Empowering Waste Pickers in Brazil: A Case Study of Reverse Logistics

Abstract

This case study explores the application of Reverse Logistics - RL in the waste pickers cooperatives in Brazil. This study also proposes a novel RL model to integrate society and recycling companies in the effort to clean up the environment and reuse the recycled products as a source of reduction in its production costs. If the government adopts changes to the relationship between the waste pickers cooperatives and manufacturing companies, that will allow municipalities to focus on issues pertinent to the local administration rather than being the "middle man" in the RL chain. With the revised model proposed in this study, waste pickers' cooperatives would negotiate contracts directly with the manufacturers, optimizing the RL chain.