Los Cartoneros

This is an excerpt from a recent presentation I did in class, but I thought it would be an interesting cultural addition to my blog. Obviously every assignment we have is in Spanish, but I took the liberty of translating it so everyone could understand.

"Cartonero" has two definitions: 1) the activity that consists of recycling cardboard, plastic, and other recyclable materials and 2) the person who engages in this activity. Cartoneros receive their name from the word "cartón" (cardboard), one of the materials they recycle in order to make their living. Typically, cartoneros involve the entire family: men, women, and children are all involved in looking for trash on the city streets. In 2001/02, a time when many citizens of Buenos Aires fell below the poverty line, working as a cartonero was the best alternative to stealing.

Cartoneros were first documented in Buenos Aires in the 1860s. At that time, the city was taking trash out to dump sites and burning it. Cartoneros began to come out onto the streets to recycle some of the trash before it went to the dumpsites. Many congregated around La Quema, also known as Barrio de las Latas and Barrio de las Ranas. In 1899 it was estimated that around 3,000 people lived in La Quema.

The laissez faire policies of the 1940s and 1950s in Buenos Aires resulted in villas being built around dumpsites. Thus, scavenging for trash became associated with the villas and lowest class of the population. When the dictatorship of the 70s took over Argentina, they passed the Municipal Ordinance 33.581, which criminalized all forms of waste scavenging in Buenos Aires not done by private companies. Thus, the cartoneros began scavenging at night in order to hide from the police.

The 1999-2002 economic and social crisis of Buenos Aires that increased unemployment and poverty rates also increased the numbers of cartoneros in the city to around 40,000. In 2002, El Movimiento de Trabajadores Excluidos, a social organization, formed with around 2,000 Buenos Aires. The MTE works to better the working conditions of the cartoneros. They have given cartoneros social rights and pensions. Today cartoneros are still a symbol of the fight for social justice in the city. Cartoneros receive support as members of the community by working with local cooperatives that give them decent prices. Additionally, local artists support them by recycling their materials and depicting their work conditions through art.

A La Boca cooperative that takes recycled cardboard and turns it into books

Artist's metal rendition of a cartonero