“DO LIXO À XEPA”: NOTAS ETNOGRÁFICAS SOBRE A TRANSFORMAÇÃO DE RESÍDUOS EM RECURSOS EM UMA PERIFERIA URBANA DO RIO DE JANEIRO

Abstract

In the neighborhood of Caju there are ways of making a living based on the use of waste. Products discarded at the Caju Waste Transfer Station, a neighborhood located in the northern zone of Rio de Janeiro, are transformed into resources by residents who work in the recycling sector. The aim of this research is to understand the economic dynamics surrounding waste, focusing on a specific experience called "Xepa do Caju". I propose to investigate how this practice was established as a circuit of commercial and symbolic exchanges of discarded products. The methodology proposed for this study is qualitative in nature, conducted with the aid of open-ended interview techniques and participant observation. Through an ethnographic account, I intend to describe how the residents of Caju experience these circuits of exchange. The systematization of the report will present specific notions, moralities and practices, illustrating how life is woven and reproduced within the recycling chain in an urban periphery of Rio de Janeiro.