, as those excluded from government support will continue collecting material in the streets.

However, even confronted with all these adversities, many collectors remained active [23]. This is not ideal, although given the lack of assistance to this worker category, it was the only solution found by many to guarantee their livelihood and that of their families. The work of these professionals is indispensable, as waste pickers intensify urban cleaning services and collect potentially contagious materials, especially in pandemic times. On the one hand, this type of work involves direct contact with collected material and increases the risk of contamination of recycling professionals, especially collectors, although on the other hand, selective collection suspension results in more waste disposed of in dumps and sanitary landfills [16].

Due to the nature of their work, waste pickers are subject to high risks, even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazilian health institutions have authorized laxer isolation measures (although such a prevention measure never really effectively occurred in the country [24]). Nevertheless, even as the risk of exposure of the general population decreases, waste pickers are not safer under pandemic conditions, since many people infected with the coronavirus are asymptomatic and discard contaminated waste as regular solid waste trash, which can result in transmission to waste pickers [25]. In addition, the future of this group is unpredictable. Environmental losses will be significant with the dismantling of waste picker cooperatives caused by the pandemic [24, 26], and COVID-19 has unveiled the lack of attention that societies and their governments give to this professional category. Therefore, necessary formal insurance coverage and protective logistic integration and provision become even more imperative.

To conclude, I point out some measures that should be taken by government agencies to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the lives of solid waste pickers:

  1. (i)

    Improvements of the quality of public health and social assistance service for these professionals

  2. (ii)

    The formation of a support network for the implementation of selective collection programs integrating collector cooperatives and/or associations

  3. (iii)

    Continuity of the social aids implemented during the pandemic while collector cooperatives and associations are being restructured

  4. (iv)

    Assistance for the regularization and recognition processes of waste picker cooperatives and associations

  5. (v)

    The implementation of policies to encourage individual waste pickers to join associations or cooperatives

  6. (vi)

    The promotion of educational campaigns aimed towards the general the population on the adequate disposal of infected waste

  7. (vii)

    Holding public calls for resources to purchase equipment destined for collector cooperatives and associations

  8. (viii)

    The formulation of laws that encourage large solid waste generators, such as public sectors, shop** malls, supermarkets, and restaurants, to send their waste to collector associations and cooperatives with the available infrastructure to separate and classify waste